philological college, marylebone road, london

built in 1856-7 by w.g. and e. habershon for the school, which originally took in boys nominated for education by subscribers. the school had a turbulent history, with treasurers becoming insane, headmasters thrown out of office for unsuitable behaviour - including a double murder in one case- and a long and bitter battle over control with the i.l.e.a., resulting in the school being closed down. add to all this lord rothermere throwing cash at the place as long as his gifts retained independence ( gifts including a chunk of leith hill which became a summer camp, and a rembrandt self portrait, which was declined) and some interesting old boys, like adam ant, bertram mills of circus fame, and several authors (jerome k. jerome, len deighton and patrick o'brien), with royal patronage and links to all sorts of interesting sponsors and you get a small school that obviously punched far above its weight. one of its best headmasters started at 19 and went on for 45 years, and now the building is an independent once more, part of abercorn school.