Shawnigan in 110 Objects
A Message from the Head of School
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A Message from the Head of School
Read MoreMy wife Kathini and I recently bought a house on a bend in the Chemainus River and have found ourselves eager to learn the local history – from the first occupants in the late 19th century to a local landmark on the old highway, the Westholme Tree/“The Old Guardsman” (a giant Douglas fir that crashed down in a storm in 1913).The garden at our new house neighbours All Saints Cemetery, and, when exploring on Remembrance Day, the Lamonts discovered that Cedric J G Lonsdale is buried there – a former teacher at Shawnigan and the nephew of our Founder.Shawnigan Lake School was carved out of the Canadian wilderness in 1916 by CW Lonsdale, and modelled on his alma mater, Westminster School in London, England. It has gone from one class of eight students to 550 students and is now perhaps Canada’s pre-eminent boarding school.Character & Courage, a visual history of Shawnigan, was published in 2016 to mark the School’s centenary, and we are hugely fortunate to have the most wonderful museum on campus which captures the journey of the School.
List of 20 news stories.
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Growing Dome
A defining architectural feature of most of the buildings dotting the Shawnigan Lake School campus is the decorative, ornamental "half-timbering," which consists of exposed, dark-colored wooden beams set against light-colored stucco. Yet, there is one building that stands out in striking contrast to these medieval-era English Tudor facades because of its modern – even futuristic – appearance: the Growing Dome.Read More -
Roll of Honour
By the end of WW2, almost 800 boys had passed through the School and almost half of those had enlisted. Most of them were in Canadian or Imperial units, but at least thirty were in the United States military. As was said in a Remembrance Day Service years ago, “This voluntary enlistment was a remarkable indication of the sense of duty that Shawnigan had instilled in these young men. But I also attribute it in part to the knowledge of history acquired at the School and, perhaps, a love of adventure.” Many of those were wounded or made prisoners of war, and, sadly, 44 of them were killed in action, along with one former staff member.Read More -
Woodwork Shop
In C.W. Lonsdale’s report to the Board in 1928, he stated, “We have opened up a space in the attic, 80 feet long and 12 feet wide, as a temporary home for boys [who are] anxious to use tools for work in the nature of wood modelling, fret work and kindred efforts. There is, however, very little assistance which we are able to give those boys; . . . our ideal should eventually be to have a manual training instructor with a properly equipped workshop.” A student from the early 1930s remembers Mr. Hawksford, a man who worked in maintenance, starting the first “Hobby Shop” in the basement, underneath the gym.Read More -
Classroom Building (1929) and Classroom Block (1959)
In 1929, only two years after the School was rebuilt after the fire, a new, separate Classroom Building was built. It was designed by architect Douglas James, who also designed the Main Building. The Classroom Building was situated perpendicular to the NW corner of the Bruce-Lockhart Centre for Creativity (formerly known as the Hobbies Building). It was a three-story building containing 24 rooms: classrooms, an art room, laboratories for physics, chemistry, and biology, and a lecture theatre. It had three entrance doors opening into a two-story foyer flanked by open stairwells on each side. Of note were two large murals painted in 1934 by well-known Vancouver artist, Julius Griffith ’25, on the walls at the top of the staircase.Read More -
AV Production Facility
The AV Production Facility is a key component of Shawnigan's C.A.S.E. (Communication, Arts, Sciences and Entrepreneurship) program, and was born out of the expansive vision and generous support of Carl Bradley '78 (Groves'), through The Bradley Family Foundation. As a student, Carl’s passion for music was ignited under the guidance of beloved music teacher Lance Bean, setting him on a path into the music recording industry. That creative spark remained with him even as he transitioned into a highly successful entrepreneurial career – a journey that deepened his appreciation for innovation and creativity and ultimately inspired him to give back to the School. Eventually, in conversations with Headmaster Robertson and fellow board members, the C.A.S.E. program was born.Read More -
Conkers
The word “conkers” can refer to the seeds of a horse chestnut tree, or the game played with them. Former and current students can visualize the enormous horse chestnut trees in front of and near the Bruce-Lockhart Centre for Creativity (the former Hobbies Building). According to archival photos, these trees were not planted until c.1960; however, the above photo depicting boys playing Conkers in 1925 is evidence that there were already horse chestnut trees on or near the campus well before then.Read More -
Dining Room (1927)
The School Archives has no photos of the original dining room used for 10 years before it was lost to fire in 1926. This photo depicts the dining room in the newly rebuilt School (Main Building) in 1927. It was located on the north side of the hallway at the east end of the building and shared its western wall with the “Big School” room. This new dining room accommodated 150 students, a light-filled space with widows lining the north wall. At this time the House system had just been created, and the boys ate at tables grouped by Houses. Trophies won by a House were proudly displayed on a House table until lost to a different House.Read More -
Gold Book
The first Gold Book was printed for the 1966-1967 school year. This palm-sized student handbook had a distinctive metallic gold cover (pictured above). The handbook contained a list of every boy in the School, broken into Forms, plus the Form Master. House and School leaders were named, including School Prefects, Heads of House, and Captains of each sport. It laid out the School year calendar, and a daily timetable with room for a student to fill in their own academic schedule. Daily routines, expectations, rules, courses of discipline, the grading system, emergency procedures, and leave guidelines were covered, as well as a description of when buzzers and bells would be sounded.Read More -
Relocated Buildings
Shawnigan Lake School takes “recycling” seriously, including its buildings. Often an old building can be modified for a different purpose – or for the same purpose, but in a new location. The School has moved at least ten buildings on its campus, some of them twice. If a building has historical significance, then the motivation may be high to keep it.Read More
There are many kinds of specialized equipment and numerous steps in moving a building, which we will not describe here. The following campus buildings have been moved: -
Art Easel
Headmaster C.W. Lonsdale reported to the Board in 1928 that the year saw a new innovation: a drawing school “very ably instituted and conducted by Mr. [Robert] Rose, who has spent a good deal of his own money and endless time and trouble, in order to make the drawing school attractive and useful.” Drawing was made compulsory throughout the School, up to Form VI (Grade 12). In addition, any boys who wished for more, could have individual teaching from Mr. Rose for $15 per term. A former student recalls that the art room had articulated models of the human form, busts of famous people, and a model of a Corinthian column. Mechanical drawing was included in the curriculum.Read More -
Billy Brooks' Letter to Parents
This letter was penned by a very homesick nine-year-old boy in September 1925. Shawnigan Lake must have seemed a million miles away from Billy’s home in Vancouver. In those days, boys would know that the first opportunity to go home would be at the end of term at Christmas, after four months at School. Certainly, this young boy's experience is not unique; through the decades, many students and parents have experienced the pain of separation expressed in this letter, especially in September when goodbyes are fresh and the new, unfamiliar surroundings are daunting. It is very encouraging to know that Billy did adjust – and stayed at the School for six full years. A framed version of this letter hangs in the Museum and reminds us of the courage it takes for some to leave home to attend a boarding school.Read More -
Clothing List
Packing for boarding school can be daunting, especially since boys in the first few decades of the School’s history returned home only once or twice during the school year. Parents were given a list to help guide them in choosing what their son would need. The photograph depicts such a list from 1919, the earliest example in the School archives. It reveals a much simpler time – when school fees were only $175 per term. The dress code did not include uniforms, but boys were given guidelines for clothes to purchase at home. Early students spent their school days wearing “khakis.” A grey flannel suit was worn when attending church and for formal occasions. A dressing gown and slippers were critical for the unheated dormitories. Work boots were essential for all, because the boys did quite a bit of manual labor clearing the land, maintaining the grounds, and chopping firewood. Slickers, gum boots, and sou’westers were needed for the typically wet weather.Read More -
Hobbies Building, now the Bruce-Lockhart Centre for Creativity
The “Hobbies” building was an innovation of C.W. Lonsdale, built in 1934. Lonsdale placed high value on a “creative educational system” that developed a boy’s ability to fashion things out of the materials at hand. It originally housed a small museum of natural history, a printing press, a falconry club, rooms for manual training in both wood and metal, a drafting classroom, a large open room used to store cadet equipment and, later, outdoors club equipment.Read More -
Craig Building
In 1962, the School received a very generous donation: one of the School’s science teachers, Cyril Craig, and his wife, Geraldine, donated a new science building – the “Craig Block” – including most of its equipment. The building contained a well-equipped physics laboratory, a lecture room, a well-stocked science library, and a special room for a new language laboratory. Generations of students will remember this building near the south edge of Lake Omar with its distinctive bubble skylights covering most of the roof.Read More -
Hunting Trophies
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, displaying hunting trophies was common practice. The trophies were symbols of wealth, social status, traditional masculinity, and a connection to the “wild.” Typically, these mounted animal heads, antlers, and hides were displayed in homes, clubs, museums – and, apparently, in some boarding school public areas.Read More -
School Bell
When the School took on the challenge of rebuilding after the 1926 fire, support came in many forms. One symbol of encouragement came in the form of a bell, gifted from Corchester School in England, C. W. Lonsdale’s former school. Lonsdale wrote this in response: "It is many years since love of the Profession was first instilled into [my] mind [while attending] Corchester, a North Country school in very beautiful surroundings, where efficiency was demanded and where genuine sportsmen were developed…. Shawnigan Lake School is in many ways the fruit of that zeal, implanted by Corchester, so that we are all the more grateful to Corchester for the gift of our new School Bell." Corchester School was established in 1882.Read More -
Boathouse
With the School property bordering a lake, it is natural that boats are a prominent part of School activities. The current boathouse has had a few predecessors. Photos from the early 1920s depict a small boathouse and dock.Read More -
Old Boys' Chairs
When the School buildings were lost to fire in 1926, some furniture was saved, but new furniture was also needed. The December 1927 Shawnigan Lake School Magazine notes that “the scheme of furnishing the Big School room with chairs given by Old Boys is proving a great success.” An alumnus could commission a chair with his name and dates of enrollment at the School carved into the back of the chair. In 1934, it is mentioned that the cost to order a chair was $10. We read, “The Secretary [of the Old Boys’ Society] would like to remind Old Boys that in addition to making themselves immortal, they are also helping the Red Cross Workshops by giving chairs.” By 1934, 97 chairs had been commissioned.Read More -
Honour Boards
In the Closing Week of the school year, major awards are handed out for distinction in leadership, academics, sports, the arts, and citizenship. The names of recipients are recorded in gold on special boards in the Main Building foyer and central staircase.Read More -
Pipe Organ
Built with German pipes in 1929 by Chandos Dix, the original organ was a gift from Mabel Lonsdale, sister of CW Lonsdale and music teacher at the School. The organ loft was above the choir stalls on the west (left) side, with a few pipes showcased above the choir stalls. This original organ consisted of 10 ranks, or about 640 pipes. The instrument was played from a console located in a small room at the side of the Chapel, and the wind pressure was supplied from bellows pumped by two boys!Read More
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
