For nearly 50 years, Waiting Houses were an integral part of King’s life. Large dormitories, they were home to around 20 new boys for their first term before they entered their chosen House.

Canon Shirley pronounced their advantages to be two-fold: “It relieves any possibility of congestion in the Houses, and allows the new boys time to adjust themselves to the hurly-burly of a great public school”. It also enabled these young Shells to be taken care of whilst the older Oxbridge hopefuls were still boarding for the 7th Term application process.

Altogether five Waiting Houses came and went: Lattergate (1937-88); Riversleigh (1956-76); The Forrens (1949-52); Lardergate (1951-64); and Plender (1971-76), which many of you may be familiar with as the School Sanitorium. On the odd occasion the system became over congested, the boys could be lodged in other houses across the Precincts, even on occasion the Headmaster’s -  something that would never happen at the King’s of today!  

Over time, this tradition was phased out and today a specifically designed programme of orientation and team building takes place to ensure all new starters bond and settle in well. This includes all Shells arriving a day early at the start of the year and activities such as treasure hunts so they can identify their Lattergate from their Lardergate!

Of the Waiting Houses, very little remains today. No photos exist of the busy dormitories or their way of life. What does survive however is many of the spaces, repurposed for the King’s of today and the occasional House photo, like the one shared above. If you were a resident of one of the Waiting Houses, we would love to hear your memories to add them to our records and preserve this part of King's history.