the college was founded and opened as a boys' school on 15 september 1871. by the end of the first term there were 21 boys in the school, and by the end of the next summer another 32 had joined them. it acquired the large hall, or guest-house, in 1879 and converted it into a school chapel by enlarging the east end into an apse. in time, the ecclesiastical commissioners made over the whole property to the college trustees. the refectory was restored, revealing an important but damaged fresco, as (in 1881, to mark a charitable act by sir richard dickenson the then mayor of dover) was the gatehouse. the gatehouse was restored by the celebrated architect george edmund street and is currently used as the music room for the junior department.