Our History

Where Platanos College stands today has a long history of pioneering education which you as Alumni can be proud of. The site is world-famous for housing the Stockwell Orphanage, founded by the celebrated preacher, philanthropist and vocal opponent of slavery, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, in 1869.With a donation of £20,000 from widow Mrs Anne Hillyard, a member of his congregation, Spurgeon built the orphanage in an open, healthy place by the Clapham Road and ran it on humane and generous principles for 500 boys and girls who had lost a parent, providing food, clothes, good accommodation, and a sound education.