As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars.

[10] Allegations that Alleyn turned his attention towards charitable pursuits out of fear for his moral well-being[clarification needed] have been traced to the 19th-century journalist George Sala and questioned, though never firmly answered in the negative.

However, Edward Alleyn faced objections from Francis Bacon, the Lord Chancellor, in getting the patent of incorporation that was necessary to secure the Foundation's status as a college.

[14] The next two centuries were beset by both external difficulties such as diminishing financial fortunes and failing buildings as well as internal strife between the various Members of the College.

[15] The lack of a disinterested body of governors and of any official connection to the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge contributed significantly to the school failing to fulfill Alleyn's vision in its first two centuries.

[16] Some notable Masters did preside over the college during this time, including James Allen (the first Master to drop the 'y' from his surname), who in 1741 made over to the college six houses in Kensington, the rents of which were to be used in the establishment of two small schools in Dulwich, one for boys from the village, the other for girls to read and sew, out of which James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS) arose.

[17] Having already obtained an Act in 1805 allowing them to enclose and develop 130 acres (0.53 km2) of common land within the manor, the college was granted the power by the 1808 Dulwich College Building Act to extend the period over which leases ran, from 21 years as laid down by Alleyn, to 84 years, thus attracting richer tenants and bringing in large sums of money.

[16] The increased wealth of the college eventually resulted in the Charity Commission establishment of an enquiry into the advisability of widening the application of the funds to those extra beneficiaries Alleyn had specified in later amended clauses to the foundation's original statutes.

Although the Master of the Rolls, Lord Langdale, rejected the appeal in 1841 on the grounds that Alleyn had no right to alter the original statutes, he did express dissatisfaction with the college's educational provision.

The Old Grammar School, as it became known, was erected in 1841 opposite the Old College, designed by Sir Charles Barry, the architect of the Palace of Westminster.

Carver successfully fought with the Chairman of the Governors, the Rev William Rogers, to create a public school with high academic standards.

[28] Despite its excellent reputation, the college was the focus of pressure by the Charity Commissioners and other parties (including the Board of Governors and the outlying parishes named in Edward Alleyn's will) to reorganise it and divert much of its endowment to other schemes.

The Master, Canon Carver, resisted these pressures for many years, finally winning an appeal in 1876 at the highest possible level (the Privy Council) where Lord Selborne ruled in his favour.

[33] Canon Carver was said to have given the college a body, but Arthur Herman Gilkes (Master from 1885 to 1914) to have given it a soul, with his noble ideals of scholarship and public service.

First, it represents Alleyn's charitable intentions, and second it recalls Alleyn's famous speech, written by Ben Jonson, when he presented King James I with the flaming heart of London during The Magnificent Entertainment, involving a procession through the streets and through triumphal arches by which the City of London welcomed King James I from Scotland in 1604.

[39] A notable addition to Dulwich College’s boarding options is the introduction of flexi-boarding, catering to the evolving needs of students and their families.

This flexible approach allows students to blend their boarding experience with the demands of their academic pursuits and extracurricular activities, offering a balance that aligns with individual preferences.

Alleyn had prescribed the clothing of poor scholars to be "a white calico surplice, a long coat such as that worn by Christ's Hospital boys, of good cloth of sad (dark and sober) colour, a bodice lined with canvas, skirts with cotton lining, canvas shirts, white cotton drawers, knitted stockings, shoes and belt, a girdle and a black cap.

In 1863, the Master, Alfred Carver, decreed the uniform should be "Short tunic buttoned to the chin, trousers of an Oxford mixture, an ordinary rifle cap with a broad band and narrow peak, and a dark coloured Inverness cape for winter.

Rather, athletics, fives, shooting, boxing, tennis, swimming, gymnastics, fencing and waterpolo had blazer badges (plus caps and ties).

By the 1960s, boys (other than prefects and those with sporting honours) had to wear a black jacket and either grey flannels or pinstripe trousers in the Autumn and Winter terms.

[49] When Arthur Herman Gilkes became Master, he adhered to Carver's belief that the physical organisation of the school should be based on the principle that as far as possible management should be in the hands of the boys.

[58] Testament to the judgment of the committee are the careers of certain alumni who received this blazer such as Trevor Bailey the England cricket all-rounder, who was so awarded because he was also a distinguished squash player.

Minor sports have included athletics from 1864; Fives from 1894 (effectively ended by the courts being destroyed by enemy bombs in the Second World War); shooting from 1878 (less applicable due to safety regulations and the loss of the .22 range); boxing from 1879 (abandoned in the 1960s but with martial arts now filling the void), tennis from 1880 (although banned during A H Gilkes' time); swimming from 1883 with the college being one of the first schools to erect a swimming pool; gymnastics from 1891; fencing (like boxing, saw a demise in the 1960s but still has a representative team); squash and water polo.

The school also has teams for golf; badminton; basketball; croquet; cycling; skiing; table tennis and Rugby fives.

The contingent regularly conducts battlecraft trips, Air Experience Flights at RAF Benson and expeditions to the arctic or desert.

By the 1857 Dulwich College Act the master, warden and fellows were pensioned and the governance of the foundation switched to a body of nineteen governors.

[37] Other interesting artefacts held by the college include the James Caird, the lifeboat in which Ernest Shackleton made his intrepid voyage for survival to South Georgia from Elephant Island in 1916,[95] as well as other items such as sledges from the earlier Nimrod expedition.

Above the fireplace in the Masters' Library are two panels depicting pietas (Duty) and liberalitas (Generosity) bought by Edward Alleyn in 1618 from Elizabeth I's state barge.

[42] In March 2021, a former pupil published an open letter to the Master, Joseph Spence, in which it was claimed that the school was a "breeding ground for sexual predators" and had an "established rape culture".