St Stephen’s College(School House of St Stephen’s College)

    St Stephen’s College is located at No. 22 Tung Tau Wan Road, Stanley. Founded in Western Street in 1903, it was relocated to Pok Fu Lam in 1924 and to the present site in Stanley in 1930. Its School House was inaugurated on 25 March 1930. It was the first building completed in the college and was the oldest boarding school building in Hong Kong.
　　On 8 December 1941, Japanese forces invaded Hong Kong, and the 18-day Battle of Hong Kong began. Since Wong Nai Chung and the Stanley peninsula were important defence lines for Hong Kong defence forces, St Stephen’s College was a strategic location in the Hong Kong’s resistance campaign. The School House of St Stephen’s College was requisitioned by the British army and converted into an emergency military hospital, and the staff members and students of the college helped in the hospital. The spirit of mutual assistance among the teachers and students of the college during the Japanese Occupation was deeply moving. Tam Cheung-huen, the college’s Head of Chinese Studies, sacrificed his life protecting the students who remained in the campus. He is honoured with a memorial plaque inside School House.
　　The Hong Kong defence forces eventually succumbed to the Japanese army. At the dawn of Christmas Day, 1941, Japanese troops occupied St Stephen’s College. They broke into School House and committed the “St Stephen’s College Massacre”. In the afternoon, Hong Kong Governor Sir Mark Young surrendered to the Japanese troops. That day was subsequently referred to as “Black Christmas”.
　　The Fall of Hong Kong lifted the curtain on three years and eight months of the Japanese Occupation. St Stephen’s College, along with the nearby Stanley Prison Warders’ Quarters, were used as Stanley Internment Camp. Some 3,000 non-Chinese civilians from the Allies and a small number of prisoners of war were held in the camp, including 1,000 in St Stephen’s College. Among the detainees in the college, about 370 were held in School House. Owing to food shortages, most of the detainees were skin and bones by the end of the war. They suffered from malnutrition and lived in very difficult condition.
　　St Stephen’s College remains in operation today. It has nurtured many outstanding Chinese individuals over the years.
　　St Stephen’s College Heritage Trail Docent Tour is open to public on Saturdays and Sundays, subject to the school activities. Please visit the official website for details.
　　Interested parties are welcome to register for the tour via the school application form:https://www.ssc.edu.hk/links/ssctrail/eng/docent.html
　　For details, please visit the official website of St Stephen's College: https://www.ssc.edu.hk/

    Enquiry Hotline: (852) 2813 0360

    22 Tung Tau Wan Road, Stanley, Hong Kong.

School House of St Stephen’s College, 2015.©Antiquities and Monuments Office

Map of Stanley Internment Camp, drawn on 27 November 1942, 2024.©Antiquities and Monuments Office

The foundation stone of St Stephen’s College’s bears witness to the foundation-laying ceremony presided over by then Hong Kong Governor Sir Cecil Clementi, 2015.©Antiquities and Monuments Office

Memorial plaque dedicated to Professor Tam Cheung-huen who gave his life in 1941 to protect the students, 2009.©Antiquities and Monuments Office