Lawrence College

Gothic-revival British-era boarding school on the pine-covered ridge

Lawrence College is a Gothic-revival boarding school set among pine trees on the Murree ridge, founded in 1860 during the British hill station era. The main building is a substantial Victorian stone structure with pointed arches and turrets that looks somewhat incongruous rising from the Pakistani hills — which is precisely what makes it worth seeing. The attached chapel is one of the older colonial churches in the area.

The school grounds are not generally open to casual visitors, but the buildings are visible from the road and the exterior architecture is striking enough to justify a short detour. The college is still a functioning boarding school with a strong academic reputation. It sits in a relatively quiet part of the ridge, away from the main tourist bustle of The Mall.

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A story
Lawrence College was founded in 1860 and named after Sir Henry Lawrence, Chief Commissioner of the Punjab, who believed the children of British soldiers and civil servants in India needed good schooling in the hills away from the plains heat. It was one of the "Lawrence Asylums" — a network of schools across British India established under this concept. After partition in 1947, the school became Pakistani but maintained its British-style boarding tradition. Several prominent Pakistani politicians, military figures, and writers are alumni.