124-621: Marlborough College is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire , England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George Hull Bowers , for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy. It is one of the oldest boarding schools in the UK, and now adopts a co-educational model. In 2023 there were around 1000 pupils, approximately 45% of whom were female. In 2024,
248-612: A Committee on Public Schools under the leadership of David Fleming . The committee was tasked to "consider means whereby the association between the Public Schools and the general educational system of the country could be developed and extended". The Fleming Report (1944) entitled The Public Schools and the General Education System defined a public school as a member of the Governing Bodies Association or
372-640: A charity is defined as an institution established for a charitable purpose and providing a public benefit. The "advancement of education" is a long-standing charitable purpose. The UK's oldest charity is the King's School Canterbury . Charitable status for schools outside of the state maintained sector confers various tax benefits. This means schools are not liable for corporation tax or capital gains tax and receive an 80% reduction in business rates (a local property tax). Donations by individuals to such schools are considered "tax free". Fee-charging schools having
496-541: A Pre-Raphaelite attention to detail. Joseph Noel Paton (1821–1901) studied at the Royal Academy schools in London, where he became a friend of Millais and he subsequently followed him into Pre-Raphaelitism, producing pictures that stressed detail and melodrama such as The Bludie Tryst (1855). His later paintings, like those of Millais, have been criticised for descending into popular sentimentality. Also influenced by Millais
620-410: A career. The English public school model influenced the 19th-century development of Scottish elite schools, but a tradition of the gentry sharing their primary education with their tenants kept Scotland more egalitarian. Pre-Raphaelite Art of Central Asia Art of East Asia Art of South Asia Art of Southeast Asia Art of Europe Art of Africa Art of
744-504: A collection of pre-Raphaelite style paintings by John Roddam Spencer Stanhope and stained glass by Old Marlburian William Morris . The rest of the Court is surrounded by buildings in styles ranging from " Jacobethan " (a name coined by Old Marlburian John Betjeman ) to classical Georgian and Victorian. The latter, B house (now called B1), was (along with the College Chapel) designed by
868-503: A distinct idea of the poet's." This passage makes apparent Rossetti's desire to not just support the poet's narrative, but to create an allegorical illustration that functions separately from the text as well. In this respect, Pre-Raphaelite illustrations go beyond depicting an episode from a poem, but rather function like subject paintings within a text. There are major collections of Pre-Raphaelite work in United Kingdom museums such as
992-409: A figure from the school's past. When the college became fully co-educational in 1989, three girls' houses were opened – Morris, Elmhurst and Mill Mead; New Court was opened in 1991. Morris was moved in 1995 from A house to Field House, which had previously been occupied by B3 and C2. New houses were built to accommodate C3, which had previously shared C house with C1 (in 1989) and C2 (in 1992). In 2012,
1116-537: A grant from central government. The direct grant grammar schools would henceforth receive partial state funding (a "direct grant") in return for taking between 25 and 50 percent of its pupils from state primary schools. Other grammar schools were funded by Local Education Authorities . The Labour government in 1965 made major changes to the organisation of state maintained schools issuing Circular 10/65 which directed local authorities to phase out selection at eleven years of age. It also fulfilled its pledge to examine
1240-640: A great want in Cork—namely, a good public school, and with the object of inducing persons who had been sending their children to England, to educate them at home'. In 2020 6.7% of the school population in the Republic of Ireland attended 'elite' fee charging schools. In 1892 Haileybury alumnus Charles Rendall, founded Haileybury "altera terra" in Melbourne, Australia. In the 20th and 21st centuries, several public schools opened affiliates in other countries, especially
1364-411: A list of "Immortals", artistic heroes whom they admired, especially from literature, some of whose work would form subjects for PRB paintings, notably including Keats and Tennyson . The first exhibitions of Pre-Raphaelite work occurred in 1849. Both Millais's Isabella (1848–1849) and Holman Hunt's Rienzi (1848–1849) were exhibited at the Royal Academy. Rossetti's The Girlhood of Mary Virgin
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#17328918473741488-566: A long-established practice because they were unaware that the law had changed." The school is a member of the G20 Schools group. Marlborough College Malaysia , a sister school, opened in Johor in 2012. The college is built beside the Mound , at the site of a former Norman castle . No remains of the castle can be seen today, though the radiocarbon dating of core samples in the early 2010s indicated that
1612-460: A long-established procedure in sharing the information with each other, and were unaware of the change to the law (on which they had not been consulted). She wrote to John Vickers , the OFT director-general, saying, "They are not a group of businessmen meeting behind closed doors to fix the price of their products to the disadvantage of the consumer. They are schools that have quite openly continued to follow
1736-495: A major contribution to the School Mathematics Project (from 1961) alongside initiating the teaching of its Business Studies programme (from 1968). In 1963 a group of boys, led by the future political biographer Ben Pimlott , wrote a book, Marlborough, an open examination written by the boys , describing life at the boarding institute. The writer and television critic T. C. Worsley wrote about predatory old masters at
1860-499: A narrative of its own. For the Pre-Raphaelites, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti specifically, there was anxiety about the constraints of illustration. In 1855, Rossetti wrote to William Allingham about the independence of illustration: "I have not begun even designing for them yet, but fancy I shall try the 'Vision of Sin' and 'Palace of Art' etc. – those where one can allegorize on one's own hook, without killing for oneself and everyone
1984-544: A new model for the nineteenth and early twentieth century public school. Arnold developed the praepostor (or prefect ) system, in which a group of senior boys were given disciplinary powers of other pupils. This became a standard method to establish good order in the public schools, which had developed a reputation for rowdiness and on occasion, serious disorder. King's College School was founded in 1829 and University College School in 1830. Separate preparatory schools (or "prep schools") for younger boys developed from
2108-623: A replacement sport during the Easter term led to hockey matches being regularly played against Clifton College , with the sport consequently becoming popular with other public schools and sporting communities. Public school (United Kingdom) A public school in England and Wales is a type of fee-charging private school originally for older boys. They are "public" in the sense of being open to pupils irrespective of locality, denomination or paternal trade or profession ; nor are they run for
2232-447: A resident SSI (school staff instructor). Weekly parades take place at the parade ground adjacent to the armoury, with occasional off-campus activities, such as range-days or overnight exercises. Next to the CCF parade ground is a six-lane .22 rifle range. Rifle shooting has had a long history at the college, with teams representing the school since 1862. By the 1890s, the "difficulty" of finding
2356-550: A response to the perceived need to modernise such a curriculum in line with commercial needs, the Grammar School Act 1840 was passed. This allowed schools to make an application to a court of law (rather than Parliament) to deviate from the wishes of the original founder and teach "other branches of literature and science". The new public schools established in the early and mid-19th century were not constrained by early endowments and therefore were able from foundation to offer
2480-532: A sculpture of "The Virgin and Child" by Eric Gill near the west door. Sir Frank Brangwyn , who had been trained by Morris, produced murals for the school chapel of Christ's Hospital (1912-1923) and from around this time until the 1950s, visited Marlborough College, particularly its Chapel, on several occasions to deliver lectures and practical workshops to members of the Marlborough College community. Brangwyn and Walthamstow Borough Council signed
2604-644: A significant impact in Scotland and on Scottish artists. The figure in Scottish art most associated with the Pre-Raphaelites was the Aberdeen-born William Dyce (1806–1864). Dyce befriended the young Pre-Raphaelites in London and introduced their work to Ruskin. His later work was Pre-Raphaelite in its spirituality, as can be seen in his The Man of Sorrows and David in the Wilderness (both 1860), which contain
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#17328918473742728-568: A sot or dunce, Lascivious, headstrong, or all these at once; That in good time the stripling's finish'd taste For loose expense and fashionable waste Should prove your ruin, and his own at last; Train him in public with a mob of boys, Childish in mischief only and in noise, Else of a mannish growth, and five in ten In infidelity and lewdness men. ..." —Extract from William Cowper 's 1784 Tirocinium or A Review of Schools In 1801 William Vincent , headmaster of Westminster published A Defence of Public Education . It contains
2852-475: A story was an important step for the unification of painting and literature (eventually deemed the Sister Arts ), or at least a break in the rigid hierarchy promoted by writers like Robert Buchanan. The Pre-Raphaelite desire for more extensive affiliation between painting and literature also manifested in illustration. Illustration is a more direct unification of these media and, like subject painting, can assert
2976-514: A technique of painting in thin glazes of pigment over a wet white ground in the hope that the colours would retain jewel-like transparency and clarity. Their emphasis on brilliance of colour was a reaction to the excessive use of bitumen by earlier British artists, such as Reynolds, David Wilkie and Benjamin Robert Haydon . Bitumen produces unstable areas of muddy darkness, an effect the Pre-Raphaelites despised. In 1848, Rossetti and Hunt made
3100-676: A trust deed in 1935 to set up the William Morris Gallery and ‘The William Morris Gallery and Brangwyn Gift’ opened to the public in October 1950. In 2010, the Marlborough College Chapel was closed owing to structural defects. After being repaired, it was declared safe to use. All music halls and performance areas are fitted with soundproof windows which prevent sound from escaping, even while open, as well as walls engineered to prevent sound crossing at right angles. The floors of
3224-430: A wider range of taught subjects. From the 1850s organised games became prominent in the curriculum, based on the precedent set at Rugby by Thomas Arnold , forming a keystone of character development through teamwork, sportsmanship and self-sacrifice. Hely Almond headmaster at Loretto 1862–1903, in stating 'Games in which success depends on the united efforts of many, and which also foster courage and endurance are
3348-633: A work by John Collier, Circe (signed and dated 1885), that was exhibited at the Chicago World Fair 1893. The British exhibit occupied 14 rooms, showcased a theme familiar with the Fair's outlook, hence they had a sizeable exhibit of Pre-Raphaelite and New-Classical painters. They were extremely well received. There is a set of Pre-Raphaelite murals in the Old Library at the Oxford Union , depicting scenes from
3472-574: Is defined in Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable as "a somewhat demeaning term dating from the 1930s for an English public school that is not one of the ancient foundations, such as Eton, Harrow, Rugby or Winchester". Public school rivalry is a factor in the perception of a "great" (or "major") versus "minor" distinction. The perception of a top tier of public schools is long standing but with some debate on membership. Howard Staunton 's book of 1865 entitled The Great Schools of England considered
3596-462: Is independent of the State and of local government, yet it is not privately owned or run for profit." Oxford Dictionary of English: 'In England, originally, a grammar-school founded or endowed for use or benefit of the public, either generally, or of a particular locality, and carried on under some kind of public management or control; often contrasted with a "private school" carried on at the risk and for
3720-649: Is rarely used in Scotland , with "public school" often being used to refer to state schools . There is no single or absolute definition of public school , and the use of the term has varied over time and according to context. The starting point was the contrast between a public school and private teaching (eg., provided by a hired tutor). In England and Wales schools that are called public schools are not funded from public taxation . Sydney Smith in an 1810 article published in The Edinburgh Review suggested
3844-494: Is the second to be built at the school. The first was opened in 1848 but by 1880 the school numbers had outgrown its space. After consideration of expanding the existing building, it was demolished in 1884 and a new Chapel was designed and built. The new Chapel, designed in the Late Decorated Gothic style, was dedicated to St Michael and All Angels and was consecrated in 1886. The original colour scheme of greens and browns
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3968-495: The Arthurian legends , painted between 1857 and 1859 by a team of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris, and Edward Burne-Jones. The National Trust houses at Wightwick Manor , Wolverhampton , and at Wallington Hall , Northumberland , both have significant and representative collections. Andrew Lloyd Webber is an avid collector of Pre-Raphaelite works, and a selection of 300 items from his collection were shown at an exhibition at
4092-1027: The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery , the Tate Gallery , Victoria and Albert Museum , Manchester Art Gallery , Lady Lever Art Gallery , and Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery . The Art Gallery of South Australia and the Delaware Art Museum in the US have the most significant collections of Pre-Raphaelite art outside the UK. The Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico also has a notable collection of Pre-Raphaelite works, including Sir Edward Burne-Jones' The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon , Frederic Lord Leighton 's Flaming June , and works by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Frederic Sandys . The Ger Eenens Collection The Netherlands includes
4216-881: The Brotherhood of Ruralists based its aims on Pre-Raphaelitism, while the Stuckists and the Birmingham Group have also derived inspiration from it. Many members of the 'inner' Pre-Raphaelite circle ( Dante Gabriel Rossetti , John Everett Millais , William Holman Hunt , Ford Madox Brown , Edward Burne-Jones ) and 'outer' circle ( Frederick Sandys , Arthur Hughes , Simeon Solomon , Henry Hugh Armstead , Joseph Noel Paton , Frederic Shields , Matthew James Lawless ) were working concurrently in painting, illustration, and sometimes poetry. Victorian morality judged literature as superior to painting, because of its "noble grounds for noble emotion." Robert Buchanan (a writer and opponent of
4340-822: The Clarendon schools . The Headmasters' Conference (HMC), now the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, has grown steadily and by 2021 had 298 British and Irish schools as members. Many new schools were established in the mid-part of the nineteenth century including the day schools City of London School (1837) and Liverpool College (1840). New boarding schools included Cheltenham (1841), Marlborough (1843), Rossall (1844), Radley (1847), Taunton (1847), Lancing (1848), Hurstpierpoint (1849), Bradfield (1850), Wellington (1852), Epsom (1855), Ardingly (1858), Clifton (1862), Malvern (1862), Haileybury (1862), Framlingham (1864) and Cranleigh (1865). In 1887
4464-605: The Endowed Schools Act 1869 . In that year Edward Thring , headmaster of Uppingham School , wrote to 37 of his fellow headmasters of what he considered the leading boys' schools, not covered by the Public Schools Act of 1868, inviting them to meet annually to address the threat posed by the Endowed Schools Act of 1869. In the first year 12 headmasters attended; the following year 34 attended, including heads from
4588-557: The Girls' Schools Association . The majority of public schools are affiliated with, or were established by, a Christian denomination , principally the Church of England , but in some cases the Roman Catholic and Methodist churches. A small number are non-denominational or inherently secular, including Oswestry School , Bedales and University College School . A minor public school
4712-515: The Headmasters' Conference . The Fleming Committee recommended that one-quarter of the places at the public schools should be assigned to a national bursary scheme for children who would benefit from boarding. A key advocate was the post-war Minister of Education Ellen Wilkinson , but the proposed national bursary scheme never got into legislation in that post-war age of severe budget constraints. The Conservative government elected in 1951 did not adopt
4836-612: The Nazarene movement . The Brotherhood was only ever a loose association and their principles were shared by other artists of the time, including Ford Madox Brown , Arthur Hughes and Marie Spartali Stillman . Later followers of the principles of the Brotherhood included Edward Burne-Jones , William Morris and John William Waterhouse . The group sought a return to the abundant detail, intense colours and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian art. They rejected what they regarded as
4960-678: The Royal Academy in London in 2003. Kelmscott Manor , the country home of William Morris from 1871 until his death in 1896, is owned by the Society of Antiquaries of London and is open to the public. The Manor is featured in Morris' 1890 novel News from Nowhere . It also appears in the background of Water Willow , a portrait of his wife, Jane Morris , painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1871. There are exhibitions connected with Morris and Rossetti's early experiments with photography. The story of
5084-728: The "principal schools of England", entitled The History of the Colleges of Winchester, Eton, and Westminster; with the Charter-House, the Schools of St. Paul's, Merchant Taylors, Harrow, and Rugby, and the Free-School of Christ's Hospital . In 1818 Nicholas Carlisle published a two-volume survey entitled A Concise Description of the Endowed Grammar Schools in England and Wales . The survey
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5208-526: The (then) United Kingdom. The 1895 Public School Yearbook included Loretto School (1827), Glenalmond College (1847) and Fettes College (1870). In Ireland, of the Royal Schools, The Royal School, Armagh 1608 was described as offering an excellent public school education and being the equal of any school in the British Isles. Cork Grammar School 1881 was established for 'the purpose of supplying
5332-476: The 16 houses upon entering the school, where they make their home for the duration of their studies, and compete against other houses in sporting olympiads. The houses are divided between on-campus heritage sites – mostly gathered around the central court – and sites around the western side of Marlborough town. The older on-campus heritage houses are referred to by an alphanumeric title. Newer houses have been given names reflecting their location or commemorating
5456-684: The 1830s, with entry to the senior schools becoming limited to boys of at least 12 or 13 years old. The first of these was Windlesham House School , established with support from Thomas Arnold , the headmaster of Rugby School between 1828 and 1841. A Royal Commission , the Clarendon Commission (1861–1864), investigated nine of the more established schools, including seven boarding schools ( Charterhouse , Eton , Harrow , Rugby , Shrewsbury , Westminster and Winchester ) and two day schools ( St Paul's and Merchant Taylors' ). The Public Schools Act 1868 subsequently regulated and reformed
5580-492: The 1965 Public Schools Commission took in scope of its work and also considered 22 maintained and 152 direct grant grammar schools . In 2023, using the 1965 Public Schools Commission definition or the 1944 Fleming Committee definition, there are 302 independent secondary schools belonging to the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (78% of HMC schools are co-educational, 9% are boys only and 13% are girls only), and 152 independent girls' secondary schools belonging to
5704-590: The Act: Eton , Shrewsbury , Harrow , Winchester , Rugby , Westminster , and Charterhouse . Public schools are elite institutions and are associated with the ruling class . Historically, public schools produced many of the military officers and administrators of the British Empire . In 2019, two-thirds of cabinet ministers of the United Kingdom had been educated at such fee-charging schools. The term
5828-532: The Americas Art of Oceania The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood ( PRB , later known as the Pre-Raphaelites ) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt , John Everett Millais , Dante Gabriel Rossetti , William Michael Rossetti , James Collinson , Frederic George Stephens and Thomas Woolner who formed a seven-member "Brotherhood" partly modelled on
5952-508: The Clarendon nine, four are (or are soon to be, in the case of Westminster) fully co-educational ( Rugby , Charterhouse , Shrewsbury and Westminster ), two remain as boys-only day schools ( St Paul's and Merchant Taylors' ) and two retain the full-boarding, boys-only tradition ( Eton and Harrow ). Winchester was formerly part of the last group. By the end of the 19th century the "public school movement", had extended to all parts of
6076-661: The Crown , the established church , or the government. Henceforth each of these schools was to be managed by a board of governors . St Paul's School and the Merchant Taylors' School claimed successfully that their constitutions made them "private" schools, and were excluded from the requirements of this legislation. The Taunton Commission was appointed in 1864 to examine the remaining 782 endowed grammar schools , and in 1868 produced recommendations to restructure their endowments; these recommendations were included, in modified form, in
6200-559: The Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal determined that the City of London School was a public school. The Public Schools Yearbook was published for the first time in 1889, listing 30 schools, mostly boarding schools. The day school exceptions were St Paul's School and Merchant Taylors' School . By 1895 there were entries for 64 schools. Frederick William Sanderson , Headmaster of Oundle School , initiated educational reforms at
6324-779: The Ely Cathedral Grammar School, then the King's School Ely when refounded in 1541 by Henry VIII , subsequently adopting the current name in 2012) and St Albans School c. 948 . Until the Late Middle Ages most schools were controlled by the Church; and had specific entrance criteria; others were restricted to the sons of members of guilds, trades, or livery companies . In 1382 William of Wykeham , Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England , founded Winchester College . In 1440 Henry VI founded Eton College. These schools had significantly larger foundations than
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#17328918473746448-535: The Exchequer Rab Butler , Home Secretary Henry Brooke, Baron Brooke of Cumnor , Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher , Olivia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster , and individuals from the British monarchy including Catherine, Princess of Wales , Pippa Middleton and Princess Eugenie are also Old Marlburians. See List of Old Marlburians for other notable former pupils. Societies for former pupils include
6572-566: The HMC. State funding was however revived between 1981 and 1997 with the introduction of the Assisted Places Scheme , which provided support for 80,000 pupils attending schools not part of the state maintained sector. Many boarding schools started to admit day pupils for the first time, and others abolished boarding completely. Some started accepting girls in the sixth form , while others became fully co-educational . Corporal punishment ,
6696-604: The Labour government to separate the independent and state sectors. The direct grant scheme was abolished in 1975 and the HMC schools within the scheme became fully independent. Local authorities were ordered to cease funding places at independent schools. This accounted for over a quarter of places at 56 schools, and over half the places at 22 schools. Between 1975 and 1983 funding was also withdrawn from 11 voluntary-aided grammar schools, which became independent schools and full members of
6820-516: The Marlburian Club. There are three academic terms in the year: The Memorial Hall was built to commemorate the 749 Old Marlburians who were killed in World War I . Following World War II, the names of those killed in that war were added to a memorial panel in the entrance hall. The hall is a semi-circular auditorium of stepped seats. There is a stage at the front. Below the seats with access from
6944-470: The Middle and Far East. The schools are typically founded in partnership with a local business person or organisation with the "home" school maintaining control of curriculum and staffing. The almost exclusive teaching of grammar ( Latin and to a lesser extent ancient Greek ) prevailed until well into the 19th century. Most schools were legally obliged to do so by the terms of their original endowment. As
7068-579: The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood) felt so strongly about this artistic hierarchy that he wrote: "The truth is that literature, and more particularly poetry, is in a very bad way when one art gets hold of another, and imposes upon it its conditions and limitations." This was the hostile environment in which Pre-Raphaelites were defiantly working in various media. The Pre-Raphaelites attempted to revitalize subject painting , which had been dismissed as artificial. Their belief that each picture should tell
7192-427: The Pre-Raphaelite principles. One follower who developed his own distinct style was Aubrey Beardsley , who was pre-eminently influenced by Burne-Jones. After 1856, Dante Gabriel Rossetti became an inspiration for the medievalising strand of the movement. He was the link between the two types of Pre-Raphaelite painting (nature and Romance) after the PRB became lost in the later decades of the century. Rossetti, although
7316-501: The Pre-Raphaelite style after his marriage, and Ruskin ultimately attacked his later works. Ruskin continued to support Hunt and Rossetti and provided funds to encourage the art of Elizabeth Siddall , Rossetti's wife. By 1853 the original PRB had virtually dissolved, with only Holman Hunt remaining true to its stated aims. But the term "Pre-Raphaelite" stuck to Rossetti and others, including William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones , with whom he became involved in Oxford in 1857. Hence
7440-527: The Pre-Raphaelites , the series occasionally departs from established facts in favour of dramatic licence and is prefaced by the disclaimer: "In the mid-19th century, a group of young men challenged the art establishment of the day. The pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were inspired by the real world around them, yet took imaginative licence in their art. This story, based on their lives and loves, follows in that inventive spirit." Ken Russell 's television film Dante's Inferno (1967) contains brief scenes on some of
7564-399: The Pre-Raphaelites, according to William Michael Rossetti, "sloshy" meant "anything lax or scamped in the process of painting ... and hence ... any thing or person of a commonplace or conventional kind". The group associated their work with John Ruskin , an English critic whose influences were driven by his religious background. Christian themes were abundant. The group continued to accept
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#17328918473747688-431: The Rings , with influences taken from the same mythological scenes portrayed by the Pre-Raphaelites. Tolkien considered his own group of school friends and artistic associates, the so-called TCBS, as a group in the vein of the Pre-Raphaelites. In the 20th century artistic ideals changed, and art moved away from representing reality. After the First World War , Pre-Raphaelite art was devalued for its literary qualities and
7812-401: The Royal Commission on Secondary Education ) described the schools reformed by the 1868 Act as the "seven 'great endowed schools'". Public schools emerged from grammar schools established to educate pupils, usually destined for clerical orders, in Latin grammar. Thus, concerned with educating boys. The term "public" came into use because over time access to such schools was not restricted on
7936-436: The UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) found that 50 prominent public schools were in breach of the Competition Act 1998 through their exchange of details of planned fee increases over three academic years 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04. The Independent Schools Council claimed that the investigation had been "a scandalous waste of public money". Three-quarters of HMC schools are now either partially or fully co-educational. Of
8060-546: The UK government to levy VAT on school fees, a commitment (re)made in the 1983 Labour Party election manifesto under Neil Kinnock 's leadership, and revived in 2017 by Jeremy Corbyn . In support of the case for maintaining the status quo , the Independent Schools Council published in 2022 a report which stated that the independent education sector contributed in 2021 £16.5 billion to the UK economy and generated £5.1 billion of tax revenue. The 2019 UK Conservative Party election manifesto made no mention of education outside of
8184-400: The Victorian architect Edward Blore , whose other works included the facade of Buckingham Palace (since remodelled) and the Vorontsovsky Palace in Alupka, Ukraine. On the other side of the Mound is the science laboratory, built in 1933. It is an early example of shuttered concrete construction and was listed as a building of architectural significance in 1970. Pupils are assigned to one of
8308-448: The basis of home location, paternal occupation or status, and that they were subject to an element of public management or control, in contrast to private schools which were run for the personal profit of the owner(s). The origins of schools in England were primarily religious, although in 1640 the House of Commons invited the reformer and promoter of universal education Comenius to England to establish and participate in an agency for
8432-483: The brotherhood wished to emphasise the personal responsibility of individual artists to determine their own ideas and methods of depiction. Influenced by Romanticism , the members thought freedom and responsibility were inseparable. Nevertheless, they were particularly fascinated by medieval culture, believing it to possess a spiritual and creative integrity that had been lost in later eras. The emphasis on medieval culture clashed with principles of realism which stress
8556-427: The brotherhood, from its controversial first exhibition to being embraced by the art establishment, has been depicted in two BBC television series. The first, The Love School , was broadcast in 1975; the second is the 2009 BBC television drama serial Desperate Romantics by Peter Bowker . Although much of the latter's material is derived from Franny Moyle 's factual book Desperate Romantics: The Private Lives of
8680-404: The case of Harrow, political sponsorship by aristocratic Whig politician James Brydges (later Duke of Chandos) played a significant role, but also, as was the case too with Rugby, an exemplary headmaster was a key factor in raising the status of the school. This phenomenon was also seen at Shrewsbury , where Samuel Butler was headmaster between 1798 and 1836. "Would you your son should be
8804-426: The centres also float on a bed of air, so as to maintain good soundproofing. The Blackett Observatory houses a 10-inch-aperture Cooke refractor on a motorised equatorial mount. The telescope dates from 1860 and was used professionally at the Radcliffe Observatory at Oxford University . When the Observatory was relocated to South Africa in the 1930s, Sir Basil Blackett , a president of the Marlburian Club, raised
8928-433: The children—nay, the eldest sons—of some of the best families in England have been educated." By the end of the 17th century, the London day schools St Paul's and Merchant Taylors', together with the charitable foundations of Christ's Hospital and Charterhouse, had developed an elevated "standing in popular regard". By the end of the 18th century, two local grammar schools, Harrow and Rugby, had achieved national fame. In
9052-1161: The college acquired the Ivy House Hotel in Marlborough High Street which opened as a girls' house in the autumn of that year. In 1933, the school lent its name to one of the steam locomotives in the Southern Railway's Schools class , which were named after English public schools. The locomotive bearing the school's name (no. 922, later 30922) was withdrawn in 1961. Former pupils include the Nobel laureate Sir Peter Medawar , Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman , wartime poet Siegfried Sassoon , art historian and Soviet spy Anthony Blunt , writer Dick King-Smith , journalists Frank Gardner , James Mates , Tom Newton Dunn and Hugh Pym , businessman Simon Woodroffe , comedian Jack Whitehall , singers Nick Drake and Chris de Burgh , DJ and producer Frederick Gibson aka. Fred Again , fashion moguls Amanda Harlech and Stella Tennant , and convicted human trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell . Chancellor of
9176-494: The concepts of history painting and mimesis , imitation of nature, as central to the purpose of art. The Pre-Raphaelites defined themselves as a reform movement, created a distinct name for their form of art, and published a periodical, The Germ , to promote their ideas. The group's debates were recorded in the Pre-Raphaelite Journal . The Brotherhood separated after almost five years. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
9300-445: The critic John Ruskin , who praised its devotion to nature and rejection of conventional methods of composition. The Pre-Raphaelites were influenced by Ruskin's theories. He wrote to The Times defending their work and subsequently met them. Initially, he favoured Millais, who travelled to Scotland in the summer of 1853 with Ruskin and Ruskin's wife, Euphemia Chalmers Ruskin, née Gray (now best known as Effie Gray ). The main object of
9424-717: The existing local grammar schools, had high level political patronage, and also accepted "non-local" pupils. This was "the start of a new kind of school". Elizabeth I refounded Westminster School in 1560, with new statutes, to select forty Queen's Scholars . This created a "triad" of privileged schools—Winchester, Eton and Westminster. From the 16th century onward, boys' boarding schools continued to be founded or endowed for public use. Daniel Defoe in The Compleat English Gentleman of 1728, writes of "the great schools of Eton, Winchester, Westminster, Felsted , Bishop Stortford (sic), Canterbury and others, where
9548-632: The firm. Through Morris's company, the ideals of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood influenced many interior designers and architects, arousing interest in medieval designs and other crafts leading to the Arts and Crafts movement headed by William Morris. Holman Hunt was involved with the movement to reform design through the Della Robbia Pottery company. After 1850, Hunt and Millais moved away from direct imitation of medieval art. They stressed
9672-445: The following. "By a public school, we mean an endowed place of education of old standing, to which the sons of gentlemen resort in considerable numbers, and where they continue to reside, from eight or nine, to eighteen years of age. We do not give this as a definition which would have satisfied Porphyry or Duns-Scotus , but as one sufficiently accurate for our purpose. The characteristic features of these schools are, their antiquity,
9796-406: The funds to purchase it and have the observatory built on the playing fields of the college. In 1997 a restoration effort was started which was finished in 2002 when the telescope was reopened for use. It is currently used to teach astronomy and is also open to local astronomers from outside the college. A fully operational army-only CCF detachment operates at the college under the supervision of
9920-562: The game!" from Henry Newbolt 's 1892 poem Vitaï Lampada and "the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton", the latter popularly attributed to the Duke of Wellington . Many ex-pupils, like those from other schools, had, and still have, a nostalgic affection for their old schools ( George Orwell remembered being "interested and happy" at Eton, ) and a public school tie and an " old boy network " of former pupils were useful in advancing
10044-437: The independent observation of nature. In its early stages, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood believed its two interests were consistent with one another, but in later years the movement divided and moved in two directions. The realists were led by Hunt and Millais, while the medievalists were led by Rossetti and his followers, Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris . The split was never absolute, since both factions believed that art
10168-411: The journey was to paint Ruskin's portrait. Effie became increasingly attached to Millais, creating a crisis. In subsequent annulment proceedings, Ruskin himself made a statement to his lawyer to the effect that his marriage had been unconsummated. The marriage was annulled on grounds of non- consummation , leaving Effie free to marry Millais, but causing a public scandal. Millais began to move away from
10292-434: The leading Pre-Raphaelites but mainly concentrates on the life of Rossetti, played by Oliver Reed . Chapter 36 of the 1952 novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck references pre-Raphaelite influenced images used to identify different classrooms: "The pictures identified the rooms, and the pre-Raphaelite influence was overwhelming. Galahad standing in full armor pointed the way for third-graders; Atalanta 's race urged on
10416-486: The least committed to the brotherhood, continued the name and changed its style. He began painting versions of femme fatales using models including Jane Morris , in paintings such as Proserpine , The Day Dream , and La Pia de' Tolomei . His work influenced his friend William Morris , in whose firm Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. he became a partner, and with whose wife Jane he may have had an affair. Ford Madox Brown and Edward Burne-Jones also became partners in
10540-577: The mechanistic approach first adopted by Mannerist artists who succeeded Raphael and Michelangelo . The Brotherhood believed the Classical poses and elegant compositions of Raphael in particular had been a corrupting influence on the academic teaching of art, hence the name "Pre-Raphaelite". In particular, the group objected to the influence of Sir Joshua Reynolds , founder of the English Royal Academy of Arts , whom they called "Sir Sloshua". To
10664-471: The model for Mary in his painting. The brotherhood's medievalism was attacked as backward-looking and its extreme devotion to detail was condemned as ugly and jarring to the eye. According to Dickens, Millais made the Holy Family look like alcoholics and slum-dwellers, adopting contorted and absurd "medieval" poses. After the controversy, James Collinson resigned from the Brotherhood due to his belief that it
10788-430: The nine Clarendon schools had a combined asset value of almost £2bn. Eton College is the school with the largest endowment of over £500m. Charitable status is politically controversial. The UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer in 2021 pledged to remove charitable status for fee-charging schools, a policy also of Harold Wilson , stated in the 1974 Labour election manifesto. Removal of charitable status would enable
10912-555: The nine Clarendon schools plus Cheltenham College , Christ's Hospital , and Dulwich College . In 1881 C.Kegan Paul & Co published Our Public Schools with chapters on seven schools: Eton , Harrow , Winchester , Rugby , Westminster , Marlborough , and Charterhouse . In 1893 Edward Arnold published a book entitled Great Public Schools with a chapter on each of Eton , Harrow , Charterhouse , Cheltenham , Rugby , Clifton , Westminster , Marlborough , Haileybury , and Winchester . The Bryce Report of 1895 ( Report of
11036-411: The numbers, and the ages of the young people who are educated at them ...". Arthur Leach , in his History of Winchester College (1899), stated: "The only working definition of a Public School...is that it is an aristocratic or plutocratic school which is wholly or almost wholly a Boarding School, is under some form of more or less public control, and is ... non-local". Edward C. Mack in 1938 proposed
11160-466: The origins of the Mound date from 2400 BC. This is close to the dates established for Silbury Hill . The main focus of the college is the Court, which is surrounded by buildings in a number of architectural styles. At the south end is the back of an early 18th-century mansion, later converted to a coaching inn , which was bought as the first building for the school. The main block of what now forms C House, it
11284-441: The outside rear are a number of music practice rooms. The façade of the hall towards the forecourt and road has two entrance lobbies linked together by eight stone columns. The forecourt is paved with stone. The Hall holds about 800 people so can no longer be used for assemblies of the entire school. It is now most often used for concerts and theatrical productions where the whole school is not expected to attend. The current Chapel
11408-467: The profit of a private owner. Although the term "public school" has been in use since at least the 18th century, its usage was formalised by the Public Schools Act 1868 , which put into law most recommendations of the 1864 Clarendon Report . Nine prestigious schools were investigated by Clarendon (including two day schools , Merchant Taylors' and St Paul's ) and seven subsequently reformed by
11532-631: The profit of its master or proprietors.' In November 1965, the UK Cabinet considered the definition of a public school for the purpose of the Public Schools Commission set up that year. It started with the 1944 Fleming Committee definition of Public Schools, which consisted of schools which were members of the then Headmasters' Conference , the Governing Bodies Association or the Girls' Schools Association . At that time, there were 276 such independent schools (134 boys and 142 girls), which
11656-558: The promotion of learning. It was intended that by-products of this would be the publication of "universal" books and the setting up of schools for boys and girls. The English Civil War prevented any such reform. Some schools are particularly old, such as The King's School, Canterbury c. 597 , The King's School, Rochester c. 604 , St Peter's School, York c. 627 , Sherborne School c. 710 , (refounded 1550 by Edward VI ), Warwick School c. 914 , King's Ely c. 970 (once
11780-613: The proposal. It failed because it was not a high priority for either party, money was tight, there was wavering support from both public schools and local education authorities, and no consensus was reached on how to select the pupils to participate. Based on the recommendations of the Fleming Report, the Education Act 1944 , also known as "the Butler Act", did, however, establish an enhanced status for endowed grammar schools receiving
11904-545: The realist and scientific aspects of the movement, though Hunt continued to emphasise the spiritual significance of art, seeking to reconcile religion and science by making accurate observations and studies of locations in Egypt and Palestine for his paintings on biblical subjects. In contrast, Millais abandoned Pre-Raphaelitism after 1860, adopting a much broader and looser style influenced by Reynolds. William Morris and others condemned his reversal of principles. Pre-Raphaelitism had
12028-770: The role of public schools, setting up a Royal commission "to advise on the best way of integrating the public schools with the State system". The commission used a wider definition than that of the Fleming Committee. The Public Schools Commission produced two reports: the Newsom Report of 1968 entitled The Public Schools Commission: First Report covering boarding schools and the Donnison Report of 1970 entitled The Public Schools Commission: Second Report covering day schools, including also direct grant and maintained grammar schools. The report presented by John Newsom in 1968
12152-405: The same name , but it was not completed until 1867. As an aspiring poet, Rossetti wished to develop the links between Romantic poetry and art. By autumn, four more members, painters James Collinson and Frederic George Stephens , Rossetti's brother, poet and critic William Michael Rossetti , and sculptor Thomas Woolner , had joined to form a seven-member-strong brotherhood. Ford Madox Brown
12276-499: The school in his critically acclaimed autobiography Flannelled Fool: A Slice of a Life in the Thirties . In 2005, the school was one of fifty of the country's most prestigious independent schools which were found by the Office of Fair Trading to have run an illegal price-fixing cartel , exposed by The Times , which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents. Each school
12400-486: The school was included in The Schools Index as one of the 150 best private schools in the world and among the top 30 senior schools in the UK. Fees for boarding pupils in 2024/2025 are £50,985 per year. Marlborough was, in 1968, the first major British independent boys' school to allow girls into the sixth form , setting a trend that many other schools followed. The school became fully co-educational in 1989, and made
12524-467: The seven boarding schools investigated by Clarendon, and in summary established and granted autonomy to new governing bodies for the seven schools and as part of that, released them from previous obligations under their founding charters to educate "boys on the Foundation" ie scholarship boys who paid nominal or no fees. The Act gave the seven schools independence from direct jurisdiction or responsibility of
12648-488: The short run-time implies, the magazine did not manage to achieve sustained momentum. (Daly 1989) In 1850, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood became the subject of controversy after the exhibition of Millais' painting Christ in the House of His Parents was considered to be blasphemous by many reviewers, notably Charles Dickens . Dickens considered Millais's Mary to be ugly. Millais had used his sister-in-law, Mary Hodgkinson, as
12772-479: The simple definition of "a non-local endowed boarding school for the upper classes". Vivian Ogilvie in The English Public School (1957) suggests five "characteristics commonly associated with a public school" (while allowing that these are not absolute or definitive): "it is a class school, catering for a well-to-do clientèle; it is expensive; it is non-local; it is a predominantly boarding school; it
12896-500: The state maintained sector. In September 2023 the UK Labour party announced that, if elected, it planned to allow public schools to retain their charitable status (and some associated tax benefits) but did plan to charge VAT on fees and remove concessions on business rates paid to local authorities. The 19th-century public school ethos promoted ideas of service to Crown and Empire, exemplified in tropes such as "Play up! Play up! And play
13020-498: The status of charities are not totally tax exempt as they pay some business rates, VAT on procured goods and services and staff pay income tax on earnings. The public benefit that a charity is obliged to provide is not defined in law. Typically schools provide this public benefit by offering bursaries to pupils of families with limited financial means and supporting local state maintained school(s) and institutions, including allowing public access to school facilities. As of 2020
13144-484: The term Pre-Raphaelite is associated with a much wider and long-lived art movement. Artists influenced by the brotherhood include John Brett , Philip Calderon , Arthur Hughes , Gustave Moreau , Evelyn De Morgan , Frederic Sandys (who entered the Pre-Raphaelite circle in 1857) and John William Waterhouse . Ford Madox Brown , who was associated with them from the beginning, is often seen as most closely adopting
13268-539: The text "...comprize under the expression of Public Schools? Are we to understand only Winchester, Eton and Westminster? or are we to extend our notion, as we ought to do, to the other three great schools in the Metropolis; to Harrow, Rugby, Manchester , Wakefield and many more of equal magnitude in the North?" In 1816 Rudolph Ackermann published a book which used the term "History of the Public Schools" of what he described as
13392-485: The turn of the century. Oundle became the first school to create an engineering curriculum as well as teaching biochemistry and agriculture. There was a further expansion in public school education in the interwar years. New schools such as Rendcomb (1920), Stowe (1923), Canford (1923), Bryanston (1928) and Millfield (1935) were established. In 1942 the then President of the Board of Education Rab Butler appointed
13516-546: The very lifeblood of the public school system', encapsulated the thinking of the era. The prominence of team sports prevails to the current day and is a feature by which public schools still distinguish themselves from state maintained schools. By the latter part of the 19th century 'modern' subjects such as mathematics and science featured in many schools listings in The Public Schools Yearbook . Within English law
13640-453: The wider European Symbolist movement. There is evidence to suggest that a number of paintings by the German artist Paula Modersohn-Becker were influenced by Rossetti. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery has a world-renowned collection of works by Burne-Jones and the Pre-Raphaelites that, some claim, strongly influenced the young J. R. R. Tolkien , who wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of
13764-413: Was James Archer (1823–1904), whose work includes Summertime, Gloucestershire (1860) and who from 1861 began a series of Arthurian -based paintings including La Morte d'Arthur and Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere . Pre-Raphaelism also inspired painters like Lawrence Alma-Tadema . The movement influenced many later British artists into the 20th century. Rossetti came to be seen as a precursor of
13888-493: Was abolished in state schools in 1986, and had been abandoned in most public schools by the time it was formally banned in independent schools in 1999 in England and Wales, (2000 in Scotland and 2003 in Northern Ireland). The system of fagging , whereby younger pupils in some schools were required to act to some extent as personal servants to the most senior boys, was phased out during the 1970s and 1980s. In September 2005
14012-460: Was bringing the Christian religion into disrepute. The remaining members met to discuss whether he should be replaced by Charles Allston Collins or Walter Howell Deverell , but were unable to make a decision. From that point the group disbanded, though its influence continued. Artists who had worked in the style initially continued but no longer signed works "PRB". The brotherhood found support from
14136-429: Was built by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset and is a Grade I listed building . Next to it are the old stables, now converted into boarding houses. The west side consists of the 1959 red brick dining hall, and a Victorian boarding house now converted to other purposes. The north west corner is dominated by its Victorian Gothic style chapel by the architects George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner , which has
14260-443: Was conducted by means of a questionnaire sent to the schools. The description of 475 schools range from one or two paragraphs to many pages of detail. Included in the survey are the renowned nine schools which forty three years later became the subject of the 1861 Clarendon Commission . In 1828 Thomas Arnold became headmaster of Rugby School. The reforming actions he took during his fourteen years (1828–1842) of tenure established
14384-483: Was essentially spiritual in character, opposing their idealism to the materialist realism associated with Courbet and Impressionism . The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was greatly influenced by nature and its members used great detail to show the natural world using bright and sharp-focus techniques on a white canvas. In attempts to revive the brilliance of colour found in Quattrocento art, Hunt and Millais developed
14508-775: Was founded in John Millais's parents' house on Gower Street , London in 1848. At the first meeting, the painters John Everett Millais , Dante Gabriel Rossetti , and William Holman Hunt were present. Hunt and Millais were students at the Royal Academy of Arts and had met in another loose association, the Cyclographic Club, a sketching society. At his own request Rossetti became a pupil of Ford Madox Brown in 1848. At that date, Rossetti and Hunt shared lodgings in Cleveland Street , Fitzrovia , Central London. Hunt had started painting The Eve of St. Agnes based on Keats's poem of
14632-607: Was invited to join, but the more senior artist remained independent but supported the group throughout the PRB period of Pre-Raphaelitism and contributed to The Germ . Other young painters and sculptors became close associates, including Charles Allston Collins , and Alexander Munro . The PRB intended to keep the existence of the brotherhood secret from members of the Royal Academy. The brotherhood's early doctrines, as defined by William Michael Rossetti, were expressed in four declarations: The principles were deliberately non dogmatic, since
14756-613: Was much loved by Sir John Betjeman and there are twelve large Pre-Raphaelite murals by Spencer Stanhope which depict various Biblical scenes involving angels. Those on the north side show scenes from the Old Testament while the six on the south side are from the New Testament. Two other artistic features are the Scholars' Window on the south side, which was designed by Edward Burne-Jones and made by Old Marlburian William Morris , and
14880-493: Was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000, and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared. Jean Scott, the head of the Independent Schools Council , said that independent schools had always been exempt from anti-cartel rules applied to business, were following
15004-399: Was scorned by critics as sentimental and concocted "artistic bric-a-brac". In the 1960s there was a major revival of Pre-Raphaelitism. Exhibitions and catalogues of works, culminating in a 1984 exhibition in London's Tate Gallery , re-established a canon of Pre-Raphaelite work. Among many other exhibitions, there was another large show at Tate Britain in 2012–13. In the late 20th century
15128-476: Was shown at a Free Exhibition on Hyde Park Corner. As agreed, all members of the brotherhood signed their work with their name and the initials "PRB". Between January and April 1850, the group published a literary magazine, The Germ edited by William Rossetti which published poetry by the Rossettis, Woolner, and Collinson and essays on art and literature by associates of the brotherhood, such as Coventry Patmore . As
15252-441: Was supportive of boarding school education and made 52 recommendations, including state funding of up to 45,000 places. No action was taken by the then Labour government (or successive administrations). The report presented by David Donnison in 1970 made 25 recommendations for England and Wales and 22 for Scotland. The commission was divided on many issues so several of the recommendations were not made with full consensus. No action
15376-399: Was taken by the incoming (1970) Conservative government but five years later the direct grant scheme was terminated by Labour. The social changes of the 1960s were felt in the public schools; the new headmaster at Oundle School noted that "student protests and intellectual ferment were challenging the status quo". These challenges later coincided with the mid-1970s recession and moves by
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