115-536: Harrow School ( / ˈ h ær oʊ / ) is a public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill , Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon , a local landowner and farmer, under a royal charter of Queen Elizabeth I . The school has an enrolment of about 820 boys, all of whom board full-time, in twelve boarding houses. It was one of the seven public schools selected for reform in
230-551: 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 is defined in Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable as "a somewhat demeaning term dating from
345-612: 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
460-640: 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
575-412: A Manger founder Julian Metcalfe ) and the big game hunter and artist General Douglas Hamilton , as well as Island Records founder Chris Blackwell . In sports, the school produced the first two Wimbledon champions ( Spencer Gore and Frank Hadow ) as well as FA Cup founder C. W. Alcock and current England rugby international players Billy Vunipola , Maro Itoje and Henry Arundell . Alumni in
690-495: 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 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
805-493: A boy shares his room for the first three to six terms and thereafter has a room to himself. The School has a book of songs, of which the best known is Forty Years On . In the 19th century, most schools had a school song, usually in Latin, which they sang at the beginning and end of term. Harrow had a master, Edward Bowen , who was a poet and a music teacher, and John Farmer , who was a composer. Between 1870 and 1885, these two wrote
920-426: A brief commemorative biography of Cockerell, including the following sentiment which speaks of his great work as a student of architecture: At the heart of Cockerell's emotional experience of the power of the antique to fire the imagination lay an extraordinary visual sensitivity to the mass and volume of the components of architecture, which for him were never mere abstract, weightless forms or quotations borrowed from
1035-408: 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. Former Harrow pupil Stanley Baldwin wrote that when he first became Prime Minister in 1923, he wanted to have six Harrovians in his government . "To make a cabinet is like making
1150-486: A fag is part of the routine that is the essence of the English Public School system... the wonder of other countries". In 2005, the school was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel , exposed by The Times , which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents, although the schools said that they had not realised that
1265-537: 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
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#17330850757461380-640: 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
1495-550: A jig-saw puzzle fit, and I managed to make my six fit by keeping the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer for myself". Until the First World War , the role of public schools in preparing pupils for the gentlemanly elite meant that such education, particularly in its classical focus and social mannerisms, became a mark of the ruling class . Acceptance of social elitism was reduced by the two world wars, but despite portrayals of
1610-544: 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
1725-449: A number of songs about school life. The inspiring, wistful, amusing and thought-provoking words and the attractive tunes, made the songs very popular. Successors to Bowen and Farmer have added to the collection. The songs are sung in House and School concerts several times a term. Winston Churchill was a great lover of Harrow songs and when he returned for a concert as Prime Minister in 1940, it
1840-479: 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 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
1955-451: A re-endowment, and there is some evidence of a grammar school at Harrow in the mid-16th century, but its location and connection with Lyon's foundation are unclear. Evidence for earlier schools, possibly connected with the chantry of St Mary (established in 1324), is weak. In the original charter six governors were named, including two members of the Gerard family of Flambards, and two members of
2070-550: 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
2185-525: A slice of an anc[ien]t Greek Temple to a Barn which is called breadth & simplicity, than which nothing can be more absurd, as the Greek Houses were certainly of wood & brick & plaister [Sic] painted & temporary things. I am sure that the grave & solemn arch[itectur]e of Temples were never adopted to Houses, but a much lighter style, as we may judge by the vases, the object being space & commodiousness. Cockerell's first building (1818–20)
2300-570: A soldier and died aged twenty in the Battle of Alma , then two more daughters and three sons, the youngest Samuel Pepys (1844–1921) would edit and publish in 1903 his father's travel diaries. By 1851 Cockerell was in poor health and spent that summer recuperating at his sister Anne Pollen's house in Somerset , from this time on his architectural practice virtually ceased. The family moved to 13 Chester Terrace , where he died on 17 September 1863, aged 75. He
2415-486: 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. ..." In 1801 William Vincent , headmaster of Westminster published A Defence of Public Education . It contains
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#17330850757462530-417: A straw hat with a dark blue band similar to a boater , but shallower in crown and broader in brim. The School blue-and-white woollen scarf and dark blue woollen overcoat may be worn in cold weather. Variations include boys who are monitors ( prefects ) who are allowed to wear a jumper of their choice of colour, and members of certain societies who may earn the right to replace the standard school tie with one of
2645-596: A variety of scarves, cravats , neck and bow ties of their society. Sunday dress, which is worn every Sunday up to lunch and on special occasions such as Speech Day and songs, consists of a black tailcoat , a black single-breasted waistcoat and striped trousers, worn with a white shirt and black tie. Boys with sports colours may wear a grey double-breasted waistcoat; members of the Guild (a society for boys who have achieved distinction in art, music or drama) may wear maroon double-breasted waistcoats with maroon bow ties; members of
2760-430: 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
2875-424: Is considered to be the longest-running cricket fixture in the world and is the oldest fixture at Lord's (see: Eton v Harrow ). Eton won the match in 2013, and Harrow in 2014 and 2015. Harrow has its own unique style of football called Harrow Football . Currently, the school offers around 30 sports activities for students such as archery, badminton, hockey and judo. As in most boarding schools, for many years there
2990-477: Is rarely used in Scotland , where "public school" has been used since the early 18th century to refer to publicly funded schools , and was defined by the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act as including those managed by the school board of a parish, or of a burgh. There are instances of the term being used to refer to elite Scots private fee-paying schools. There is no single or absolute definition of public school , and
3105-822: 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
3220-505: The Dockyard , and finally on 14 June The Grange, Northington . The couple set up home at 87 Eaton Square . In 1838 the family moved to Ivy House, North End, Hampstead . The first of their ten children, a son, Robert Charles was born in 1829 but died five years later, followed in 1832 by the second son John Rennie, a daughter in 1832, then in 1833 a son Frederick Pepys Cockerell who became an architect, followed in 1834 by Robert who became
3335-605: 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
3450-515: 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
3565-898: The Nobel Prize in Physics in 1904; John Galsworthy , winner of the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature ; and Winston Churchill , who also received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953. Other alumni include writers Lord Byron , Anthony Trollope , Sir Terence Rattigan , Simon Sebag-Montefiore , and Richard Curtis , the Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster and prominent reformist Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury , military commanders such as Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis and Sir Peter de la Billiere , and business people (including DeBeers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer , Pret
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3680-589: The Palazzo del Te , Parma , Milan, Genoa and back to Rome from where he set off in March 1817 to return home via Paris. Cockerell returned to London on 17 June 1817, over seven years since his departure, originally the plan had been for a three-year Grand Tour. Cockerell set about preparing his drawings of Greek antiquities for exhibition at the Royal Academy. Cockerell was living and working at 8 Old Burlington Street, it
3795-468: The Public Schools Act of 1868 . Harrow's uniform includes morning suits , straw boater hats , top hats and canes . Its list of distinguished alumni includes seven former British prime ministers : Aberdeen , Perceval , Goderich , Peel , Palmerston , Baldwin and Churchill , as well as the former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru ; numerous former and current members of both Houses of
3910-542: The Seven churches of Asia and visit Hellenistic sites along the way, the itinerary was: Smyrna , Pergamon , Sardis , Ephesus , Priene and Side . They arrived in Malta on 18 July 1812, where Cockerell was confined to bed for three weeks with a fever. By 28 August 1812 they were in Sicily , where they stayed several months studying the chief Greek temples, drawing a reconstruction of
4025-685: The Temple of the Olympian Zeus, Agrigento . From December 1813 to February 1814 he was in Syracuse, Sicily working on drawings for a projected book on Aegina , Phigalia and the Bassae Frieze, he left to return to Athens where he continued work on the book, only to fall ill again on 22 August, he was still ill on 10 November, when he wrote to his sister. On his recovery he continued his travels, in January 1814 he
4140-566: The UK Parliament , several members of various royal families , three Nobel Prize winners, twenty Victoria Cross holders, and many prominent figures in the arts and sciences . The school was founded in February 1572 under a royal charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I to John Lyon , a wealthy local farmer. The school's formal name is still 'The Free Grammar School of John Lyon within the town of Harrow-on-the-Hill'. The charter described this as
4255-728: 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
4370-526: 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
4485-684: 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
4600-420: 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
4715-504: 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 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
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4830-450: 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 the Girls' Schools Association . The majority of public schools are affiliated with, or were established by,
4945-590: 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
5060-508: 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
5175-661: 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
5290-607: 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
5405-693: The Elder ) while strolling in the grounds of Dalmeny House , Scotland, she was twenty-five, and he was nearly forty. The engagement ring was bought for £27 10s 0d in Edinburgh on 29 March and the wedding took place on 4 June 1828 in St James's Church, Piccadilly , the Bishop of London William Howley officiating. The honeymoon started at Liphook , moving on to Chichester , the Isle of Wight , crossing to Portsmouth where they toured
5520-779: 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
5635-566: 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 ,
5750-573: The Headmaster's House (1843) by Decimus Burton ; the Museum Schools [Butler Museum] (1886) by Basil Champneys ; and the Music Schools (1890) by Edward Prior. Everyday dress for boys at Harrow consists of a dark blue jacket known as a "bluer" with light grey trousers known as "greyers". With these are worn a white shirt, black tie, black shoes and an optional blue jumper. Boys also wear a Harrow hat,
5865-604: 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
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#17330850757465980-597: The Memory of Sir Christopher Wren, being a Collection of his Principal Works"; these became well known through published engravings As an archaeologist, Cockerell is remembered for removing the reliefs from the temple of Apollo at Bassae , near Phigalia , which are now in the British Museum. Replicas of these reliefs were included in the frieze of the library of the Travellers Club . The Royal Academy of Arts composed
6095-470: 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
6210-594: The Page family of Wembley and Sudbury Court. The founder John Lyon died in 1592, bequeathing his estate to two beneficiaries: the school and the maintenance of two roads, the Harrow Road and the Edgware Road, both going to London, 10 miles (16 km) away. The Road Trust received by far the greater share, the school's share providing just for the salary of The School Master and some minor provisions. This situation, reasonable at
6325-565: The Philathletic Club (a society for boys with achievements in sport) may wear black bow ties alongside grey double-breasted waistcoats. School monitors (prefects) may wear black double-breasted waistcoats and a top hat, and carry canes. Harrow School divides its pupils, who are all boarders , into twelve Houses , each of about seventy boys, with a thirteenth house, Gayton, used as an overflow. Each House has its own facilities, customs and traditions, and each competes in sporting events against
6440-460: 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
6555-665: The Royal Institute of British Architects for 1842). He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy on 2 November 1829, and an academician on 10 February 1836, his diploma work being his design for the Palace of Westminster competition. In September 1839, he was appointed Professor of Architecture at the Academy, following the death of William Wilkins . He won the first Royal Gold Medal for architecture in 1848 and became president of
6670-516: The Royal Institute of British Architects in 1860. In 1833, following the resignation of Sir John Soane , he became surveyor to the Bank of England , and made additions to its London building, as well as designing branch offices in Manchester , Liverpool , Bristol , and Plymouth . His exhibits at the Royal Academy included reconstructions of ancient Rome and Athens and a capriccio entitled "Tribute to
6785-413: The Temple of Aphaea for a fortnight to check and correct his drawings. In a letter of 23 December 1814 he details his re-discovery of entasis , he enclosed a sketch for Robert Smirke of one of the Parthenon columns showing its outline. Thanks to the abdication of Napoleon in April 1814, the Kingdom of Sicily and Rome were now open to the British, so on 15 January 1815 Cockerell left for Naples in
6900-436: 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
7015-546: 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
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#17330850757467130-426: The arts and media industry include actors Edward Fox , Benedict Cumberbatch and Cary Elwes , photographer Nikolai von Bismarck , singers David Dundas and James Blunt , pianist James Rhodes , horse racing pundit John McCririck , and Mark Thatcher , son of Margaret Thatcher . Fictional characters who have attended Harrow include Brett Sinclair of the TV series The Persuaders! , Withnail and Uncle Monty from
7245-680: The attention paid me here, I have an audience daily of savants, artists & amateurs who come and see my drawings; envoys and ambassadors beg to know when it will be convenient for me to show them some sketches; Prince Poniatowski and Prince Saxe-Gotha beg to be permitted to see them...'. Much of his time in Rome was spent on preparing his drawings for publication. Writing to his father on 28 December saying he had purchased copies of Domenico Fontana 's Della transportatione dell'obelisco Vaticano e delle fabriche di Sisto V and Martino Ferraboschi's Architettura della basilica di S. Pietro in Vaticano . In 1816 Cockrell moved on to Florence . Cockerell
7360-448: 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
7475-404: 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
7590-402: The change to the law (which had happened only a few months earlier) about the sharing of information had subsequently made it an offence. Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling £3,000,000 into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared. Harrow
7705-433: 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
7820-449: The company of Jakob Linckh , they visited Pompeii and only reached Rome on 28 July. The circle he mixed with in Rome included: Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres , Antonio Canova , Bertel Thorvaldsen , Peter von Cornelius , Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow , Heinrich Maria von Hess , Ludwig Vogel , Johannes Riepenhausen , Franz Riepenhausen and the Knoering brothers. Writing to his father in August 1815 he said 'I should be out of my wits at
7935-645: 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
8050-457: The film Withnail & I , Herbert Pocket from Charles Dickens 's novel, Great Expectations , and Geoffrey Charles Poldark from Poldark . 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
8165-468: The first Prime Minister of India , Jawaharlal Nehru . Twenty Old Harrovians have been awarded the Victoria Cross and one the George Cross . Five monarchs have attended the school: King Hussein of Jordan ; both Kings of Iraq, Ghazi I and his son Faisal II ; the current Emir of Qatar , Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani ; and Ali bin Hamud of Zanzibar . Harrow has educated several Nobel laureates: John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh , who received
8280-562: 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
8395-469: The languages and culture of the ancient civilisations of Rome and Greece. As the reputation of the school grew through the 19th century, the number of foreigners increased, but the local families became increasingly reluctant to impose on their children a classical education and the number of free scholars declined. In 1825 there were 17 free scholars and 219 foreigners. In 1876 the Lower School of John Lyon
8510-430: 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
8625-555: 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
8740-424: The others. Until the 1950s there existed what was known as 'small houses' where only 5–10 boys stayed at one time while they waited for a space in a large house to become available (hence the use of the term large house in this article). A twelfth large house, Lyon's, was built in 2010. House Masters, Assistant House Masters and their families live in the boarding Houses and are assisted by House Tutors appointed from
8855-416: The past, but acted together as a constantly renewable expression of man's innate need to create beauty on earth. Cockerell had grave doubts about the wisdom of using Greek Revival architecture in nineteenth-century England, in his diary of 1821 he had this to say: Until the attention of the world was drawn to the study of Greece by the spirit of the last century by Barthélemy 's Anacharsis & thence to
8970-454: The products of public schools as "silly asses" and " toffs ", the old system continued well into the 1960s. Charles Robert Cockerell Charles Robert Cockerell RA (27 April 1788 – 17 September 1863) was an English architect, archaeologist , and writer. He studied architecture under Robert Smirke . He went on an extended Grand Tour lasting seven years, mainly spent in Greece . He
9085-407: 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
9200-558: 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
9315-518: The proposal. In June he suffered another bout of ill health. From Florence Cockerell continued his tour visiting Pisa for a month, returning to Florence, he set out on 13 September for Bologna , Ferrara , then travelling by boat along the Po to Venice where he stayed three weeks. From Venice, Cockerell visited Andrea Palladio 's buildings along the Brenta (river) and at Vicenza , passing on to Mantua and
9430-613: 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
9545-524: 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 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
9660-680: The rebuilding of Covent Garden Theatre (the forerunner of today's Royal Opera House ). On 14 April 1810 he set off on the Grand Tour . Due to the Napoleonic Wars much of Europe was closed to the British, so he headed for Cadiz , Malta and Constantinople ( Istanbul ); from there he went to Troy , finally arriving in Athens , Greece by January 1811. In Constantinople he met John Foster (architect) who would accompany him on his tour. In April 1811 he
9775-770: 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
9890-568: The school's boarding houses were constructed in Victorian times, when the number of boys increased dramatically. The Speech Room by William Burges (1877), the chapel (1855) and Vaughan Library (1863), both by George Gilbert Scott , and the War Memorial building (1926), designed by Herbert Baker to mark the loss of former pupils in the First World War , are all Grade II* listed buildings . A total of 27 school buildings are Grade II listed, including
10005-467: 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
10120-526: 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, 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
10235-500: 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
10350-498: 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
10465-511: The study of Greek architecture by the researches of Stuart & Revett architecture had for its guide this Country the Old Italian masters & their valuable commentaries & publications of the anc[ien]t arch[itectur]e of Rome and Italy. No great enormities could arise under such guidance, but since the rage for Greek has been amongst us all the rules which formerly protected us are now set aside & we are at sea without compas ...we stick
10580-510: The teaching staff. The House Master oversees the welfare of every boy in his care; for parents, he is the main point of contact with the School. Each House has a resident matron and sick room. The matrons are supported by the School's Medical Centre where trained nursing staff offer round-the-clock care. The medical centre is under the direct supervision of the school doctor who is available on the Hill every day for consultation. There are no dormitories:
10695-479: The temple was eventually excavated and sold to the British Museum . His tour continued visiting, Sparta , Argos , Tiryns , Mycenae , Epidaurus and Corinth returning to Athens. It was there that he met Frederick North , who persuaded Cockerell and Foster to accompany him to Egypt , setting off in late 1811, they travelled via Crete , where North abandoned the idea, so Cockerell and Foster decided to visit
10810-539: 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
10925-525: The time because of the need to transport merchandise to market, continued until 1991 when the considerable assets of the Road Trust were reassigned to John Lyon's Charity, a charity to provide educational benefits for the inhabitants of the boroughs through which the roads pass. It was only after the death of Lyon's wife in 1608 that the construction of the first school building began. Known as the Old Schools, it
11040-485: 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
11155-534: 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 the following. "By a public school, we mean an endowed place of education of old standing, to which
11270-546: 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
11385-464: Was a system of 'fagging' whereby younger boys carried out duties for the seniors. At Harrow this was phased out in the 1970s and completely banned by 1990. In his detailed history of the school, Christopher Tyerman recorded that in 1796 fagging was compulsory for boys up to the fourth form, and that 50 out of 139 boys were then fags. In 1928, Harrow Master C. H. P. Mayo said of fagging: "Those who hope to rule must first learn to obey... to learn to obey as
11500-544: 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
11615-520: Was appointed Surveyor of the Fabric of St Paul's Cathedral , where his works included the replacement, in 1821, of the ball and cross on the dome. With Jacques Ignace Hittorff and Thomas Leverton Donaldson , Cockerell was also a member of the committee formed in 1836 to determine whether the Elgin Marbles and other Greek statuary in the British Museum had originally been coloured (see Transactions of
11730-589: Was born in London on 27 April 1788, the third of eleven children of Samuel Pepys Cockerell , educated at Westminster School from 1802, where he received an education in Latin and the Classics . From the age of sixteen, he trained in the architectural practice of his father, who held the post of surveyor to East India House, and several London estates. From 1809 to 1810 Cockerell became an assistant to Robert Smirke , helping in
11845-459: Was completed in 1615. John Lyon's school was founded to provide free education for 30 (later extended to 40) poor boys of the parish. However, the School Master was permitted to accept "foreigners" (boys from outside the parish) from whom he received fees. It was the need for foreigners to find accommodation that led to the concept of boarding. As in all schools of the time, education was based on
11960-443: 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
12075-439: Was featured in a Sky 1 documentary series entitled Harrow: A Very British School in 2013. In February 2016, the actor Laurence Fox claimed Harrow threatened legal action to prevent him discussing the racism, homophobia and bullying he said he encountered as a pupil at the school. Harrow alumni are known as Old Harrovians, among seven British prime ministers were Winston Churchill , Stanley Baldwin and Robert Peel , and
12190-549: Was founded under the authority of the Governors of Harrow School to provide a modern education for local boys. It is now known as The John Lyon School and is a prominent independent school; it remains part of the Harrow School Foundation. The Old Schools remains largely the building of 1615, although it was extended and re-designed by Charles Robert Cockerell in 1818. It is a Grade I listed building . The majority of
12305-644: Was in Aegina where he helped excavate the Temple of Aphaea (which he called the Temple of Jupiter), finding fallen fragmentary pediment sculptures (these are now in Germany), which he discovered were originally painted . On 18 August 1811 he set out with three companions from Zakynthos on a tour of Morea , aiming for the temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae in Arcadia . The magnificent Bassae Frieze that Cockerell discovered at
12420-613: Was in Ioannina , where he had an audience with Ali Pasha . Returning to Athens, before going on in May 1814 to Zakynthos to attend the sale of the Bassae Frieze. Back in Athens he met an old school friend John Spencer Stanhope and his brother, between August and October he was struck down by the fever again, but was well enough to attend a celebration of the anniversary of the Battle of Salamis at Piraeus on 25 October. In December 1814 he returned to
12535-422: Was in the style of Tudor architecture , the brick building at Harrow School , now known as the 'old schools' has twin crow-stepped gables . His next commission was the classical Hanover Chapel (1821–25) Regent Street , with its twin towers and projecting tetrastyle Ionic portico, later demolished (1896). On 23 March 1828 he proposed marriage to, and was accepted by, Anna Maria Rennie (daughter of John Rennie
12650-525: Was involved in major archaeological discoveries while in Greece. On returning to London, he set up a successful architectural practice. Appointed Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts , he served in that position between 1839 and 1859. He wrote many articles and books on both archaeology and architecture. In 1848, he became the first recipient of the Royal Gold Medal . Charles Robert Cockerell
12765-421: Was owned by his father, where his office remained until 1830, he lived elsewhere on marrying in 1828. From 1832 to 1836 he rented as his office 34 Savile Row (which was at the bottom of the garden of 8 Old Burlington Street). Cockerell was a member of three gentlemen's clubs : Athenaeum Club , Travellers Club (he was a founder member, 5 May 1819) and Grillion's to which he was elected in 1822. In 1819 he
12880-513: Was presented to Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany and was awarded the diploma of Academician of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno . While in Florence in early 1816 Cockerell produced a design for Wellington Palace for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , it would have been in the style of Greek Revival architecture on a scale to rival Blenheim Palace , though in the end nothing came of
12995-441: 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
13110-399: 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
13225-615: Was the first of many annual visits. Churchill Songs is still celebrated in Speech Room each year, and every five years at the Royal Albert Hall . The sport squash (originally called 'Squasher') was invented in Harrow out of the game rackets around 1830. It spread to other schools, eventually becoming an international sport. An annual cricket match has taken place between Harrow and Eton College at Lord's Cricket Ground since 1805. It
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