Westminster School

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The Royal College of St. Peter at Westminster, but almost always referred to as Westminster School, or even just Westminster, for short) is an ancient English public school, located by Westminster Abbey in Westminster, central London, with a history stretching back to the 12th century. Its A-level results in both 2004 and 2005 were the highest in Britain. The Head Master is Dr. Stephen Spurr. The school traditionally aims in particular to foster independence and original thinking.

Contents

History

The School originally became a public school (and so available to all members of the public, provided that they could pay for tuition costs) in 1179, as the educational part of the Roman Catholic Abbey at Westminster, the Benedictine monks being required to provide a small charity school by decree of Pope Alexander III. Parts of the School's buildings date back to the eleventh century, and it is quite likely that the first schoolboys were taught by the monks even before then.

However, this arrangement changed in 1540, when King Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the Monasteries of the Catholic Church in England, but personally ensured the School's survival by his royal charter. The College of St. Peter carried on with forty "King's Scholars" funded from the royal purse. Although during Queen Mary I's brief reign the Abbey was reinstated as a Roman Catholic monastery, it was redissolved on Queen Elizabeth I's accession, and neither of these events had a major impact on the School.

Elizabeth I formally refounded the School, this time as a separate body, in 1560, with new statutes to select 40 Queen's Scholars from the boys who had already attended the school for a year. This date is now generally taken as the date that the school was "founded", although final independence from the Abbey was only achieved with the Public Schools Act 1868.

In 1943, Westminster Under School was formed as a semi-separate entity for the teaching of day pupils from the ages of 8 to 13 (now 7 to 13). The current headmaster of the Under School is Mr. Jeremy Edwards. Originally situated in Little Dean's Yard (the main square of the School, off Dean's Yard), it later took residence in Vincent Square, overlooking the School's playing fields.

In 1967, the first girl pupil was admitted to the School, with girls becoming full members of the (Upper) School from 1973 onwards.

In 1979, the school was the subject of " Public School", a then unprecedented BBC documentary by Mary Rose-Richards, Edward Mirzoeff and Jonathan Gili, still unmatched in its wholly unrestricted access to a public school.

Location

Image:Westminster school arch view.jpg

The School is located primarily in the former grounds of the now-defunct monastery at Westminster Abbey, its buildings surrounding the (private) square Little Dean's Yard (known as 'Yard'), off Dean's Yard, where Church House, the headquarters of the Anglican Church, is sited, along with some of the Houses, the Common Room, and College Hall. The humanities are taught in Sutcliff's on the neighbouring Great College Street (named after the sweet shop that used to occupy the ground floor of the building in the 19th century), and the Robert Hooke Science Centre is located some way away, just off Smith Square. Further, College Garden, to the East of Little Dean's Yard, is believed to be the oldest garden in England, under continuous cultivation for at least the last thousand years. As part of a recent expansion programme funded by a gift from A A Milne, the school added the Millicent Fawcett Hall for dramatic performances and the Manoukian Centre for music, and redeveloped 3/3A Dean's Yard (now known as Weston's) for the humanities.

The playing fields are at Vincent Square, 600 yards (600 m) away, which Dean Vincent created for the School by hiring a horse and plough to carve ten acres out of the open Tothill Fields. The boathouse is now at Putney, although the school's First Eight still annually exercises its right to land at Black Rod Steps of the Palace of Westminster.

Notable buildings

The 14th century Abbot's state dining hall, now named 'College Hall', may be one of the oldest and finest examples of medieval refectory in existence. The School uses it for its original purpose every day in term-time, whilst during the holidays it reverts to the Dean, as the Abbot's successor. Elizabeth Woodville took sanctuary here in 1483 with 5 daughters and her son Richard, but failed to save him from his fate as one of the Princes in the Tower. In the 1560s Queen Elizabeth I several times came to see her scholars act their Latin Plays on a stage in front of the attractive Elizabethan gallery, which may have been first erected especially for the purpose.

'College' (now shared between the three Houses of College, Dryden's and Wren's) is a dressed stone building overlooking College Garden, the former monastery's Infirmary garden which is now the property of Westminster Abbey. It dates from 1729, and was designed by the Earl of Burlington based on earlier designs from Sir Christopher Wren (himself an Old Westminster).

'School', the School's main hall and former monks' Dormitory, is used for Latin Prayers (a weekly assembly with prayers spoken in the Westminster-dialect of Latin), exams, and large concerts, plays and the like. From 1599 onwards it was used to teach all the pupils, the Upper and Lower Schools being split by a curtain hung from a 16th century bar made of pig iron, which remains the largest piece of pig iron in the world. The stone steps and entranceway to School have been attributed as the work of Inigo Jones, and are engraved with the names of many pupils who used to hire a stonemason for the purpose. The panelling "up School" is similarly, but officially, painted with the coats of arms of many former pupils. The shell-shaped apse at the North end of School gave its name to the Shell forms taught there and the corresponding classes at many other public schools. The current shell displays a Latin epigram on the rebuilding of School, with the acrostic Semper Eadem, Queen Elizabeth's motto.

The roofs of both School and College were destroyed in The Blitz by an incendiary bomb in 1941, the buildings being re-opened by George VI in 1950.

Ashburnham House, which today houses the library and the Mathematics Department, was built by Inigo Jones or his pupil John Webb around the time of the Restoration, as a London seat for the family which became the Earls of Ashburnham. It incorporates remains of the mediaeval Prior's House, and its garden is the site of some of the earliest sittings of the House of Commons. In 1721 there was a disasterous fire when Ashburnham housed the King's and Cottonian libraries, which form the basis of the British Library, and many of the books and manuscripts still show the marks. After the Public Schools Act 1868 there was an outrageous parliamentary and legal battle between the Abbey and the School, until the School finally obtained Ashburnham under the Act for £4000. In 1881 William Morris conducted a public campaign which succeeded in preventing its demolition along with the neighbouring ruinous mediaeval buildings. During the Second World War, the library was used as a communications station for the Royal Air Force. In 1969, it was used as one of the locations for the film The Magic Christian.

Needless to say, the schoolchildren generally take absolutely no notice of the history or antiquity of their notable buildings!

Customs

Image:The Greaze.jpg

On Shrove Tuesdays since 1753 the 'Greaze' takes place "up School", in which the head cook is required to throw a horsehair pancake over the bar that used to separate the parts of the schoolroom, for which elected members of the school fight for one minute whilst being watched over by the Dean of Westminster Abbey and the Head Master; the pupil with the largest piece after the minute is up being the winner, and awarded a sovereign. Were the cook to fail to get the 'pancake' over the bar within 3 tries, he or she would have been booked, or pelted with (rather heavy) Latin primers; it is rumoured that this has taken place on (at least) one occasion. The Greaze is still an extremely popular tradition with some members of the school, although the tradition of booking the cook no longer exists.

The privilege of being the first commoners to acclaim each new sovereign at their coronation in Westminster Abbey is reserved for the current Queen's (or King's) Scholars. Their shouts of "Vivat Regina" (Long live the Queen!) are now incorporated into the Coronation Anthem.

A service is given in Latin each year in Westminster Abbey, called 'Little Commem.', in which the School celebrates its benefactors, most notably Elizabeth I. Every third year a much larger service is given in its place, and called 'Big Commem'.

The Latin Play, acted by members of College, is presented annually in College, with a prologue and humorous epilogue on contemporary events given in Latin by the head of the House (known as the Master of the Queen's Scholars, regardless of their sex). Elizabeth I, who spoke fluent Latin, inaugurated the plays by her school statutes in 1560, and the early plays were acted in College Hall before Queen Elizabeth and her whole Council. However, in a more prudish age Queen Victoria recorded in her diary that the Play was "very Improper"! No other school in the world can claim to have carried on this ancient yuletide custom, almost without interruption to the present day.

Entry

There are 4 main points of entry for prospective pupils:

  • For the Under School, at ages 7 and 11, judged by a combination of internal exam and interview.
  • For the Lower School, at age 13, judged by either Common Entrance, a standardised, national set of exams for entrance to independent schools, for standard entry, and the Challenge, an internal set of exams, for scholarship entry, as well as interview.
  • For the Upper School, at age 16, judged by subject-specific exams and interviews and conditional upon GCSE results. This is the only point of entry for girls, and a handful of boys.

As well as the Queen's Scholarships, which pay from endowment one half of boarding fees, and of which there are (almost always) 8 in each year, pupils applying for entry under the Challenge have available a small number, usually 2, of (non-boarding) Honorary Scholarships. Stephen Hawking was entered for the scholarship in 1952, but fell ill on the day of the Challenge examination.

Those entering the Lower School also have the opportunity to obtain scholarships based on musical talent, and bursaries for those whose parents are not able to fund their tuition. Ignoring scholarships and bursaries, annual fees before incidentals range from £10,500 (approx. $20,000 US) for pupils at the Under School to £23,000 (approx. $42,000 US) for boarding pupils.

Westminster jargon

Year names

Westminster has an unusual system for naming the school years, which can cause confusion to those not familiar with the system. For this reason the Under School changed to the nationally standard year names in September 1997.

Under School (no longer in use)
  • Year 3: Year not in existence until after names were dropped
  • Year 4: Petty B
  • Year 5: Petty A
  • Year 6: Form 1
  • Year 7: Form 2
  • Year 8: Remove
Great School (still in use)
  • Year 9: Vth Form
  • Year 10: Lower Shell
  • Year 11: Upper Shell
  • Year 12: VIth Form
  • Year 13: Remove

When the above names were phased out, entrance to the Under School was at 'about' 8 (though in practice, many entrants were 7); now the cut-off is precise (pupils must be 7 on the first day of the school year to join Year 3), which means that while direct comparison is not possible, it has been speculated that Year 3 would have been called 'Petty C'.

The Lower and Upper Shell years are named for the shell-like alcove up School where they were originally taught.

Other jargon

Abbey
When used without an article refers to the compulsory morning service in the Abbey on Mondays and Fridays; "It's time for Abbey".
Begging a Play
Making a request for a play (qv). The Dean annually begs a play at the Greaze, but other plays may also be begged especially in recognition of notable events in the life of the School.
Brown
A cigarette. Also used as a verb; "He was caught browning".
The Challenge
The exam sat by pupils applying for scholarships. Wholly oral until 1855
Dignissima
Latin for "most worthy". An award given to a pupil for an outstanding piece of work. This is now called a Digniora, and the award given is a silver thrupenny piece.
Gating
Pupils are 'gated' as the worst form of punishment next to expulsion or suspension. A pupil who has been gated must attend detention every day (including SAP) for a week or more, depending on the severity of the teacher.
The Greaze
Annual pancake fight. See customs.
Green
Dean's Yard; "They played football on Green".
LO
Excused from Station (owing to illness, for example). It is speculated that LO stands for "leave off" from the normal station lists.
Occupat
During the annual Anglican confirmation service, non-church goers are confined to their houses. This is referred to as occupat.
The Pink List
The list of pupils and members of the Common Room of the school. This exists both as a small notebook and as a computer database.
Play
A day's holiday, especially in conjunction with a notable event. Annual plays are the Queen's Play and the Dean's Play. The most recent extraordinary play was the Pooh Play in recognition of the School's selling the rights of Winnie the Pooh to the Walt Disney Corpoation.
SAP
Saturday afternoon punishment; detention on a saturday afternoon.
Shag (Day)
Pupils may attend school wearing clothes not specified by the uniform code, but are expected to give to charity if they do so. This is only permitted on certain days; "It's Shag Day on Friday."
Station
Sports which are compulsory and held on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 2:00pm onwards; "He missed Station as he was sick".
Up (house, School, etc.)
"He was up Grant's", "You should be up house if you don't have a lesson", "Latin prayers take place up School". Events in Vincent Square are said to be "up Fields", particularly among the Common Room. An exception to the general rule is that one is never "up College", only "in College".
Yard
Little Dean's Yard; "He was in Yard".

Houses

Image:Westminster school grants view.jpg

The School is split into 11 Houses, some of which are 'day Houses' (and only admit day-pupils; those who go home after school), the others having a mix of day-pupils and boarders. The Houses are named after people connected to the house or school in various ways - mainly prominent Old Westminsters but also former Head Masters and House Masters. Grant's is the oldest house, not only of Westminster but of any public school.

Houses are a focus for pastoral care and social and sporting activities, as well as accommodation for boarders. All the day houses are mixed-sex, and all houses admit day girls, however only Busby's and Purcell's provide boarding accommodation for girls.

Day houses:

  • Ashburnham
  • Wren's
  • Dryden's
  • Hakluyt's
  • Milne's

Boarding houses:

  • Grant's
  • Rigaud's
  • Liddell's
  • Busby's (mixed)
  • Purcell's (girl boarders only: formerly Barton Street and originally a part of Dryden's)

There is also 'College', the House for the Queen's Scholars (all of whom board), but which has assigned to it some of the (non-boarding) girls who enter the School in the VIth form.

Sport ("Station")

The School has one of only a few Eton Fives courts in the world, being different from Fives in having a buttress and step, and semi-regularly fields pupils as national entries in international competitions in rowing, or "Water", and fencing. Sport facilities at the school itself are however fairly limited due to its location in the centre of London, which cannot provide space for the wide range of sports available. The School's main sports ground is nearby at Vincent Square, but it is limited to football, cricket and tennis. Westminster has a historic claim to having founded Association Football.

Former pupils

Fuller list: List of former pupils of Westminster

The following people were educated at Westminster, and can be recorded with OW (Old Westminster) after their name (collectively, OWW):

Further reading

  • Tony Trowles (2005) A Guide to the Literature of Westminster Abbey, Westminster School and St. Margaret's Church 1571-2000, Boydell Press.
  • John Rae (1994) Delusions of Grandeur : A Headmaster's Life, HarperCollins.
  • {{{Author|}}}{{|{{{3}}}}}}|show1| (1987)}}{{{{{Year|}}}}}}|show1|.}} {{|{{{3}}}}}}|show1|[{{{URL}}}}} The King's Nurseries: The Story of Westminster School (2nd edition){{|{{{3}}}}}}|show1|]}}{{|{{{3}}}}}}|show1|, {{{Pages}}}}}{{|{{{3}}}}}}|Show1|, James & James}}. {{{ID|}}}
  • John Dudley Carleton (1965) Westminster School: A History (revised edition), R. Hart-Davis.
  • Lawrence Edward Tanner (1934) Westminster School: A History, Country Life.
  • Reginald Airy (1902) Handbooks to the great Public Schools: Westminster, George Bell & Sons.
  • John Sargeaunt (1898) Annals of Westminster School, Methuen.

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.freepedia.org/Westminster_School.html"


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