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You are here: Hudson's > Mrs Hudson Says... > Mrs Hudson says… | Britain’s oldest schools
Every month, Mrs Hudson along with her three children and Dinky the Irish Wolfhound investigate the best family and dog friendly heritage attractions that the UK has to offer.
The summer holidays are over and if your kids are anything like mine, there have been tantrums and arguments over school bags, pencil cases and returning to the early morning routine.
Florence is at secondary school now, which is a big change and the boys have moved onto a different stage of their education too, which has really made me think about schooling and how it is changed from my days in education and that has led me to do a bit of research on some of the oldest schools in the nation. Some of them date back to the 6th century and some of them are still in use!
So, to distract all the other mums, dads and...Read More
Every month, Mrs Hudson along with her three children and Dinky the Irish Wolfhound investigate the best family and dog friendly heritage attractions that the UK has to offer.
The summer holidays are over and if your kids are anything like mine, there have been tantrums and arguments over school bags, pencil cases and returning to the early morning routine.
Florence is at secondary school now, which is a big change and the boys have moved onto a different stage of their education too, which has really made me think about schooling and how it is changed from my days in education and that has led me to do a bit of research on some of the oldest schools in the nation. Some of them date back to the 6th century and some of them are still in use!
So, to distract all the other mums, dads and anyone else who is stressing out about school runs and packed lunches, here’s some of the things I have discovered about the oldest schools in Britain that your children can still attend!
The oldest school I found in my research was The King’s School in Canterbury, Kent. It was founded in the year 597 and is thought to be the oldest continuously operating school in the world!
The school started as a medieval cathedral school by Augustine of Canterbury, the man who is credited with bringing Christianity to Britain after the Romans left. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the school was founded by a royal charger and it became known as the King’s School in reference to the monarch at the time, Henry VIII. For almost 1400 years, it was an all boys school – girls were admitted for the first time in the 1970s and just to the sixth form part of the school. These days it is open to everyone and still runs as a boarding and day school. Another interesting fact about this one though – not only is it the oldest school in the UK but it is also the oldest charity! I think the atmosphere here is probably very different to the local comprehensive that Florence attends!
Another King’s School, this one in Rochester (which is also in Kent!) appeared a few years after the above, being founded in 604. Again during the reformation, it was reissued with a Royal Charter and continues to run as a boarding and day school. The grounds include a 16th century town house which Elizabeth I is known to have stayed in, the main school building, which is the oldest building still in use and was commandeered during WWII, laboratories and a theological college among others. Also, did you know, the radio DJ Pete Tong is one of the school’s former pupils!
Though both the above are older, Warwick School, formerly known as King’s School Warwick, was actually founded by royalty, rather than refounded following the dissolution of the monasteries. Its founder was Æthelflæd of Mercia back in 914 AD, making it the oldest surviving school founded by a woman!
During Michaelmas half term, the Town Crier of Warwick visits the school to announce the holiday, something that has continuously taken place since 1912.
It won’t surprise you that several of these old schools have notable alumni. St Peter’s School in York has been running since the year 627 and was where Gladiator Sam Bond, Composer John Barry, Actor Greg Wise, Gunpowder plotters Guy Fawkes, John Wright and Christopher Wright and interestingly enough, a former Most Wanted criminal! The school continues to teach Latin, which is compulsory for the first four years of study and, though it started off also being an all boys school, now welcomes all pupils.
The UK’s oldest grammar school is thought to be Beverley Grammar School in Yorkshire. It is thought to be as old as Beverley Minister, but the date of its founding is uncertain. Many of these schools were founded and located alongside religious buildings, including Sherborne School, which along with Eton and Harrow is one of only five remaining all boys boarding schools. Alfred the Great, one of the best remembered Anglo Saxon kings is said to have been a pupil here and many of the school buildings are on the National Heritage list for England. Former pupils are known as Old Shirburnians and some of the more well known include Alan Turing, Jeremy Irons, Hugh Bonneville, James Purefoy, Jon Pertwee, Charlie Cox, Chris Martin and Stanley Johnson.
A school not far from my home is Wells Cathedral School, one of the oldest independent schools in the country and one of the oldest extant schools in the world. Like many of the others I’ve found, it is a day and boarding school and was one of the first to become coeducational, allowing girls to attend in the 1960s.
We’ve focused on many English schools, so here’s what I’ve discovered about the oldest school in Scotland. The High School of Glasgow was originally founded as the Choir School of Glasgow Cathedral in 1124 before becoming Glasgow Grammar School and then The High School of Glasgow. It boasts two British Prime Ministers as alumni, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Andrew Bonar Law, who both give their names to houses at the school.
These schools are all a far cry from the ones my children attend – especially when it comes to their founding, pretty sure they’re all from the 1960s at the latest! Either way, I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at some of Britain’s oldest schools now that school has started once again.
We’ll catch up with you again next month, hopefully your children will settle in well!
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