Little Dean's Yard
Encyclopedia
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
just as Yard, is a private gated yard at the heart of the school, within the precincts of the ancient monastery of Westminster
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
.
It is a secluded enclave on the original Thorney Island
Thorney Island (London)
Thorney Island was the eyot on the Thames, upstream of mediæval London, where Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster were built...
shared between Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
and the Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
, unsuspected by millions of Londoners who pass nearby between Westminster and Victoria.
To the East is College Garden
College Garden
College Garden is a private garden of Westminster Abbey in London, open to the public on some Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.A thousand years ago it was the infirmary garden of the monastery, and it is said to be the oldest garden in England under continuous cultivation; the produce can have done...
(which refers to the collegiate body of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, and not only to the school), the oldest cultivated garden in England, and formerly the infirmary garden of the monastery. Beyond is the Victoria Tower of the Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
, which towers over the Yard. The chimes of Big Ben
Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster
Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and is generally extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well. It is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world...
mark every quarter of every hour.
The entrance to the great School, formerly the monks' rere-dorter, is a stone arch designed by Lord Burlington
Earl of Burlington
Earl of Burlington is a title that has been created twice, the first time in the Peerage of England and the second in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation was for Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Cork, on 20 March 1664...
. A stone path marks the original way, before the rest of Yard was paved, to the low stone tunnel under another row of monastic buildings which leads to Dean's Yard
Dean's Yard
Dean's Yard, Westminster, comprises most of the remaining precincts of the former monastery of Westminster, not occupied by the Abbey buildings. It is known to members of Westminster School as Green, and referred to without an article...
, cars, and the outside world.
On the North side of Yard is Ashburnham House
Ashburnham House
Ashburnham House is an extended seventeenth-century house on Little Dean's Yard in Westminster, London, United Kingdom, and since 1882 has been part of Westminster School...
, built by Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
or his pupil John Webb, on the site of the mediæval Prior's House, parts of which can still be seen. The bricks show the signs of impatient schoolchildren drilling away with coins while awaiting the opening of the school tuck-shop.
A wide archway leads through the Dark Cloister to the Abbey, and the school gym. On the South, three Georgian houses accommodate Rigaud's and Grant's houses, and that of the Master of the Queen's Scholar
Queen's Scholar
The longest-established Queen's Scholarships are the forty scholarships at Westminster School, founded in 1560 by Queen Elizabeth I. These scholars take part in the coronation in Westminster Abbey, acclaiming the new monarch by shouting "Vivat". They also have the right to observe parliament...
s. College to the East was designed by Burlington, with Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
's approval after his own design was rejected.
See also
- College GardenCollege GardenCollege Garden is a private garden of Westminster Abbey in London, open to the public on some Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.A thousand years ago it was the infirmary garden of the monastery, and it is said to be the oldest garden in England under continuous cultivation; the produce can have done...
- Westminster SchoolWestminster SchoolThe Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...