The King's School, Gloucester
Encyclopedia
The King's School, Gloucester is an independent school
in the United Kingdom
, taking students from the ages of 3-18, with around 500 students. The current Headmaster is Alastair Macnaughton.
, by a direct royal proclamation of King Henry VIII
. However, prior to that date, there was a school on the grounds of Gloucester Cathedral
ever since it was first built as the Abbey of St. Peter around the year 1100. This makes King's one of the longest certifiable running schools in the world.
. It is near Gloucester Cathedral
and has assemblies there every morning, which the whole school attends. Most public examinations are held in the Chapter House
. The school is based around several buildings - The Palace, the Mathematics
Centre, Little Cloister
House (the oldest part of the school, containing the oldest functioning classroom in the world ), 6th form centre Dulverton House, (the former residence of the Bishop of Tewkesbury
), the Gym
(formerly the main school building), the Art
, Textiles and Design Technology
department buildings, the Science
block, the music
school, Wardle
House (the Nursery) and the Anniversary Building (Junior School).
The school is divided into 3 age specific sections:
Pupils are divided into Houses; in Senior School they are Laud, Wheeler and Serlo, named after, respectively, Archbishop William Laud
, Maurice Wheeler - a former headmaster, and Abbot Serlo - an important figure in the founding of Gloucester Cathedral. There are House competitions all year round, including in the Michaelmas
term drama
, debate
, hockey
(girls), rugby
(boys), and the Christmas quiz, in the Lent
term inter-house swimming gala, music
, General Knowledge Quiz (different to the Christmas quiz), hockey
(boys), netball
(girls), and in the Trinity
term cricket
(boys), rounders
(girls), and the Inter-House athletics
, held at the Prince of Wales stadium in Cheltenham
. Also House points can be won by for academic commendations and Combat of the Pen nominations (sixth form only), in addition to this a system has recently been introduced to reward high standards of personal appearance with house points. Supplementing these larger and more general events are once weekly activities held in the second half of a lunch break, the make-up of which changes from term
to term, and which vary from table tennis
to bridge
. However, in recent years though these lunchtime activities have not diminished they have moved away from their house competition orientation, leaving only the main house events, music, drama, sporting,and academic. The King's School song, written by former headmaster Maurice Wheeler, is reputed to be the only school song which changes from 4-in a bar to 3-in a bar. (4 in the verse, 3 in the chorus and play over)
, which was given as a gift to the school by the people of Gloucester. Archdeacon Meadow is used as a sports field for rugby
, some hockey
and cricket
for the boys, and rounders
in the summer for the girls. House cross-country running is also usually held there. The Meadow was the home of the annual Gloucester Cricket Festival until it was scrapped in 2009.
: mid 18th century; On behalf of Georgia signed the United States Declaration of Independence
. With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War
, he became the President and Commander-in-chief of the U.S. state of Georgia. He died shortly afterwards when he somewhat foolishly challenged one of his political enemies to a duel, the injuries resulted in his death a few days later. Incidentally his autograph is one of the most valuable in the World due to its rarity.
John Stafford Smith
: late 18th century; wrote the tune for "To Anacreon in Heaven
". In 1814 Francis Scott Key
would set his poem to this piece and was named Star Spangled Banner, the National Anthem of the United States.
Ivor Gurney
: A 20th century composer and poet; famous for poetry volumes Severn and Somme (1917) and War's Embers (1919), and well known songs such as Sleep. He makes direct references to the King's school in his poem Day-boys and Choristers (1919).
F. W. Harvey
: 'The Laureate of Gloucestershire' a 20th century English poet, known for poems composed in prisoner-of-war camps that were sent back to England during World War I
. While at the King's school together Gurney and Harvey formed a close friendship, later in his life Harvey claimed that it was at King's that 'he learned to love music and how to learn'.
William Hayes
: 1708-1777: Chorister at Gloucester Cathedral and articled to William Hine (organist). Organist at Shrewsbury, Worcester and later Informator Choristarum at Magdalen College, Oxford. Professor of Music at Oxford University. Composer of The Passions (performed at various Three Choirs Festivals), concertos and Ode to Echo. Founder of the Holywell Music Room in Oxford. Father of Philip Hayes, composer.
Simon Pegg
: An English actor, comedian, writer, film producer and director. Most famous for his work in 'Hot Fuzz', 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Star Trek'. Born and lived in Brockworth for most of his childhood.
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, taking students from the ages of 3-18, with around 500 students. The current Headmaster is Alastair Macnaughton.
Origins
The current school was officially founded in 1541 as a direct consequence of the English ReformationEnglish Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
, by a direct royal proclamation of King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
. However, prior to that date, there was a school on the grounds of Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the river. It originated in 678 or 679 with the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter .-Foundations:The foundations of the present...
ever since it was first built as the Abbey of St. Peter around the year 1100. This makes King's one of the longest certifiable running schools in the world.
The School
The school is based around Pitt Street in the centre of GloucesterGloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
. It is near Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the river. It originated in 678 or 679 with the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter .-Foundations:The foundations of the present...
and has assemblies there every morning, which the whole school attends. Most public examinations are held in the Chapter House
Chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....
. The school is based around several buildings - The Palace, the Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
Centre, Little Cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
House (the oldest part of the school, containing the oldest functioning classroom in the world ), 6th form centre Dulverton House, (the former residence of the Bishop of Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook...
), the Gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
(formerly the main school building), the Art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, Textiles and Design Technology
Design Technology
Design and Technology is a school subject offered at all levels of primary and secondary school. In some countries such as England it is a part of the National Curriculum. It is offered in many countries around the world such as Brunei, Bermuda, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Jordan...
department buildings, the Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
block, the music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
school, Wardle
Wardle
Wardle is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the South Pennines, east-southeast of Whitworth, north-northwest of Rochdale and north-northeast of the city of Manchester.Historically a part of Lancashire, Wardle...
House (the Nursery) and the Anniversary Building (Junior School).
The school is divided into 3 age specific sections:
- The nursery, for 3-5 year olds
- Junior school, for ages 6–11
- Senior school, for ages 11–18
Pupils are divided into Houses; in Senior School they are Laud, Wheeler and Serlo, named after, respectively, Archbishop William Laud
William Laud
William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
, Maurice Wheeler - a former headmaster, and Abbot Serlo - an important figure in the founding of Gloucester Cathedral. There are House competitions all year round, including in the Michaelmas
Michaelmas
Michaelmas, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel is a day in the Western Christian calendar which occurs on 29 September...
term drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
, hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
(girls), rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
(boys), and the Christmas quiz, in the Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
term inter-house swimming gala, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, General Knowledge Quiz (different to the Christmas quiz), hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
(boys), netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
(girls), and in the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
term cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
(boys), rounders
Rounders
Rounders is a game played between two teams of either gender. The game originated in England where it was played in Tudor times. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a round wooden, plastic or metal bat. The players score by...
(girls), and the Inter-House athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
, held at the Prince of Wales stadium in Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
. Also House points can be won by for academic commendations and Combat of the Pen nominations (sixth form only), in addition to this a system has recently been introduced to reward high standards of personal appearance with house points. Supplementing these larger and more general events are once weekly activities held in the second half of a lunch break, the make-up of which changes from term
Academic term
An academic term is a division of an academic year, the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. These divisions may be called terms...
to term, and which vary from table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
to bridge
Contract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
. However, in recent years though these lunchtime activities have not diminished they have moved away from their house competition orientation, leaving only the main house events, music, drama, sporting,and academic. The King's School song, written by former headmaster Maurice Wheeler, is reputed to be the only school song which changes from 4-in a bar to 3-in a bar. (4 in the verse, 3 in the chorus and play over)
Archdeacon Meadow
The school owns Archdeacon MeadowArchdeacon Meadow
Archdeacon Meadow is a cricket ground in Gloucester, England. The land is owned by The King's School. The ground was first used by the Gloucestershire 1st XI in 1993...
, which was given as a gift to the school by the people of Gloucester. Archdeacon Meadow is used as a sports field for rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, some hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
for the boys, and rounders
Rounders
Rounders is a game played between two teams of either gender. The game originated in England where it was played in Tudor times. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a round wooden, plastic or metal bat. The players score by...
in the summer for the girls. House cross-country running is also usually held there. The Meadow was the home of the annual Gloucester Cricket Festival until it was scrapped in 2009.
Notable former pupils
Button GwinnettButton Gwinnett
Button Gwinnett was an English-born American political leader who, as a representative of Georgia to the Continental Congress, was the second of the signatories on the United States Declaration of Independence...
: mid 18th century; On behalf of Georgia signed the United States Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
. With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, he became the President and Commander-in-chief of the U.S. state of Georgia. He died shortly afterwards when he somewhat foolishly challenged one of his political enemies to a duel, the injuries resulted in his death a few days later. Incidentally his autograph is one of the most valuable in the World due to its rarity.
John Stafford Smith
John Stafford Smith
John Stafford Smith was a British composer, church organist, and early musicologist. He was one of the first serious collectors of manuscripts of works by Johann Sebastian Bach....
: late 18th century; wrote the tune for "To Anacreon in Heaven
To Anacreon in Heaven
"The Anacreontic Song", also known by its incipit "To Anacreon in Heaven", was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London. Attributed to the composer John Stafford Smith, the tune was later used by several writers as a setting for...
". In 1814 Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".-Life:...
would set his poem to this piece and was named Star Spangled Banner, the National Anthem of the United States.
Ivor Gurney
Ivor Gurney
Ivor Bertie Gurney was an English composer and poet.-Life:Born at 3 Queen Street, Gloucester in 1890, the second of four children of David Gurney, a tailor, and his wife Florence, a seamstress, Gurney showed musical ability early...
: A 20th century composer and poet; famous for poetry volumes Severn and Somme (1917) and War's Embers (1919), and well known songs such as Sleep. He makes direct references to the King's school in his poem Day-boys and Choristers (1919).
F. W. Harvey
F. W. Harvey
Frederick William Harvey was an English poet, known for poems composed in prisoner-of-war camps at Krefeld and Gütersloh that were sent back to England, during World War I....
: 'The Laureate of Gloucestershire' a 20th century English poet, known for poems composed in prisoner-of-war camps that were sent back to England during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. While at the King's school together Gurney and Harvey formed a close friendship, later in his life Harvey claimed that it was at King's that 'he learned to love music and how to learn'.
William Hayes
William Hayes
William Hayes may refer to:*William B. Hayes , Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania*William Hayes , American football player*William Q. Hayes , U.S...
: 1708-1777: Chorister at Gloucester Cathedral and articled to William Hine (organist). Organist at Shrewsbury, Worcester and later Informator Choristarum at Magdalen College, Oxford. Professor of Music at Oxford University. Composer of The Passions (performed at various Three Choirs Festivals), concertos and Ode to Echo. Founder of the Holywell Music Room in Oxford. Father of Philip Hayes, composer.
Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and director. He is best known for having co-written and stared in various Edgar Wright features, mainly Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the comedy series Spaced.He also portrayed Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the 2009 Star Trek film...
: An English actor, comedian, writer, film producer and director. Most famous for his work in 'Hot Fuzz', 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Star Trek'. Born and lived in Brockworth for most of his childhood.