Wellington College, Berkshire
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| Wellington College |
|
| Image:College crest.gif | |
| Motto | Virtutis Fortuna Comes - Fortune Favors The Brave
Heroum Filii - Sons of Heroes |
| Established | 1853 (opened 1859) |
| Type | Public school |
| Headmaster | Dr Anthony Seldon |
| Founder | Queen Victoria |
| Students | c.800 (co-educational) |
| Grades | 13-18 |
| Location | Crowthorne, Berkshire England |
| Campus | 400 acre rural campus |
| Website | http://www.wellingtoncollege.org.uk/ |
Wellington College, the national monument to the Duke of Wellington, is an English public school, located in the Berkshire village of Crowthorne. The school was granted its royal charter in 1853 as the Royal and Religious Foundation of The Wellington College, and was opened in 1859. Its first Master (Headmaster) was Edward White Benson, later Archbishop of Canterbury. The college's Visitor is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Wellington is a co-educational public school, and has approximately 800 pupils aged between 13 and 18.
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[edit] Architecture
The college was designed by John Shaw Jr (1803–1870) and was his finest design in his career .[1] It is located in Crowthorne, a large village in the Royal County of Berkshire in south-east England. For its time, the design of the college was unusual compared to the popular form, but Prince Albert who helped choose the architect was more interested in Shaw's classical approach as he had already seen his design for the old Royal Naval School in New Cross, London. It had been noted a few years before the college's design that Shaw's architecture reflected the work of Christopher Wren.
[edit] Sport
Famously, pupils are at Wellington to "learn how to live", and correspondingly the College excels at both academic and leisure activities. Wellington College was one of the 22 founding members of the Rugby Football Union, and historically, pupils at the school have excelled at rugby, Field Hockey and Cricket. The school has one of only around 20 racquets courts in the UK, and until recently three Eton Fives courts. The under-15 and under-18 rugby teams both recently reached the Daily Mail Schools' Cup semi-finals, and the senior rugby sevens team won the Surrey sevens tournament. Wellington college could be considered a specialist at Rugby Sevens, winning Rosslyn park (The National Schools 7's Festival) 5 times in the last 9 years including a 4 year unbeaten run in the tounament between 1999-2002, missing out on an unprecedented 5 in a row losing narrowly to Cheltenham in the 2003 final.
[edit] Location
Wellington College is located in a 400 acre (1.6 km²) estate in South East England, in the Royal County of Berkshire, approximately 30 miles (50 km) from Heathrow Airport and close to the town of Reading, Berkshire. The grounds of the college are notable in that they contain many unusual ant species, and were frequented by the entomologist Horace Donisthorpe, who collected extensively there. The main buildings were designed by John Shaw Jr in a style loosely termed "French Grand Rococo" and the chapel was designed by George Gilbert Scott. Henry Eastmen owns half the estate in shares.
[edit] Former pupils
The school has a diverse and extensive range of distinguished former pupils including novelist George Orwell, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Christopher Lee, poet Gavin Ewart, composer John Gardner, world champion motor racing driver James Hunt, Opposition Leader of the House of Lords Lord Strathclyde, journalist and television presenter Peter Snow and the UK Pop Idol winner Will Young to name but a few. It has been claimed that Lord Archer, who was actually educated at the less prestigious Wellington School, Somerset, falsely claimed that he had been to Wellington College.
- See also: List of notable Old Wellingtonians
[edit] Slang
Common to other public schools, Wellington has its own peculiar slang. Words includes "Swipes" for mid-morning snacks, "Brews" for the in-house kitchens, "Grubbies" for the school shop, "Bims" for inter-house junior sporting leagues and "Bigside", "Derby", "Rockies" and "Turf" for playing fields. "Tish" was also used for a term describing the partitions between rooms at a time when these partitions did not go all the way to the ceiling. "Tish popping" was therefore the act of climbing over these partitions. Wellington's slang has many similarities to that of Rugby School, where Wellington's first Master, Edward White Benson, began his career.
[edit] Combined Cadet Force
The Wellington College Combined Cadet Force (CCF) has existed in its various forms since 1880. Commissioned members of the teaching staff who serve as CCF officers are attached to The Duke of Wellington's Regiment. The Commanding Officer of the Wellington College CCF is Lieutenant Colonel Eddy Heddon (REME). The College also traditionally has two teams of Field Gun runners, and two runs are made annually at the College Speech Day.
[edit] Press
Like many of the major public schools, Wellington College is no stranger to press attention. Newspapers have covered numerous stories involving the school, most recently the victory of the school's U18 side over Truro in the quarter final of the Daily Mail Schools' rugby tournament. Wellington is also now advertising in newspapers and other publications its move to co-education under the 13th Master of the College, Dr. Anthony Seldon. In April 2006 the college attracted widespread publicity when it became the first school in the UK to introduce 'happiness lessons' to the curriculum,[2] in conjunction with a team at Cambridge University lead by Nick Baylis. The move continued a long tradition of pastoral care at Wellington, including religious education and 'Personal and Social Development' classes.
[edit] Houses
There are 15 houses at Wellington. Every house contains boarders and a small number of day pupils. Each house is either an 'in-house' or an 'out-house'. In-houses are located within the main school buildings and quads, whilst out-houses are located elsewhere on the grounds. Each house has aspects which distinguish it from other houses, such as its own colours, emblem and a defined house spirit.
| House | Colours | Emblem | Gender | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anglesey | Maroon/Blue | Star | M | Out-house |
| Apsley | Blue/Black | Pineapple | F | Out-house |
| Benson | Pale Blue/Silver | Rose | M | Out-house |
| Beresford | Light Blue/Black | Horseshoe | M | Out-house |
| Blücher | Black/White | Feathers | M | In-house |
| Combermere | Blue/White | Dragon | M | In-house |
| Hardinge | Green/Brown | Anchor | M | In-house |
| Hill | Purple/Silver | Skull and Crossbone | M | In-house |
| Hopetoun | Yellow/Blue | Moon and Star | M | Out-house |
| Lynedoch | Navy Blue/Black | Iron cross | M | In-house |
| Murray | Purple/Black | Moon | M | In-house |
| Orange | Orange/Black | Double-headed dragon | F | Out-house |
| Picton | Pink/Brown | Eagle | M | Out-house |
| Stanley | Red/Blue | Unicorn | M | Out-house |
| Talbot | Red/White | Iron Cross | M | Out-house |
The Orange was previously a boys' house, but was changed to a girls' house in 2005. The boys in the Orange moved in with the Beresford to become an out-house. The same will be happening to the Hardinge and Combermere in future years.
There are also traditional rivalries between houses on the sports field. Most noticeable is the rivalry between the Hill and the Murray - the two houses are located next door to each other in the West Block.
[edit] The Old Wellingtonian Society
The Old Wellingtonian Society (OW Society) is the alumni society for the college and was founded in 1890. The Old Wellingtonian Society was set up to further the interests of the College and its past and present members, and to keep former pupils in touch with each other and with the school.
The Old Wellingtonian Society maintains a register of names of all who have passed through the College since the school's opening in 1859 and the addresses of all living alumni.
[edit] See also
- List of notable Old Wellingtonians
- Wellington Monument - other monuments to Wellington
[edit] References
- ^ The Shaws - Like Father Like Son (HTML). Retrieved on May 2, 2006.
- ^ True happiness is a lesson well taught (HTML). The Times Educational Supplement. Retrieved on May 8, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Wellington College website
- Website in memory of John Shaw the architect
- Website for Old Wellingtonians
- Website of Old Wellingtonian Lodge #3404
Categories: Articles lacking sources from December 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Educational institutions established in 1853 | Educational institutions established in 1859 | Public schools in Berkshire | Racquets venues | Schools with Combined Cadet Forces | Old Wellingtonians | Round Square schools | Members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
