| Rugby School | |
|---|---|
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 Rugby School, seen from 'The Close' playing field. | |
| Address | |
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Lawrence Sheriff Street , CV22 5EH England | |
| Coordinates | 52°22′03″N1°15′40″W / 52.3675°N 1.2611°W /52.3675; -1.2611 |
| Information | |
| Type | Private boarding school in the UK |
| Motto | Latin:Orando Laborando (through work and through prayer) |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Church of England |
| Established | 1567; 458 years ago (1567) |
| Founder | Lawrence Sheriff |
| Sister school | Rugby School Thailand Rugby School Japan |
| Department for Education URN | 125777Tables |
| Executive Head Master | Peter Green |
| Head | Gareth Parker-Jones |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Age | 13 to 18 |
| Enrolment | 865 |
| Capacity | 885 |
| Houses | 16 |
| Colour(s) | Duck Egg Blue |
| Alumni | Old Rugbeians (ORs) |
| School song | Floreat Rugbeia |
| Website | www |
Rugby School is aprivate boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in town ofRugby, Warwickshire in England.[1]
Founded in 1567 as a freegrammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.[2] Up to 1667, the school remained in comparative obscurity. Its re-establishment byThomas Arnold during his time as Headmaster, from 1828 to 1841, was seen as the forerunner of the Victorianpublic school.[3] It was one of nine schools investigated by theClarendon Commission of 1864 and later regulated as one of the seven schools included in thePublic Schools Act 1868. Originally a boys' school, it became fullyco-educational in 1992.[4]
The school's alumni – or "Old Rugbeians" – include a UK prime minister, a French prime minister, several bishops, poets, scientists, writers and soldiers.
Rugby School is the birthplace ofrugby football.[5]
Rugby School was founded in 1567 as a provision in the will ofLawrence Sheriff, who had made his fortune supplying groceries to QueenElizabeth I of England.[6] In the last few months of his life, Sheriff had drawn up a will which stipulated that his fortune should be used to foundalmshouses and a freegrammar school "to serve chiefly for the children of Rugby andBrownsover... and next for such as be of other places hereunto adjoyneing.". Shortly before his death, Sheriff added acodicil to his will reducing the amount of money he left to the school, possibly due to a family financial problem, but instead leaving his eight acre Conduit Close estate inMiddlesex: At the time this seemed like a poor exchange, as the estate consisted of undeveloped farmland on the edge of London, however, in time this endowment made Rugby School a wealthy institution due to the subsequent development of the area and rise in land values. The area of what is now the Rugby Estate includes much of what is nowGreat Ormond Street,Lamb's Conduit Street andRugby Street in the London district ofBloomsbury.[7][8]
Up to 1667, the school remained in comparative obscurity. Sheriff's endowment was not fully realized for some time, due to a challenge over the provisions of the will from the Howkins family, to whom Sheriff was related through his sister, Bridget. Its history during that trying period is characterised mainly by a series of lawsuits between the Howkins family, who tried to defeat the intentions of thetestator, and the masters and trustees, who tried to carry them out. A final decision was handed down in 1667, confirming the findings of a commission in favour of the trust, and henceforth the school maintained a steady growth.[9] Under the headmastership ofHenry Holyoake (from 1688 to 1731) the school became more than simply a local concern, and began to take on national importance.[9] By the end of the 17th century, there were pupils from every part of England attending the school.[10]
The school was originally based in a wooden schoolhouse on Church Street oppositeSt Andrew's Church, which incorporated Lawrence Sheriff's former house. By the 1740s this building was in poor condition, and the school looked to relocate to new premises. In 1750, the school moved to its current location to the south of the town centre, when it purchased a former Manor House at the south of High Street; this became the Master's house, a new schoolhouse was built alongside. The currentschool buildings date from the 19th and early 20th centuries.[8]
Henry Ingles, who was Headmaster between 1794 and 1806, was known for his strict discipline and gained the nickname "The Black Tiger". His time as Headmaster is most notable for the'Great Rebellion' of 1797: It started when Ingles heard one of the boys shoot a cork gun, and the boy told him that Mr Rowell, a grocer, had supplied the gunpowder. Mr Rowell denied this, and as a result the boy Astley was flogged by Ingles, the boys retaliated by smashing Mr Rowell's windows and Ingles insisted that the boys pay for the damage. This provoked a full-scaleriot, in which the boys blew off doors, smashed windows and burned furniture and books. As the other Masters were away, Ingles called on help from the townsfolk. A party of recruiting soldiers and some townsfolk advanced on the rioters, who retreated onto a moated island in the school grounds. TheRiot Act was read out by a localjustice of the peace, calling on the boys to surrender, and while this caused a distraction a group of soldiers waded across the moat from the rear and took the boys prisoner.[8]
Rugby School's most famous headmaster wasThomas Arnold, from 1828 to 1841, whose emphasis on moral and religious principle, was widely admired and was seen as the blueprint forVictorian public schools. Arnold's period as headmaster is immortalised inThomas Hughes's 1857 novelTom Brown's School Days. In the Victorian period, Rugby School saw several further Headmasters of some distinction, these includedFrederick Temple (1858–1869) who would later become theArchbishop of Canterbury,John Percival (1887–1895) after whom thePercival Guildhouse is named, andHerbert Armitage James (1895–1910)[8]
In 1845, a committee of Rugby schoolboys,William Delafield Arnold, W. W. Shirley and Frederick Hutchins,[11] wrote the "Laws of Football as Played At Rugby School", the first published set of laws for any code of football.[11][12]
Rugby was one of the nine prestigious schools investigated by theClarendon Commission of 1861–64 (the schools under scrutiny beingEton,Charterhouse,Harrow,Shrewsbury,Westminster, andWinchester, and two day schools:St Paul's andMerchant Taylors). Rugby went on to be included in thePublic Schools Act 1868, which ultimately related only to the seven boarding schools.
From the early days of the school the pupils were divided into "Foundationers" i.e. boys who lived in Rugby and surrounding villages who received free schooling, as per Sheriff's original bequest, and "Non-Foundationers", boys from outside the Rugby area who paid fees and wereboarders. Non-Foundationers were admitted from the early history of the school as they helped to pay the bills. Gradually, as the school's reputation grew, fee-paying Non-Foundationers became dominant and local boys benefited less and less from Sheriff's original intentions. By the latter half of the 19th century it was considered no longer desirable to have local boys attending a prestigious public school and so a new school –Lawrence Sheriff Grammar School – was founded in 1878 in order to continue Sheriff's original bequest for a free school for local boys.[8]
On several occasions in the late 19th century Rugby School was visited by the French educatorPierre de Coubertin, who would later cite the school as one of the main inspirations for his most notable achievement, the founding of the modernOlympic Games in 1896.[13][14]
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In 1975 two girls were admitted to the sixth form and the first girls' house opened three years later, followed by three more. In 1992 the school became fullyco-educational when the first 13-year-old girls arrived, and in 1995 Rugby had its first-ever Head Girl, Louise Woolcock, who appeared on the front page ofThe Times. In September 2003 the last girls' house was added. Today, total enrolment of day pupils, from forms 4 to 12, numbers around 800. Its worth watching RugbySchool, BBC Changing Places Documentary 1988 which can still be found on YouTube. Many of the attributes portrayed in this documentary still hold true today.
In 2017, Rugby School opened their first ever overseas franchise in Chonburi Province, Thailand, calledRugby School Thailand.[15] In 2023, the school opened another branch in the city ofKashiwa,Chiba Prefecture,Japan,Rugby School Japan.[15]
The game ofRugby football owes its name to the school.
The legend ofWilliam Webb Ellis and the origin of the game is commemorated by a plaque on the school grounds. The story is that Webb Ellis was the first to pick up a football and run with it, and thus invent a new sport. However, the sole source of the story isMatthew Bloxam, a former pupil but not a contemporary of Webb Ellis. In October 1876, four years after the death of Webb Ellis, in a letter to the school newspaperThe Meteor he quotes an unknown friend relating the story to him. He elaborated on the story four years later in another letter toThe Meteor, but shed no further light on its source.Richard Lindon, a boot and shoemaker who had premises across the street from the school's main entrance in Lawrence Sheriff Street, is credited with the invention of the "oval" rugby ball, the rubber inflatable bladder and the brass hand pump.[16]
There were no standard rules for football in Webb Ellis's time at Rugby (1816–1825) and most varieties involved carrying the ball. The games played at Rugby were organised by the pupils and not the masters, the rules being a matter of custom and not written down. They were frequently changed and modified with each new intake of students.
Rugby fives is ahandball game, similar tosquash, played in an enclosed court. It has similarities withWinchester fives (a form of Wessex fives) andEton fives.
It is most commonly believed to be derived from Wessex fives, a game played byThomas Arnold, Headmaster of Rugby, who had played Wessex fives when a boy at Lord Weymouth's Grammar, nowWarminster School. The open court of Wessex fives, built in 1787, is still in existence atWarminster School although it has fallen out of regular use.
Rugby fives is played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles), the aim being to hit the ball above a 'bar' across the front wall in such a way that the opposition cannot return it before a second bounce. The ball is slightly larger than agolf ball, leather-coated and hard. Players wear leather padded gloves on both hands, with which they hit the ball.
Rugby fives continues to have a good following with tournaments being run nationwide, presided over by the Rugby Fives Association.[17]
The school has produced a number of cricketers who have gone onto playTest andfirst-class cricket. The school has played host to two major matches, the first of which was aTwenty20 match betweenWarwickshire andGlamorgan in the2013 Friends Life t20.[18] The second match was aList-A one-day match betweenWarwickshire andSussex in the2015 Royal London One-Day Cup, though it was due to host a match in the2014 competition, however this was abandoned.[19] In the 2015 match,William Porterfield scored acentury, with a score of exactly 100.[20] Warwickshire will return to Rugby School in 2024 to play three matches in theOne-Day Cup.[21]
Rugby School has both day and boarding-pupils, the latter in the majority. Originally it was for boys only, but girls have been admitted to thesixth form since 1975. It went fully co-educational in 1992. The school community is divided intohouses.
| House | Founded† | Girls/Boys |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton | 1836[22] | Boys |
| Kilbracken | 1841[23] | Boys |
| Michell | 1882[24] | Boys |
| School Field | 1852[25] | Boys |
| School House | 1750[26] | Boys |
| Sheriff | 1930[27] | Boys |
| Town House | 1567[28] | Boys (Day) |
| Whitelaw | c.1790[29] | Boys |
| Bradley | 1830 (1992)[30] | Girls |
| Dean | 1832 (1978)[31] | Girls |
| Griffin | 2003[32] | Girls |
| Rupert Brooke | 1860 (1988)[33] | Girls |
| Southfield | 1993[34] | Girls (Day) |
| Stanley | 1828 (1992)[35] | Girls |
| Tudor | 1893 (2002)[36] | Girls |
Pupils beginning Rugby in the F Block (first year) study various subjects.[37] In a pupil's second year (E block), they do nine subjects which are for their GCSEs, this is the same for the D Block (GCSE year).[38] The school then provides standardA-levels in 29 subjects. Students at this stage have the choice of taking three or four subjects and are also offered the opportunity to take an extended project. The School also offers taking theIB Diploma Programme.[39]Oxbridge acceptance percentage in 2007 was 10.4%.[40] In 2023, 68% of students that took A-levels at Rugby School scored A*/A while 83% of GCSE students scored 9/7. Although the results can be deemed good the pastoral care in some of the houses has something to be desired.[41]
TheGoverning Body provides financial benefits with school fees to families unable to afford them. Parents of pupils who are given a Scholarship are capable of obtaining a 10% fee deduction, although more than one scholarship can be awarded to one student.
There have been a number of notableOld Rugbeians, including the purported father of the sport of RugbyWilliam Webb Ellis, the inventor ofAustralian rules football,Tom Wills, the war poetsRupert Brooke andJohn Gillespie Magee, Jr., Prime MinisterNeville Chamberlain, author and mathematicianLewis Carroll, poet and cultural criticMatthew Arnold, the author and social criticSalman Rushdie (who said of his time there: "Almost the only thing I am proud of about going to Rugby school was that Lewis Carroll went there too."[43]) and the Irish writer and republicanFrancis Stuart. The Indian concert pianist, music composer and singerAdnan Sami also studied at Rugby School.[44] Matthew Arnold's fatherThomas Arnold, was a headmaster of the school. Philip Henry Bahr (later SirPhilip Henry Manson-Bahr), a zoologist and medical doctor,World War I veteran, was President of bothRoyal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene andMedical Society of London, and vice-president of theBritish Ornithologists' Union.[45][46]Richard Barrett Talbot Kelly joined the army in 1915, straight after leaving the school, earned aMilitary Cross during theFirst World War, and later returned to the school as Director of Art.[47]
The Rugbeian Society is for former pupils at the school.[48] AnOld Rugbeian is sometimes referred to as an OR.
The purposes of the society are to encourage and help Rugbeians in interacting with each other and to strengthen the ties between ORs and the school.
In 2010 the Rugbeians reached the semi-finals of the Public Schools' Old Boys' Sevens tournament, hosted by the Old Silhillians to celebrate the 450th anniversary of fellow Warwickshire public school,Solihull School.
The buildings of Rugby School date from the 18th and 19th century with some early 20th-century additions. The oldest buildings are the Old Quad Buildings and the School House the oldest parts of which date from 1748, but were mostly built between 1809 and 1813, designed byHenry Hakewill, these aregrade II* listed.[49][50]
Most of the current landmark buildings date from theVictorian era and were designed byWilliam Butterfield: The most notable of these is the chapel, dating from 1872, which is topped by an octagonal tower 138 feet (42 m) tall, and isgrade I listed.[51][52] Butterfield's New Quad buildings are Grade II* listed and date from 1867 to 1885. The Grade II* War Memorial chapel, designed bySir Charles Nicholson, dates to 1922.[53][54] Nicholson was educated at the school from the late-1870s.[55]
TheTemple Speech Room on Barby Road was named after former Rugby headmaster,Frederick Temple,[56] It was opened on 3 July 1909 byKing Edward VII.[57] Designed byThomas Graham Jackson, it is grade II listed.[58] TheMacready Theatre is based in a prominent Victorian building on Lawrence Sheriff Street which was built as classrooms in 1885, in 1975 it was converted into a theatre, in 2018, it was opened to the general public.[59]
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Rugby's most famous headmaster was Thomas Arnold, appointed in 1828; he executed many reforms to the school curriculum and administration. Arnold's and the school's reputations were immortalised throughThomas Hughes' bookTom Brown's School Days.
David Newsome writes about the new educational methods employed by Arnold in his book, 'Godliness and Good Learning' (Cassell 1961). He calls the morality practised at Arnold's schoolmuscular Christianity. Arnold had three principles: religious and moral principle, gentlemanly conduct and academic performance. George Mosse, former professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, lectured on Arnold's time at Rugby. According to Mosse, Thomas Arnold created an institution which fused religious and moral principles, gentlemanly conduct, and learning based on self-discipline. These morals were socially enforced through the "Gospel of work". The object of education was to produce "the Christian gentleman", a man with good outward appearance, playful but earnest, industrious, manly, honest, virginal pure, innocent, and responsible.
In 1888 the appointment ofMarie Bethell Beauclerc by Percival was the first appointment of a female teacher in an English boys' public school and the first timeshorthand had been taught in any such school. The shorthand course was popular with one hundred boys in the classes.
In September 2005, the school was one of fifty independent schools operatingindependent school fee-fixing, in breach of theCompetition Act, 1998. All of the schools involved were ordered to abandon this practice, pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 each and to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information had been shared.[65][66]
The head of the Independent Schools Council declared that independent schools had always been exempt from anti-cartel rules applied to business, were following a long-established procedure in sharing the information with each other and that they were unaware of the change to the law (on which they had not been consulted). She wrote toJohn Vickers, the OFT director-general, stating "They are not a group of businessmen meeting behind closed doors to fix the price of their products to the disadvantage of the consumer. They are schools that have quite openly continued to follow a long-established practice because they were unaware that the law had changed."[67]
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