Christ's Hospital is a public school (English fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex.
The school was founded in 1552 and the royal charter granted in 1553 (26 June, 7 Edw. VI). Since its establishment, Christ's Hospital has been a charity school, with a core aim to offer children from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance of a better education.
Charitable foundation Christ's Hospital is unusual among British independent schools in that the majority of the students receive bursaries. This stems from its founding charter as a charitable school. School fees are paid on a means-tested basis, with substantial subsidies paid by the school or their benefactors, so that pupils from all walks of life are able to have private education that would otherwise be beyond the means of their parents.
The trustees of the foundation are the Council of Almoners, chaired by the Treasurer of Christ's Hospital, who govern the foundation according to a Scheme of Administration granted by the Charity Commission. The historic Court of Governors survives as a formal institution consisting of over 650 benefactors but its powers have since the 19th century been largely transferred to the smaller Council of Almoners.
In 2007, Christ's Hospital was formally separated into two related registered charities: Christ's Hospital Foundation and Christ's Hospital School.
History
Christ's Hospital was the result of the foundation by Henry VIII and confirmed by Edward VI, assisted by Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, and Sir Richard Dobbs, Lord Mayor of London. Its genesis was the earlier dissolution of the monasteries and the resultant overflow onto the streets of the poor and destitute. Encouraged by a sermon from Ridley, exhorting mercy to the poor, the king wrote to the Lord Mayor encouraging him to action. This he did via a committee of 30 merchants.
Henry VIII had already granted the use of Greyfriars to the city for the relief of the poor and to house the homeless children which the magistrates had taken notice of. In 1553 (26 June, 7 Edw. VI) Edward granted Bridewell Palace, his lands at the Savoy, and rents and other chattels to create three Royal Hospitals – Christ's Hospital, Bridewell Hospital (now the King Edward's School, Witley, Surrey) and St Thomas' Hospital. The three institutions use the same coat of arms, although slightly modified by the latter.
The first boys and girls entered the school in Newgate in 1552. The royal charter was granted and signed by its founder, Edward VI, the following year. The first treasurer was Richard Grafton. The Protestant foundation survived the Marian period and in the 1560s it sent its first scholars to Oxford and Cambridge.
The school occupied Newgate as its major site for 350 years, but from time to time children were housed in other parts of the country. 32 children perished during the Great Plague of 1665. In the following year the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the hospital, except four cloisters and three wards, but there were no casualties among the children. Around 200 pupils were sent to Islington and Clerkenwell and then to Ware and Hertford.
By the end of the 17th century the buildings had been rebuilt with the assistance of Sir Christopher Wren, a governor of Christ's Hospital, and Nicholas Hawksmoor, who designed the Writing School (1696). The church of Christ Church, Newgate Street, designed by Wren, replaced the damaged choir of the former Greyfriars' church and served as a place of worship for the children of Christ's Hospital in the city until the move to Horsham. Through the will of the royal jeweller, George Heriot, it also became the inspiration for the foundation of George Heriot's Hospital in Edinburgh, which was the first of the "Hospital Schools" to be founded in Scotland.
Christ's Hospital was given its second royal charter by Charles II in 1673. This created the Royal Mathematical School, the original purpose of which was to train mathematicians and navigators who would serve as naval officers and merchant seafarers. Samuel Pepys, Secretary to His Majesty's Navy and from 1699 vice-president of Christ's Hospital, made a considerable contribution to Christ's Hospital. Isaac Newton, Jonas Moore, John Flamsteed, and Edmund Halley contributed to plans for the course of study of the new school within the foundation.
The girls of the hospital settled at Hertford from 1707. The governors had been paying a teacher in Hertford from 1653, and the removal of some children from London following the Great Fire strengthened the link with the town. In 1761, 200 boys under the age of ten along with the boys from Ware were relocated to Hertford. In 1778 the last girls were moved out of London to join the others at Hertford, where the school was rebuilt 1795–1798 to provide accommodation for the new numbers.
Christ's Hospital's most famous upper master was James Boyer who presided from 1778 to 1799 and instructed James Leigh Hunt, Charles Lamb, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
In November 1815, the "most infamous Regency flagellant”, an MP named Sir Eyre Coote, entered Christ's Hospital mathematical school, sent away the younger boys and paid the older ones for a session of mutual flogging. The school nurse arrived to find him buttoning his breeches; England's satirical press had come of age in time to make the very most of such a moment. Coote endured a cartoon by George Cruikshank, a vaunted caricaturist, and national humiliation.
The notable London architects, John Shaw Senior and John Shaw Junior, were architects and surveyors to Christ's Hospital throughout the first half of the 1800s. The Shaws' work included the old school hall (c.1825).
The Duke of Cambridge started a tradition of Royal Presidents in 1854.
A commission of inquiry in 1837 proposed reforms, and in 1864 the Taunton Commission investigated the endowed schools. As a result of this a greater number of girls were admitted. However, in the 1890s boys still outnumbered girls at Hertford.
Another commission in 1877 proposed a new site for the school, where all the boys would be taught. This proposal was questioned by some of the governors. The Duke of Cambridge said:
However, the proposal was carried out. of land outside Horsham in Sussex was purchased from the Aylesbury Dairy Company for £47,500. The foundation stone was laid by Edward, Prince of Wales on 23 October 1897, on behalf of the sovereign, the date being the anniversary of the birthday of the founder. The new school was designed by architect Aston Webb, with fireplaces by Leonard Shuffrey. Historic architectural features from the old school buildings (the Grecians' Arch and the Wren Arch) were salvaged and incorporated in the new buildings.
The boys were relocated from Newgate and Hertford to the new site in 1902. Hertford became a girls-only school, until the girls joined the boys on the Horsham site in 1985.
Over the centuries Christ's Hospital has continued to enjoy royal patronage. In 1919, George V became the first royal patron, followed by George VI in 1937 and Elizabeth II in 1953.
Sexual abuse of pupils from 1969 to 2001 led to six former teachers being convicted of offences after more than 20 former students made complaints to the police in 2016. The convicted former teachers were sentenced to prison terms of up to 17 years.
Architecture
The ensemble of buildings in the Christ's Hospital Horsham campus were Grade II* listed in 1959. The complex includes a tall water tower, a dining hall facing a quadrangle flanked by collannaded wings, and a school chapel.
The red brick colonnades are joined to the dining hall with stone archways which were designed by John Shaw in 1836 for the old school in Newgate Street in the City of London. These archways were dismantled and re-erected here at the Horsham site in 1902.
The Big School is noted for its large Perpendicular-style windows, its octagonal turrets and a square clock tower on the roof. Another remnant of the Newgate Street school is to be found at the south end of the Big School, the portico designed by Sir Christopher Wren.
The dining hall is dominated by an -long painting by Antonio Verrio which depicts the foundation of the Royal Mathematical School at Christ's by King Charles II in 1673. The canvas contains over 100 figures, including Charles II, and King James II was added at a later date. The painting had previously hung in the former Great Halls in London for over 320 years.
The school chapel was designed by Aston Webb and E Bell. The Bath stone reredos at the east end depicts Christ in Glory surrounded by sculptures of the Twelve Apostles, and in the lower panel is Christ receiving the children. The Apostles were designed by William Silver Frith, with the central panel by William Bateman Fagan and Bell, and carved by stonemasons Daymond & Son. Another work by Frith is the statue of the Good Shepherd in a niche above the chapel door, which was installed as a war memorial in memory of Old Blues who died in World War I.
The altar, by Norman & Burt of Burgess Hill, is in mahogany inlaid with holly ornamentation. The stained-glass window is by Thomas Ralph Spence and the pipe organ was built by Alfred Kirkland.
The walls of the chapel nave are adorned with a series of sixteen murals, painted by Frank Brangwyn in tempera in 1912-23. The murals illustrate scenes from the early Christian Church, including depictions of the martyrdom of St Alban, St Columba landing at Iona, St Ambrose training his choir, and St Paul.
Traditions
Links with the City and the Lord Mayor of London are maintained, with an annual parade through the City of London on St Matthew's Day and a regular place in the Lord Mayor's Show.
One of the Christ's Hospital traditions is marching into lunch with the band, which is done every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, weather permitting.
Another is the annual speech-day parade, where the Lord Mayor of London and his procession watch the school perform a march-past through the main quad. They also join the school in chapel for a grand service, and eat lunch with the Grecian year and their parents. Lastly, they move to Big School to hear the Senior Grecian's oration and witness the Grecian prize-giving. This is held on the Saturday at the start of the Summer Half Term.
Uniform The Tudor school uniform consists of belted, long blue coats, knee-breeches, yellow socks, and bands at the neck. The uniform has been in place since 1553. The nickname "Blue-coat School" comes from the blue coats worn by the students; however, the nickname used within the school community itself is "Housey" and the long coat is called a "Housey coat". Variants of the Housey Coat include a version with larger buttons and velvet cuffs, known as the 'Buttons' coat. These are issued to the Monitors, a group of Grecian prefects, as well as an academic commendation to Grecian pupils. Those in the latter category wear these coats with the third button on the cuff undone to signify this distinction.
Second and third form pupils wear a simple leather belt with a buckle. When pupils reach their "Little Erasmus" year (year 9), they were presented with more elaborate hallmarked sterling silver 'broadie' buckles and belts, which the pupils keep after leaving the school. However, today the 'broadie' buckles tend to be made of base metal with a silver coating. It is also not uncommon for pupils with parents or siblings who attended the school to wear additionally the buckles of their relatives, leading to some pupils to have as many as 5 buckles on their broadie belt. Special buckles are also issued to House Captains, as well as the Senior Grecian (the senior student of the school).