Sherborne School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sherborne School | |
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| Motto | Dieu et mon droit (God and my right) |
| Established | 1550 |
| Type | Independent |
| Religious affiliation | Christian |
| Headmaster | Simon Eliot |
| Chairman of the Governors | Sir John Weston |
| Founder | St Aldhelm |
| Location | Sherborne Dorset DT9 3AP England  |
| Students | 570 (approx.) |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 13 to 18 |
| Houses | 8 |
| School colours | Royal blue & yellow
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| Former pupils | Old Shirburnians |
| Website | www.sherborne.org |
Sherborne School is an English public school for boys, located in the town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset, England.
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[edit] History
The school's origins date back to the eighth century, when a tradition of education in Sherborne was begun by St Aldhelm. According to legend, Alfred the Great was one of the school's early pupils. The school was then linked with the Benedictine Abbey in the town. The earliest Master we know about was Thomas Copeland in 1437. After the Dissolution of the monasteries, Edward VI refounded the School in 1550 as King Edward's school, a free grammar school for local boys. The present School, which has gone through various changes of fortune since the Protestant Reformation ( and no doubt before), stands on land which once belonged to the Monastery. The Library, Chapel and Headmaster's rooms, which adjoin the Abbey Church, are modifications of its original monastic buildings.
The school stood in for Brookfield School in the 1969 film Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and many of its students served as extras in the production.
[edit] Houses
Sherborne School is composed of 8 houses, where the pupils (invariably referred to as 'boys') live and work when not in lessons. The names of the houses, and their distinctive letter, used in certain circumstances as an abbreviation:
- School House (a)
- Abbey House (b)
- The Green (c)
- Harper House (d)
- Wallace House (e) (formerly Elmdene)
- Abbeylands (f)
- Lyon House (g)
- The Digby (m) (formerly the Digby Hotel)
Until 1999 there was another house, Westcott (h).
These houses also compete against each other in various sporting, educational and musical competitions.
Housemasters play a significant role in the lives of the 'boys' within the school, and it is often considered important for the sake of the happiness of a 'boy', to be supported by an appropriate housemaster.
[edit] School song ("Carmen Saeculare")
Olim fuit monachorum
Schola nostra sedes;
Puer regius illorum
Fecit nos heredes;
Hoc in posteros amoris
Grande dedit signum;
Sonet ergo Fundatoris
Nomen laude dignum;
Vivat Rex Eduardus Sextus!
Vivat!
Ergo dum verenda mole
Cana perstat aedes,
Dum recenti gaudet prole
Monachorum sedes,
Stimulet certamen ludi,
Suadeat laboris,
In sigillo sculptum rudi
Nomen Fundatoris.
Vivat Rex Eduardus Sextus!
Vivat!
The song was of five verses, but these are the two printed each term in the School's 'Blue Book' diary and are nowadays sung at the end of whole school assemblies at the end of term (known as "lists") where prize-winners will receive prizes and various announcements will be made.
[edit] Concert In The Courts
This is an annual event at which the best if the school rock bands, and usually another guest band, have an opportunity to perform in front of an audience of about 1500 people. The atmosphere is extatic, and many a courting couple have the opportunity to embrace under the starlit sky while musing the Dylanesque lyrics. It is often considered one of the greatest Sherborne institutions, and to have played in the concert is akin to having scored on the hallowed turf, know as the Upper.
[edit] Famous alumni
See also Category:Old Shirburnians
- James Adams, cricketer
- Hugh Bonneville, actor
- Tom Bradby, TV journalist and author
- Sir Alan Campbell, diplomat
- Rt Hon Sir Christopher Chataway, athlete and politician
- Charles Collingwood, actor
- David Cornwell, (a.k.a. John le Carré), writer
- Charlie Cox, actor
- Ronald Cunningham, (a.k.a. The Great Omani), escapologist
- Felix Curry, Olympic athlete (frisbee)
- Cecil Day-Lewis, poet
- Nigel Dempster, journalist
- Jimmy Edwards, comedian
- Robert Eglington, designed
- Sir Richard Eyre, film and theatre director, artistic director of the National Theatre 1988-97
- Sir Michael Hopkins, architect
- Jeremy Irons, actor
- Stanley Johnson, politician
- Robert Kitson, Rugby Union Correspondent, The Guardian
- Anthony Lane, film critic
- John Le Mesurier, actor
- Colin Lucas, Master of Balliol and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University until 2001.
- Oliver Madley, mathematician
- Chris Martin, member of rock band Coldplay
- Michael McCrum, academic
- Ian Messiter, creator of Just a Minute
- King Mswati III, king of Swaziland
- Keith Muspratt, World War One Flying Ace
- George Miller, lawyer
- Julius Neave, insurance executive
- Alfred North Whitehead, mathematician and philosopher
- Peter Oborne, journalist, author and political commentator
- Charles Palmer, engineer and survivor of the siege of Lucknow
- Lance Percival, actor
- Jon Pertwee, actor
- Sir Alastair Pilkington, director of the Bank of England
- James Purefoy, actor
- Rt Rev Lord Sheppard of Liverpool, former England cricketer and Bishop of Liverpool
- Sir David Spedding, head of the SIS
- Alan Turing, mathematician
- Alec Waugh, novelist
- John Weston, diplomat
[edit] Victoria Cross holders
Five Old Shirburnians have been awarded the Victoria Cross, to whom a memorial plaque was commissioned, the unveiling of which took place in the School Chapel on 19th September 2004.[1]
- Rear Admiral Henry James Raby VC; (VC won in the Crimean War, when he was a Lieutenant in the Naval Brigade)
- Colonel Sir Arthur George Hammond VC, KCB, DSO; (VC won in the Second Afghan War, when he was a Captain in the Bengal Staff Corps, Indian Army)
- Brigadier Charles Edward Hudson VC, CB, DSO & Bar, Military Cross; (VC won in the First World War, when he was a Temporary Lieutenant Colonel in the Sherwood Foresters)
- Major Edward Bamford VC DSO; (VC won in the First World War, when he was a Captain in the Royal Marine Light Infantry)
- Captain John Hollington Grayburn VC; (VC won in the Second World War, when he was a Lieutenant in the Parachute Regiment)
[edit] References
- ^ Old Shirburnian Editorial Team, (2004), The OS Record, pages 20-21 , (Shelleys The Printers, Sherborne)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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