Ruthin School

Ruthin School is one of the oldest public schools in the United Kingdom. Located on the outskirts of Ruthin, the county town of Denbighshire in North Wales, the school is over seven hundred years old and has been co-educational since 1990.

Contents

Beginnings

Ruthin School was founded in the wake of Edward I's conquest of Wales. Whilst the precise date of the foundation is not clear, in his history of the school "Ruthin School: The First Seven Centuries", Keith Kenyon-Thompson suggested that 1284 was the most likely date and Reginald de Grey the most likely founder. In any event it is clear from the Taxatio of 1291 that there was a flourishing collegiate church and school at Ruthin.

Evidence of the School in the subsequent centuries is sparse. Surviving documents such as a Confirmatio of 1314/1315 which recognised the existence, rights and liberties of "collegio de Ruthin fundato per Reginald de Grey" indicate the existence of the School but nothing more is known of the size of the establishment.

Following Owain Glyndwr's attack on Ruthin in September 1400, it appears that the collegiate church and presumably also the School continued to function unscathed until the dissolution of the former in 1535. Thereafter evidence for the School's continuation is sketchy at best, but it is certain that in 1561 the tithes of the sinecure of Llanelidan were applied to the use of the School, which indicates that the pupils at that time would have been from local homes. Today the school is a fee paying school with pupils from foreign countries as well as local children. The state school Ysgol Brynhyfryd is across the road.

Re-Foundation

In 1574, Gabriel Goodman, the Dean of Westminster and an Old Ruthinian, built a two-storey, limestone building to house the school in the shadow of the Church. The School appears to have prospered and in 1595 Dean Goodman successfully petitioned Queen Elizabeth I to grant the tithes of Llanelidan to the School in perpetuity.

Prosperity

Following its refoundation, the School quietly but surely prospered. It educated the sons of local gentry, including the Grosvenor, Kenyon and Trevor families. The success of former pupils such as Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon and Sir John Trevor sometime Master of the Rolls and Speaker of the House of Commons, testified to a successful regimen of instruction.

Twentieth century

In 1893 the school moved from the shadow of the Church to a building designed by John Douglas on its impressive site on the eastern outskirts of the town. In 1923 Lord Kenyon opened the Memorial Cricket Pavilion to honour those Old Ruthinians who had died during the Great War.

As the century progressed, the demand for places increased and so in 1949 Bishop Wynne House was inaugurated. Just over a decade later, a new School hall comprising a refectory, kitchens, classrooms and a theatre were constructed.

Expansion continued and in 1971 a preparatory department was established in the former Archbishop Williams' house. The quatercentenary of the School's re-foundation was commemorated by the launch of plans for the construction of a new wing consisting of dormitories, a music room, classrooms, locker rooms and other facilities, plans which culminated in 1980.

The School's septcentenary was commemorated by a visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the School's Visitor, and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh on 16 March 1984 when a clock in the central tower was unveiled.

On the hundredth anniversary of the School's re-location, the Hall was further extended and in 2006 the Hewer Hall, a sports facility, was opened by The Princess Royal.

Sovereign's Visitatorial Rights

The Sovereign is the Visitor of Ruthin School whose rights have traditionally exercised by the Lord Lieutenant.

Old Ruthinian Association

The Old Ruthinian Association consists of former pupils of Ruthin School. The Association, whose patron is Sir William Gladstone, Bart., K.G., was founded after the First World War and gathers for its annual meeting on the Saturday of Remembrance Weekend at Ruthin Castle.

Distinguished Old Ruthinians

The dates provided are derived from Kenyon-Thompson's history of the school which in turn were verified, as far as possible, by the Dictionary of National Biography.

Headmasters of Ruthin School

See also

References

  1. ^ Cholerton, Moira. "Elias Owen (son of Elias)". Owen children. http://www.owen.cholerton.org/05_elias_52.php. Retrieved 3 December 2011. 
  2. ^ Williams, John (11 January 2010). "Appointment of new Principal". Ruthin School. http://www.ruthinschool.co.uk/news/index.php?entryid=197. Retrieved 2 June 2011. 

External links