Bromsgrove School, founded in 1553, is a co-educational
independent schoolAn independent school is a school which is independent in terms of its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some...
in the
WorcestershireWorcestershire or ; abbreviated Worcs) is a historic and administrative county located in the West Midlands region of central England. In 1974 it was merged with the county of Herefordshire to form the single administrative county of Hereford and Worcester; which was divided in 1998,...
town of
BromsgroveBromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England. The town is about north east of Worcester and south west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 and is in Bromsgrove District....
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
It was first recorded in 1476 as a
chantryChantry is the English term for the establishment of an institutional chapel on private land or within a greater church, where a priest would celebrate Mass. The same term is also used for the endowment itself. The word derives from the Latin cantaria, meaning 'licence to sing mass'...
school and was re-established as a
TudorThe Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
Grammar SchoolA grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally schools teaching classical languages but more recently academically-oriented types of secondary school.The original purpose of...
between 1548 and 1553. The
endowmentA financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution, usually with the stipulation that it be invested, and the principal remain intact in perpetuity or for a defined time period...
of
SirSir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in most English speaking cultures...
Thomas CookesSir Thomas Cookes, second baronet , benefactor of Worcester College, Oxford, was the eldest son of Sir William Cookes of Norgrove, Worcestershire, and his second wife, Mercy, née Dinely....
in 1693 produced the first buildings on the present site and the historic link with
Worcester College, OxfordWorcester College [ˈwʊstǝ] is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
which shares the same coat of arms and motto, based on those of Sir
Thomas CookesSir Thomas Cookes, second baronet , benefactor of Worcester College, Oxford, was the eldest son of Sir William Cookes of Norgrove, Worcestershire, and his second wife, Mercy, née Dinely....
of
NorgroveNorgrove is a hamlet outside Redditch, Worcestershire. It lies in between the villages of Upper Bentley, Callow Hill, Elcocks Brook & Webheath.-Proposed construction plan:...
.
In 1869 Bromsgrove was one of the fourteen founding schools of the Headmasters' Conference.
During the Second World War the School moved to
Llanwrtyd WellsLlanwrtyd Wells is a small town in the parish of Llanwrtyd in Powys, mid Wales, lying on the River Irfon.With a population of 601 people , it claims to be the smallest town in Britain, although Fordwich in Kent has a smaller population...
in
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
and its buildings were used by British Government Departments.
In 2002 the school established
Bromsgrove International School Thailand (BIST)Bromsgrove School UK has received the most Good Schools Guide awards for any co-educational independent school in England and shares top position with Eton, Wycombe Abbey and North London Collegiate, all of which are single sex....
in
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
.
In 2005 the school was one of fifty of the country's leading private schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel, exposed by
The TimesThe Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register....
, which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents.
Bromsgrove School, founded in 1553, is a co-educational
independent schoolAn independent school is a school which is independent in terms of its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some...
in the
WorcestershireWorcestershire or ; abbreviated Worcs) is a historic and administrative county located in the West Midlands region of central England. In 1974 it was merged with the county of Herefordshire to form the single administrative county of Hereford and Worcester; which was divided in 1998,...
town of
BromsgroveBromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England. The town is about north east of Worcester and south west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 and is in Bromsgrove District....
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
It was first recorded in 1476 as a
chantryChantry is the English term for the establishment of an institutional chapel on private land or within a greater church, where a priest would celebrate Mass. The same term is also used for the endowment itself. The word derives from the Latin cantaria, meaning 'licence to sing mass'...
school and was re-established as a
TudorThe Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
Grammar SchoolA grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally schools teaching classical languages but more recently academically-oriented types of secondary school.The original purpose of...
between 1548 and 1553. The
endowmentA financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution, usually with the stipulation that it be invested, and the principal remain intact in perpetuity or for a defined time period...
of
SirSir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in most English speaking cultures...
Thomas CookesSir Thomas Cookes, second baronet , benefactor of Worcester College, Oxford, was the eldest son of Sir William Cookes of Norgrove, Worcestershire, and his second wife, Mercy, née Dinely....
in 1693 produced the first buildings on the present site and the historic link with
Worcester College, OxfordWorcester College [ˈwʊstǝ] is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
which shares the same coat of arms and motto, based on those of Sir
Thomas CookesSir Thomas Cookes, second baronet , benefactor of Worcester College, Oxford, was the eldest son of Sir William Cookes of Norgrove, Worcestershire, and his second wife, Mercy, née Dinely....
of
NorgroveNorgrove is a hamlet outside Redditch, Worcestershire. It lies in between the villages of Upper Bentley, Callow Hill, Elcocks Brook & Webheath.-Proposed construction plan:...
.
In 1869 Bromsgrove was one of the fourteen founding schools of the Headmasters' Conference.
During the Second World War the School moved to
Llanwrtyd WellsLlanwrtyd Wells is a small town in the parish of Llanwrtyd in Powys, mid Wales, lying on the River Irfon.With a population of 601 people , it claims to be the smallest town in Britain, although Fordwich in Kent has a smaller population...
in
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
and its buildings were used by British Government Departments.
In 2002 the school established
Bromsgrove International School Thailand (BIST)Bromsgrove School UK has received the most Good Schools Guide awards for any co-educational independent school in England and shares top position with Eton, Wycombe Abbey and North London Collegiate, all of which are single sex....
in
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
.
In 2005 the school was one of fifty of the country's leading private schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel, exposed by
The TimesThe Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register....
, which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents. Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed 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 was shared.
In 2007, the school was granted the
FreedomFreedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe to esteemed members of its community or to organisations that have given the community heroic service; the term applies to two...
of Llanwrtyd Wells.
From 2009 on, Bromsgrove School will teach the International Baccalaureate alongside A-Levels.
Students
Bromsgrove School has boarding and day students and consists of three schools, Pre-Prep Nursery School (ages 2–7), Preparatory School (ages 7–13) and the Senior School (13–18). The School has a total of 1346 pupils, 876 of these in the Senior School, of whom 60% are male and 40% female, 60% boarding and 40% day. As well as British students, there are more than three hundred from other countries, especially
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
,
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
and
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
.
The school is to some extent a
selective schoolA selective school is a school which admits students on the basis of some sort of selection criteria, usually academic. The term may have different connotations in different systems.-New South Wales:...
and high A-Level and GCSE grades are achieved, with an A-Level pass rate (grade A*-C) of 96%.. Bromsgrove School is in the Top Ten of UK co-ed boarding schools by A-Level results. A Rugby match against
King Edward's School, BirminghamKing Edward's School is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to...
, that has been played annually for over 150 years, is thought to be the
oldest continuous Rugby fixtureThe world's oldest football competition is a title claimed by many.Many early football fixtures before the 1850s did not have set rules, clubs or trophies and are poorly documented.Some competitions were semi-organised fixtures, others offered trophies....
between two schools in England.
Houses
Preparatory School - All named after famous industrialists, shown in brackets:
- Boulton (Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton, FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the...
)
- Darby (Abraham Darby
Abraham Darby may refer to:*Abraham Darby I *Abraham Darby II *Abraham Darby III *Abraham Darby IV , High Sheriff of BuckinghamshireAbraham Darby may also refer to:...
)
- Telford (Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...
)
- Watt (James Watt)
Senior School:
- Elmshurst (Boys Boarding)
-
-
- Named after the original house that was located at 17 New Road. Elmshurst was sold in the mid-1970s and the students relocated to the current building within the school campus. It was refurbished in 2009 and half a million was spent on it.
- Hazeldene (Girls Day)
- Housman Hall (Sixth Form Girls & Boys)
- Housman Hall was opened in 2005, after the school bought the Ramada
Ramada is a hotel chain owned and operated by Wyndham Worldwide.- History :The lodging chain was founded in 1954 by longtime Chicago restaurateur Marion W...
Perry Hall Hotel for 25 million pounds. The building is the former home of A.E. Housman, an old bromsgrovian himself. Was expanded in 2009
- Lupton (Boys Day)
- Lyttelton (Boys Day)
- Named after the schools links with Baron Lyttelton
Lord Lyttelton, Baron of Frankley, in the County of Worcester, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, created in 1794. Since 1889 it is a subsidiary title of the viscountcy of Cobham....
, a local Lord, which is were the Cobham links came from as well.
- Mary Windsor (Girls Boarding)
- Named after Mary Windsor who was the daughter of Thomas Windsor Windsor, 1st Earl of Plymouth and Anne Savile. She married Sir Thomas Cookes, Bt. in 1672.
- Oakley (Girls Boarding & Day)
- School House (Boys Day)
- Senior House. Leads final call over during the end of year Commemoration Day ceremony.
- Thomas Cookes (Girls Day)
- Named after the founder of the school.
- Walters (Boys Day)
- Wendron Gordon (Boys Boarding)
- Has over 100 pupils in 2009-2010 due to merging with School House boarding
Notable students
There have been many notable Bromsgrovians, called Old Bromsgrovians, including 5 Victoria Cross recipients. AE Housman is one of the early recognisable names, whose house is now the school's Sixth Form Centre. In business and politics,
David ArculusSir David Arculus is a British media figure, businessman and advisor to Government who has appeared several times in The Sunday Times Power 100, ranked at number 39 in 2005....
,
Digby JonesDigby Marritt Jones, Baron Jones of Birmingham is a British businessman and politician. He has served as Director of the CBI and Minister of State for Trade...
and
Michael HeseltineMichael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group....
were educated at Bromsgrove, as were actors
Ian CarmichaelIan Carmichael OBE is an English film, stage, television and radio actor.-Early life:Carmichael was born in Hull, Yorkshire. His father was an optician and he was educated at Scarborough College and Bromsgrove School, before training as an actor at RADA...
,
Trevor EveTrevor John Eve is a British film and television actor. In 1979 he gained fame as the eponymous lead in the detective series Shoestring, and is currently best known for his role as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in BBC television drama Waking the Dead.-Early life:Eve was born in Birmingham...
(of Shoestring fame), and
Nick MilesNick Miles is an English actor well known for his part in ITV's Emmerdale as businessman Jimmy King.He appeared in the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe show "Meeting Joe Strummer" with Steve North.-Filmography:...
(of Emmerdale fame). In music,
John IllsleyJohn Illsley is an English musician who rose to fame as the bassist of the BRIT and Grammy winning rock band, Dire Straits....
attended both the Prep and Senior Schools, whilst more recently
Soweto KinchSoweto Kinch is a British jazz alto saxophonist and rapper. He was born in London in 1978 to a Bajan father, who is a playwright, and British-Jamaican mother, who is an actress. Kinch began playing saxophone at the age of nine after learning clarinet at Allfarthing Primary School, London...
wowed the school, on many occasions, with his piano playing abilities. The school also continues to produce many leading sportsman -
Matt NealMatt Neal is a British motor racing driver. He won the British Touring Car Championship in 2005 and 2006. He has also won a European Touring Car Championship race...
attended during the 1980s,
Andy GoodeAndrew James Goode is a rugby union footballer who plays fly-half for CA Brive and England....
and
Ben FodenBenjamin Foden is a rugby union footballer who plays for Northampton Saints and England. He plays at or , but can also operate on the .-Career:...
also attended and have since played Rugby Union for England.
Victoria Cross holders
Five Old Bromsgrovians have won the
Victoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration which is, or has been, awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals...
:
- Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military officer rank. Today, it is the highest rank in the armies in which it is used, one step above a general or colonel-general.-Usage and hierarchical position:...
Sir George WhiteField Marshal Sir George Stuart White VC, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO, was an officer of the British Army and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces-Early life:He was...
V.C.The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration which is, or has been, awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals...
, (1835–1912), Commander-in-Chief, IndiaThe British Commander-in-Chief in India was the chief military commander for the British administration in India and liaisoned with the civilian Governor-General of India...
, 1893–1899, Governor of GibraltarThe Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The Governor is appointed by the British Monarch on the advice of the British Government...
, 1900–1904,
- Percy Thompson Dean
Percy Thompson Dean VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
V.C.The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration which is, or has been, awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals...
, (1877–1939)
- Eustace Jotham
Eustace Jotham VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest military award for gallantry in the face of the enemy given to British and Commonwealth forces....
V.C.The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration which is, or has been, awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals...
, (c.1884–1915)
- Frank Bernard Wearne
Frank Bernard Wearne VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
V.C.The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration which is, or has been, awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals...
, (c.1894–1917)
- Nigel Gray Leakey
Nigel Gray Leakey VC was a Kenyan recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
V.C.The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration which is, or has been, awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals...
, (1913–1941)
See also
External links