Wellington School, Somerset
Encyclopedia
Wellington School is a British co-educational independent school
in Wellington
, Somerset
, England catering for both day pupils and boarders
. There are currently 750 pupils on roll including 200 students in the sixth form. The Headmaster is Martin Reader.
's arms, the dragons represent the County of Somerset and the open book represents learning. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
.
The school opened a new junior school in 2000, having previously only catered for pupils aged 10 and over. In 2003 the Princess Royal
opened the Princess Royal Sports Complex, a £2.65 million indoor sports facility.
Since September 2007, there have been no lessons on a Saturday. This has been replaced with activities that incorporate music, drama and sport as well as compulsory activities for the boarders.
Football was reintroduced in the 2003 school year.
Hockey is the most prestigious sport at Wellington. Many students have gone on to represent the school in county and England hockey, national athletics, county and England fencing and county rugby.
Autumn:
rugby union
, hockey
.
Spring:
hockey, netball
, cross-country
, football
Summer:
cricket
, tennis
, athletics
, swimming
, rounders
.
Other minor sports:
badminton
, basketball
, fencing
, horse riding, squash
, golf
, climbing
.
Wellington's Fives
court, constructed in 1905, was converted in 1959 into a squash court.
, founded in 1901. The Combined Cadet Force is open to senior school pupils, and boasts upwards of 170 cadets across the Royal Navy, Army and Air Force sections.
The cadets learn military based skills such as drill, weapons handling, map and compass, battlecraft, climbing, abseiling and leadership development. There are various CCF camps, military training weekends and cadet competitions each year, during which the cadets go on field manoeuvres in order to apply the skills they have learned in a practical situation. Wellington School is unique in having three field exercises a year, each lasting three days and two nights. There is a commissioned officer who is a full time member of staff at Wellington School who runs the CCF. He is assisted by an experienced warrant officer. The cadets are required to present themselves for inspection by the masters in charge of each section on a weekly basis.
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in 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 cases the...
in Wellington
Wellington, Somerset
Wellington is a small industrial town in rural Somerset, England, situated south west of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the town...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England catering for both day pupils and boarders
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
. There are currently 750 pupils on roll including 200 students in the sixth form. The Headmaster is Martin Reader.
History
Wellington School is situated in the centre of the small town of Wellington. It was founded in 1837 as an all boys school by Benjamin Frost (Headmaster 1837–1848). It was later purchased and run by Frost's wife and William Corner (Headmaster 1848–1879). The school first came into existence on its present site in 1837, as a private boys school. Girls were accepted in 1972. The school lies on the southern side of Wellington, at the foot of the Blackdown Hills; it has pleasant well-equipped buildings in gardens with extensive playing fields The school's arms consist of one quarter of the Duke of WellingtonDuke of Wellington
The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington in Somerset, is a hereditary title in the senior rank of the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first holder of the title was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , the noted Irish-born career British Army officer and statesman, and...
's arms, the dragons represent the County of Somerset and the open book represents learning. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference is an association of the headmasters or headmistressess of 243 leading day and boarding independent schools in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and the Republic of Ireland...
.
The school opened a new junior school in 2000, having previously only catered for pupils aged 10 and over. In 2003 the Princess Royal
Princess Royal
Princess Royal is a style customarily awarded by a British monarch to his or her eldest daughter. The style is held for life, so a princess cannot be given the style during the lifetime of another Princess Royal...
opened the Princess Royal Sports Complex, a £2.65 million indoor sports facility.
Since September 2007, there have been no lessons on a Saturday. This has been replaced with activities that incorporate music, drama and sport as well as compulsory activities for the boarders.
Sports
The school has rugby pitches, cricket squares, football pitches, an all-weather pitch, all-weather training areas, tennis courts, squash courts, climbing wall and an indoor swimming pool.Football was reintroduced in the 2003 school year.
Hockey is the most prestigious sport at Wellington. Many students have gone on to represent the school in county and England hockey, national athletics, county and England fencing and county rugby.
Autumn:
rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
.
Spring:
hockey, netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
, cross-country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, football
Summer:
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, rounders
Rounders
Rounders is a game played between two teams of either gender. The game originated in England where it was played in Tudor times. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a round wooden, plastic or metal bat. The players score by...
.
Other minor sports:
badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
, horse riding, squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, climbing
Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...
.
Wellington's Fives
Fives
Fives is a British sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a special court using gloved or bare hands as though they were a racquet.-Background:...
court, constructed in 1905, was converted in 1959 into a squash court.
Combined Cadet Force
The school has its own marching band and active Combined Cadet ForceCombined Cadet Force
The Combined Cadet Force is a Ministry of Defence sponsored youth organisation in the United Kingdom. Its aim is to "provide a disciplined organisation in a school so that pupils may develop powers of leadership by means of training to promote the qualities of responsibility, self reliance,...
, founded in 1901. The Combined Cadet Force is open to senior school pupils, and boasts upwards of 170 cadets across the Royal Navy, Army and Air Force sections.
The cadets learn military based skills such as drill, weapons handling, map and compass, battlecraft, climbing, abseiling and leadership development. There are various CCF camps, military training weekends and cadet competitions each year, during which the cadets go on field manoeuvres in order to apply the skills they have learned in a practical situation. Wellington School is unique in having three field exercises a year, each lasting three days and two nights. There is a commissioned officer who is a full time member of staff at Wellington School who runs the CCF. He is assisted by an experienced warrant officer. The cadets are required to present themselves for inspection by the masters in charge of each section on a weekly basis.
Notable former pupils
- John Fraser DrummondJohn Fraser DrummondFlying Officer John Fraser Drummond DFC was an RAF fighter pilot, an official ace who flew in the Battle of Britain.-Background:...
, Battle of Britain fighter pilot - Lieutenant-General Sir Freddie ViggersFreddie ViggersLieutenant-General Sir Frederick Richard "Freddie" Viggers, KCB, CMG, MBE, DL is a former senior British Army officer, who served as Adjutant-General to the Forces immediately prior to his retirement 2008. He served as Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod from 30 April 2009 to 28 October 2010...
, KCB CMGOrder of St Michael and St GeorgeThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
MBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
DLDeputy LieutenantIn the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
, Gentleman Usher of the Black RodBlack RodThe Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, generally shortened to just Black Rod, is an official in the parliaments of several Commonwealth countries. The position originates in the House of Lords of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, Secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain and Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Lords. Senior official responsible for the day to day management of the House of Lords. - Keith FloydKeith FloydKeith Floyd was a British celebrity chef, television personality and restaurateur, who hosted cooking shows for the BBC and published many books combining cookery and travel...
, Food critic - General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor KT, GCB, DSO & Bar, MC, ADC (1889–1981). In WW2 he was the commander of 7th Armoured Division and 4th Indian Brigade that earlier in the North African campaign had routed the Italian 10th army taking surrender of 130,000 men and 400 tanks.
- Frank GillardFrank GillardFrank Gillard CBE was a BBC reporter and radio innovator.-Early years:Gillard was born in Tiverton, Devon and attended Wellington School, Somerset. He gained a Batchelor's degree from St Luke's College, Exeter. He then taught in a private school.-Broadcaster:In 1936 he became a part time...
BBC broadcaster and administrator. - David SuchetDavid SuchetDavid Suchet, CBE, is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
, Actor known for playing Hercule PoirotHercule PoirotHercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era.Poirot has been portrayed on... - Jeffrey Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare, Author, politician and convicted fraudster.
- Simon SinghSimon SinghSimon Lehna Singh, MBE is a British author who has specialised in writing about mathematical and scientific topics in an accessible manner....
, Science author. - Tom SinghTom SinghTom Singh OBE is the founder of the New Look chain of high street fashion stores in the United Kingdom. He is the eldest brother of author and broadcaster Dr Simon Singh. He is a graduate of the University of Wales....
, founder of the New LookNew Look (store)New Look is a British global fashion retailer with a chain of high street shops in Britain, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Malta, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.-History:...
chain of stores. - Peter St George-HyslopPeter St George-HyslopPeter Henry St George-Hyslop, MD, FRS, FRSC, FRCPC, is a British and Canadian medical scientist, neurologist and molecular geneticist who is known for his research into neurodegenerative diseases...
FRS, Fellow of the Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, Professor of Experimental Neuroscience at the University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and University Professor in Medicine at the University of TorontoUniversity of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
/ Physician Scientist who discovered several genes causing Alzheimer's DiseaseAlzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
including the presenilinPresenilinPresenilins are a family of related multi-pass transmembrane proteins that function as a part of the gamma-secretase intramembrane protease complex...
genes that cause an aggressive early onset for of Alzheimer's disease. - Herbert GamlinHerbert GamlinHerbert Temlett Gamlin , known as Octopus Gamlin, played in 15 rugby union internationals for England between 1899 and 1904 as a full-back. He also played first-class cricket for Somerset in 1895 and 1896...
, EnglandEngland national rugby union teamThe England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
rugby unionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player with 15 international caps between 1899 and 1904, known as "The Octopus" for the strength of his tackling.