Wells Cathedral School
Encyclopedia
Wells Cathedral School is a co-educational independent school
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...

 located in Wells
Wells
Wells is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills. Although the population recorded in the 2001 census is 10,406, it has had city status since 1205...

, 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. The school is one of the five established musical schools for school-age children in the United Kingdom, along with Chetham's School of Music
Chetham's School of Music
Chetham's School of Music , familiarly known as "Chets", is a specialist independent co-educational music school, situated in Manchester city centre, in North West England. It was established in 1969, incorporating Chetham's Hospital School, founded as a charity school by Humphrey Chetham in 1653...

, the Yehudi Menuhin School
Yehudi Menuhin School
The Yehudi Menuhin School is a specialist music school in Surrey, England. It was founded in 1963 by the violinist Yehudi Menuhin.The School also gives pupils the best musical education any specialist schools can with a number of internationally main teachers, Simon Fischer , Natalya Boyarskaya ,...

, the Purcell School
Purcell School
The Purcell School is a specialist music school for children, located in the town of Bushey, south Hertfordshire, England, and is the oldest specialist music school in the UK. The school was awarded the UNESCO Mozart Medal in 2003, which was received on behalf of the school by Prince Charles, who...

 and St. Mary's Music School
St. Mary's Music School
St Mary's Music School is a music school in Scotland located in Edinburgh, for boys and girls aged 9 to 19 and is also the Choir School of St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh...

, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. The head, Elizabeth Cairncross, is a member of the Headmasters` 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...

.

History

With links to a school founded in 909 AD, Wells is one of the oldest extant schools in the world. The school has admitted girls since 1969 and now teaches over 700 pupils
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...

 between the ages of 3 and 18. The school has a music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

al emphasis and specialises in combining high-level musical tuition with a general academic education as well as sporting endeavour.

Situated within the city of Wells
Wells
Wells is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills. Although the population recorded in the 2001 census is 10,406, it has had city status since 1205...

, the school's boarding house
Boarding house
A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...

s line the northern parts of the city and the music school retains close links with Wells Cathedral
Wells Cathedral
Wells Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, who lives at the adjacent Bishop's Palace....

. The Vicar's Chapel and Library in Vicars' Close
Vicars' Close, Wells
Vicars' Close, in Wells, Somerset, England is claimed to be the oldest purely residential street with its original buildings all surviving intact in Europe.John Julius Norwich calls it "that rarest of survivals, a planned street of the mid-14th century"....

 was built c1424-1430. The lower floor was a chapel, and a spiral stair lead up to the library. It is now used by the School.

De Salis House and De Salis Cottage were built in the late 14th century. The Rib was built in the 15th century and is a Grade II* listed building. Cedars House was built in 1758 for Charles Tudway, the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Wells, and is now part of the school. Claver Morris House was built as a canonical house in 1669 by Dr Claver Morris, while Plumptre dates from 1737 and was built for Dr Francis White. No.11 The Liberty was another built as a Canonical house, in the mid 18th century and is now part of Wells Cathedral Junior School. No 23 The Liberty was built in 1819 for the Chapter Clerk, William Parfitt, and the 15th century Polydor House formerly belonged to the organists.
The red brick Cedars Cottage, which was built as a coachman's cottage the former stables and coach house were built in the mid to late 18th century, around the same time as Mullins. Ritchie House was built a little later around the end of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th. Ritchie Hall became part of the school on its rebuilding in 1884 but incorporates part of a 12th century Canon's Barn, while St andrew's Lodge was built in 1713 as part of a charity school.

Wells Cathedral School is claimed to be the fifth oldest independent school in the country. It cannot be shown, however, that the school has existed continually since the date of its supposed foundation in the tenth century, and there was certainly a hiatus during the 1880s, after which it was refounded.

The current Headmistress is currently Elizabeth Cairncross with Charles Cain as Deputy Head. The Director of Studies is Nigel Walkey, and Dorothy Nancekievill is Director of Music.

The Royal Family hold links with the school; many of the buildings being opened by
Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...

 on 6 July 1979. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 has also made a visit to the school during her Silver Jubilee
Silver Jubilee
A Silver Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, ruling anniversary or anything that has completed a 25 year mark...

 tour in 1977. HRH The Countess of Wessex visited Wells on Thursday 18 October 2007.

In 2005, the school was one of fifty of the leading independent schools which were found guilty of running a price-fixing policy, discovered by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

, which had allowed schools to make fee increases or decreases at the same time, minimising competition. Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling £3 million into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared. The discovery by The Times was made shortly after new Office of Fair Trading
Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading is a not-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator...

 directives prohibiting such sharing of information a directive not clearly communicated according to the schools concerned, a fact omitted by many tabloids.

Music

Touring world-class musicians visit the school from all over the world to give masterclasses. The music school has several main practice areas and caters for specialist, special provision and general musicians. The school comprises pre-prep, junior school, lower school, and upper school, including a sixth form.

The Music School was formerly the house of the Archdeacon of Wells. It was largely rebuilt by Archdeacon Andrew Holes between 1450 and 1470, possibly retaining some 13th century work. Further extensively restoration was undertaken by Edmund Buckle in 1886. It is a Grade II* listed building.

The school's connection with the cathedral offers a range of opportunities. There is a school service every Sunday evening and Monday morning in the cathedral as well as music concerts. Chapel, chamber and cathedral choir rehearsals and performances are performed in both the cathedral and the Music School. Government funding of £3.5 million was obtained in 2008 to build a new concert hall and classrooms at Cedars Hall.

School houses

Boys' houses:
  • De Salis (lower school boarders) (navy tie with thin diagonal blue, yellow and white stripes)
  • Mills (lower school day) (navy tie with thin diagonal white stripes) - house no longer used, however the tie remains for lower school boys
  • Cedars (upper school) (navy tie with green emblems)
  • Ritchie (upper school) (navy tie with red emblems)
  • Shrewsbury (upper school) (navy tie with blue emblems)


Girls' houses:
  • Claver-Morris (lower school boarders)
  • Mary Mitchell (lower school day) - house no longer in use
  • Edwards (upper school)
  • Haversham (upper school)
  • Plumptre (upper school)


Competitive houses (lower school):
  • Carter
  • Lewis


Competitive houses (Junior School):
  • Drake
  • Livingstone
  • Nelson
  • Scott


Notable alumni

  • Jocelyn of Wells, Bishop of Bath
  • Adrian Arnold-Smith, research chemist
  • David Buckley
    David Buckley
    David Buckley is a British film score composer.Buckley is best known for working and still works extensively with composer Harry Gregson-Williams, including work on the famous videogame Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots.Among Buckley's numerous solo projects are the films Blood Creek , The...

    , film score composer
  • George Bull
    George Bull
    George Bull was an English theologian and Bishop of St David's.-Life:He was born, 25 March 1634, in the parish of St. Cuthbert, Wells, and educated in the grammar school at Wells, and then at Blundell's School in Tiverton under Samuel Butler. Before he was fourteen years old he went into...

    , Bishop of St. David's
  • Thomas Chaundler
    Thomas Chaundler
    Thomas Chaundler was an English playwright and illustrator.A manuscript at Trinity College, Cambridge depicts Chaundler presenting one of his plays to the Bishop of Bath, Thomas Beckynton, in 1460....

    , playwright
  • Iestyn Davies
    Iestyn Davies
    Iestyn Davies is a British classical countertenor.-Education and background:Iestyn Davies was a boy treble in the choir of St John’s College, Cambridge. He began singing countertenor in his teens, at Wells Cathedral School. He returned to St John's as a choral scholar, graduating in archaeology...

    , countertenor
  • Philip Dukes, Violist
    Violist
    -Notable violists:A* Julia Rebekka Adler * Sir Hugh Allen , conductor* Kris Allen * Johann Andreas Amon * Paul Angerer , composer* Steven Ansell * Atar Arad * Cecil Aronowitz...

  • Michael Eavis
    Michael Eavis
    Athelstan Joseph Michael Eavis, CBE , is an English dairy farmer and the founder of the Glastonbury Festival, which takes place on his farm.-Personal life:...

    , founder of the Glastonbury Festival
    Glastonbury Festival
    The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...

    , his daughter, Emily Eavis
    Emily Eavis
    Emily Eavis is co-organiser of the annual Glastonbury Festival. She is the youngest daughter of the festival's founder and organiser Michael Eavis and his second wife Jean....

     also went to the school
  • Frederick Keel
    Frederick Keel
    James Frederick Keel was an English composer of art songs, baritone singer and academic. Keel was a successful recitalist and a professor of singing at the Royal Academy of Music. He combined scholarly and artistic interest in English songs and their history. His free settings of Elizabethan and...

    , composer, singer and academic
  • Victoria Lyon, member of Escala (group)
    Escala (group)
    Escala is an electronic string quartet, from London, England who rose to fame when they performed on and reached the final of the second series of Britain's Got Talent on ITV1 in May 2008.- Background :...

  • Kris Marshall
    Kris Marshall
    Kristopher "Kris" Marshall is an English actor, best known for his role as Nick Harper in My Family, and as Adam in the adverts for BT Group since 2005.-Career:...

    , actor
  • Malcolm Nash
    Malcolm Nash
    Malcolm Nash, is a Welsh cricket coach and former first-class cricketer.- Glamorgan Cricketer :Born in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Nash was a left arm medium pace bowler who played largely for Glamorgan....

    , cricketer
  • Danny Nightingale
    Danny Nightingale
    Danny Nightingale is a British modern pentathlete and Olympic champion.He received a team gold medal in modern pentathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, with Adrian Parker and Jim Fox....

    , Olympic gold-medallist
  • Bruce Parry
    Bruce Parry
    Bruce Parry is a Former Royal Marines Officer and Instructor who is now a TV presenter and adventurer, known particularly for the documentary programme series Tribe , co-produced by the BBC and the Discovery Channel...

    , BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     presenter
  • David Poore
    David Poore
    David Poore is a British independent musician, who has composed and produced music for over 200 films by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Disney, PBS, National Geographic, RTÉ and other broadcasters.-Education:...

    , musician & composer
  • James Turle
    James Turle
    James Turle was an English organist and composer.Turle was born at Taunton, Somerset, and started as a choirboy at Wells Cathedral. In 1817 he became a pupil of G. E. Williams, organist at Westminster Abbey in London, and after acting as deputy for some years he succeeded to this post himself in...

    , musician
  • Richard Jacques
    Richard Jacques
    Richard Jacques is a British music composer. He is best known for his video game music, most notably for numerous video games created by Sega.-Early life:...

    , composer
  • John Goddard
    John Goddard (bishop)
    John William Goddard is the current Bishop of Burnley. He was educated at Durham University. He was ordained in 1971 and began his ecclesiastical career with a curacy at St John, Southbank. Following this he held two incumbencies in Middlesbrough and was then Rural Dean of the area...

     Bishop of Burnley

See also


External links

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