Rossall School

Rossall School
File:Rossall Crest2.jpg
Location
Fleetwood , Lancashire England
Information
Type	Independent & Co-educational
Motto	Mens Agitat Molem 'Mind Over Matter'
Religious affiliation(s)	Church of England
Established	1844
Founder	Revd. Canon St. Vincent Beechey
Chairman of Governors	Mr. D. S. Stockton
Head teacher	Mr. Timothy J. Wilbur (Leaving summer 2008)
Chaplain	Revd. Stephen Cooper
Age	11 to 18
Enrollment	660
Colour(s)	Red, White and Navy Blue
Website	http://www.rossall.co.uk/

Rossall School is a British, co-educational, public school in between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire.

It was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College which had been founded the previous year. Its establishment was "to provide, at a moderate cost, for the sons of Clergymen and others, a classical, mathematical and general education of the highest class, and to do all things necessary, incidental, or conducive to the attainment of the above objects." Set in a 161-acre (0.65 km²) estate next to Rossall Beach, Rossall is also a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and was granted a royal charter on October 21, 1890. It accepts students between the ages of 11 and 18 and also has an associated preparatory school.

History

1844 to 1914

Rossall Sumner Library (Formerly the school chapel)

Having been founded in 1844, on land that had historically belonged to the Allen Family, Rossall nearly shut down in its infancy because huge outbreaks of Scarlet Fever - not unusual for boarding schools of the time. The foundation stone to the Sumner Library was laid in 1848 by the first ever Bishop of Manchester, James Prince Lee - the diocese having only been created that same year. Rossall's swift and successful development can be seen by its inclusion in the book 'The Great Schools of England.'

The current chapel was constructed in the 1860s and the school underwent further development from the 1880s to 1900 to accommodate more students and to create further facilities such as the gym which still stands. It was in this period, under the reign of Revd. Robert Henniker, that one particularly unpopular school chaplain, Revd. Sleap, was subject to an assassination attempt from the students. Arsenic in the sugar was the means chosen by the students to rid the school of the hated priest. However, the plot was outed before any of the affected sugar was consumed.

Depsite such incidents, Rossall was widely considered to be in top 30 public schools in the UK by the end of Queen Victoria's reign also earning itself a place in the Public Schools Yearbook and the Public School News section of the Cambridge Review.

However in 1911 Rossall encountered another crisis when the Rossall Bursar, Major Anstead (A very peculiar chap who was always seen riding a horse in full military uniform.), was found to be attempting to enlist in London for military service in South Africa. The Rossallian who spotted him informed the police. Simultaneously, Rossall was nearly forced to file for bankruptcy. After investigation it was discovered that Major Anstead had been producing false account books and had embezzled over £70,000, equivalent to more than £1million today. He had used the money to finance his extravagant lifestyle, uniforms and an expensive mistress in London. Despite these difficulties, by the end of the 1920s Rossall's academic results were amongst the best in the country with record numbers achieving scholarships to Oxbridge and attaining distinctions in the Higher Certificate examinations.

1914 to 1945

Rossall International Study Centre, formerly the largest Headmaster's House in the UK

During the world wars large numbers of Old Rossallians lost their lives in combat, 283 in World War One alone - the majority of whom are now commemorated in the extension memorial chapel. Rossall has had the privilege of being allowed to have a memorial plaque placed at St Georges Chapel by the Menin Gate in honour of its fallen, alongside schools such as Rugby, Eton and Harrow.

Before the Second World War Rossall had made plans to accommodate Westminster School however these plans were scrapped when the government seized the campus for its own departments, the Office of Works, Board of Education and Ministry of Pensions, forcing Rossall up to Naworth Castle.When the school got the campus back in 1940 it looked to take a school from the south-east in, as Westminster had now found an alternative solution. The eventual choice was that of Alleyn's who had to be evacuated from London as a result of the risk of bombing.

Another side effect of the war was that there was only one centenary dinner celebrating the 100th year of Rossall. Rather more unusual was the fact that it was conducted by Old Rossallians imprisoned in Changi Jail - a Japanese Prisoner of War camp.

1945 to present

An aerial view of the Rossall estate today

The school left the 1940s in good health, even attracting Benjamin Britten to give a concert in Big School in 1954. It continued to succeed and in the 1970s, in a bid to ensure the highest standards during a period of declining boarding, girls were allowed to enroll. Throughout the 1980s the school continued to prosper, though going through great financial difficulty at the turn of the millennium.

Rossall has since had a large amount of investment, with the boarding houses currently undergoing refurbishment and large restructuring throughout the years. The middle school now runs from years 7 to 9, one year longer than traditionally. As a part of the modernising of the school the IB was introduced as an alternative to A-Levels in 1998, being only the 3rd school in the UK to do so, and there is now also a large international boarding contingent.

Rossall is still committed to relatively affordable private education in relation to the rest of the UK - 80% of those who attend the school are the first in their family to attend an independent schooland a large number of scholarships and bursaries are available. 2007 saw the return of the Rossall Summer School - developed to give children from outside of the UK the opportunity to develop their English speaking skills as well as being a chance for those thinking of going to a boarding school to prepare for the change in daily lifestyle.

In December 2007 it was announced that the current headmaster, Tim Wilbur, would be leaving at the end of the academic year. A search is currently underway to find a new headmaster.

Campus

Architecture

The Archway

Rossall School Archway

This is perhaps Rossall's most prominent architectural feature. It was erected in 1867, under the reign of William Osborne. Unfortunately records do not survive to inform us who designed it. What can be said though is that it is clearly modelled on the entrance gates of the Oxbridge colleges. It originally had large wooden doors which were locked at night however these have since been removed for improvements in access.

The Chapel

It the 1860s a new school chapel was built to cope with the increasing number of students, the old chapel serving, as it does today, as the school library. The new chapel was designed by Edward Graham Paley, extended by Robert Lorimer and includes numerous carvings by Eric Gill. The chapel organ was designed by Harrison & Harrison.

The Dining Hall

The original school dining hall burnt down in the 1920s. The replacement, the current dining hall, was designed by Sir Hubert Worthington. The design was not without fault however - it was constructed from bricks encased in a weatherable coating that would dissolve away to leave it looking in the same condition as the rest of the square. Despite the best efforts of the north Lancashire climate and the Irish Sea, the bricks have yet to fully weather, or in most cases weather in any way at all. Hence its peculiar colour compared with the rest of the Rossall buildings. The largest section of wood panelling behind the headmaster's table in the dining hall is made from an oak tree that grew in the back garden of George Mallory. It is likely that it is the largest school dining hall in the country.

There are four coats of arms attached to the exterior of the dining hall to commemorate the various families associated with Rossall over the years; The Allen Family for the historic owners of the site, The Hesketh Family for the most recent owners of the site prior to the school, The Fleetwood Family for Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood who originally loaned Rossall Hall for the opening of the school and The Beechey Family for the founder of the school, The Revd. St. Vincent Beechey.

Canberra Grammar School

Stone from Rossall can be found in the cloisters of Canberra Grammar School along with stones from Eton, Westminster, St Paul's, Charterhouse, Uppingham, Clifton, Tonbridge, Shrewsbury, Sherborne, Wellington, Cheltenham, Repton and Radley.

Rossall today

The school offers both A-levels and the International Baccalaureate IB Diploma Programme for Sixth form students. The Preparatory School operates on IB Primary Years Programme.

School uniform

The school uniform consists of a blue blazer, white shirt, tie, grey/black trousers and black shoes. Members of the sixth form may wear a dark suit, whilst the School Captains may wear a distinctive striped blazer. Each house has its own set of ties based on the house colours. There are also a variety of colours and half-colours ties given as a reward for those who have achieved things for their house or for the school. House Captains automatically qualify for full house colours and School Captains automatically qualify for full school colours. There are also ties for School Monitors, who may also wear a coloured shirt.

Extra-curricular activities

Sports

Ross Hockey

There are 64 clubs and societies currently in operation at Rossall. Amongst them are the more traditional such as Rugby, football, Fives and Hockey. There are also numerous other unique clubs such as the Croquet Club. Rossall plays host to a number of inter-school tournaments throughout the year. In recent years these have included hockey, preparatory school rugby and basketball. The most notable tournament is the fives competition which attracts the likes of Lancing College, Malvern College, Uppingham School and Shrewsbury School.

Music

Rossall has numerous school choirs including the Beecham Singers, a choir principally for those in the local community to join. They give regular recitals throughout the year, often for charity. The school's chapel choir has performed at York Minster. In the summer of 2007 the choir went on a tour of Paris culminating in a performance at Notre Dame Cathedral.

Combined Cadet Force

Rossall was the first school in the United Kingdom to form a Combined Cadet Force (CCF). It was founded in February 1860 when the threat of a French/Irish Catholic invasion was at its height. Other schools such as Eton College formed their corps a few months later. The institution is still present in the school today with around 100 cadets currently enlisted. In recent years the shooting team has excelled with notable victories in the Home Guard Cup and Loyal’s Regimental Cup.

Miscellaneous

Other societies include the Astronomy club which makes use of the school's telescope and planetarium and the Literary Society, which meets on Friday evenings to discuss different genres of literature.

School terms

The Gazebo

Buildings

• Big School - The Main Assembly Hall
• Brew Room - The small kitchens in each house in which the students may prepare food for themselves.
• Chagger - The nickname for the houses changing rooms.
• Common Room - The name of the Teachers Lounge. Teachers are known as members of Common Room.
• The Cop - The dyke that runs around Rossall - most noticeable around the playing fields.
• The Gazebo - The small structure with the flagpole that sits atop the mound next to Mitre Fleur-de-Lys. The gazebo is the oldest structure at Rossall, dating from no later than 1733 (See picture to the right.)
• Moni's Lawn - The elevated area of grass next to the dining hall on which only school monitors can walk
• Nagger - The nickname for the Matron's office where laundry is cleaned etc.
• The Needle Room - a small room in nagger where sartorial repair and name-tagging of clothes occurs
• Rosshop - Rossall's own shop which sells the school's uniform, sports equipment etc.
• Senior Club - The sixth form bar
• The Square - The main school quad

Daily Life

• The Carmen - The school song. It is sung at major school events including Old Rossallian dinners and end of term assemblies.
• Chit - A small note that is filled out to purchase clothes or stationery from Rosshop.
• Congers - Congregational hymn practice in chapel.
• Nagger Bag - The name of the bags in each house used to pick up and carry the students' laundry to Nagger.
• Roll - Registration in Houses

Disciplinary Terms

• The Bill - Being placed on the Bill is usually a result of very poor behaviour and involves a student being summoned at lunchtime to talk to the First Deputy Head personally about their misdeeds. A punishment is then issued if the pupil's explanation is not accepted. The advantage of the Bill system is that all pupils, from whatever house or year group, are treated similarly.
• Gating - Pupils are gated as the worst form of punishment before expulsion or suspension. Students who are gated are only allowed to wear their school uniform and must stay within the school grounds, usually in the house. There are also usually extra punishments involved such as litter-picking or essay writing. This is most often given for smoking, drinking or skipping lessons.
• P.S. (Punishment School) - The Rossall equivalent of detention

Pastoral Terms

• House Captain - The student appointed as the head of his or her house. They ensure that house monitors do their job properly, create rotas for their House Monitors, help with social problems within the house and organise house teams for inter-house competitions.
• House Monitor - A prefect who's power does not extend beyond their own house. Duties include taking certain rolls, ensuring house duties and punishments are enforced and maintaining the status quo in the house.
• School Captain - The Head Boy. Duties include organising all of the School Monitors as well attending other functions on behalf of the school. Historically the school captain was allowed to keep a goat, grow a beard or moustache and smoke a pipe in school hours, though few school captains of recent years have exercised such powers.
• School Monitor - A prefect

Sport Terms

• Bully - A term from Ross Hockey. A bully is the scrum-like element of the game that requires 8 people from both teams.
• Rossall Fives - Rossall's unique version of fives - an amalgamation of Rugby, Winchester and Eton Fives - though it resembles Rugby Fives more than the other two codes.
• Rossall Hockey (Ross Hockey) - A relatively famous game unique to Rossall - a cross between Rugby and Hockey, orginially derived from the Eton Field Game, played on the beach in the harshest winter months.
• Shore - A Rossall Hockey pitch
• Zephyr - A rugby top

Houses

Like many independent schools Rossall adopted a house system early on, with each pupil belonging to a house. It forms an integral part of life at the school and there are frequent inter-house events in sports as well as the arts. The current houses are:

Spread Eagle House

House Name	Student's Gender	Part of:	House Colours	Founded	House Type
Anchor	Boys + Girls	Middle School		2004	Boarding
Dragon	Boys + Girls	Middle School		2006	Day
Falcon	Boys + Girls	Middle School		2006	Day
Stag's Head	Boys + Girls	Middle School		2006	Day
Lugard Boys	Boys	ISC		1985	Boarding
Lugard Girls	Girls	ISC		1985	Boarding
Dolphin	Girls	Senior School		1980	Day
Maltese Cross	Boys	Senior School		1886	Boarding + Day
Mitre Fleur-de-Lys	Boys	Senior School		1875	Boarding + Day
Pelican	Boys	Senior School		1888	Boarding + Day
Rose	Girls	Senior School		1884	Boarding
Spread Eagle	Boys	Senior School		1868	Boarding + Day

Old Rossallians

Main article: Notable Old Rossallians

The Old Rossallian Tie

Many notable people have studied at Rossall over the years.

• Bill Ashton - Founder of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra
• Sir Thomas Beecham - Conductor and founder of numerous orchestras including the London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic.
• Arthur Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham - Private Secretary to Queen Victoria and King George V
• David Brown - Aston Martin and Lagonda owner.
• Father Thomas R.D. Byles - Catholic priest who refused to leave the Titanic so he could help fellow passengers. He perished as it sank.
• Leslie Charteris - author and creator of The Saint
• Michael Dickinson - World Record Holding National Hunt trainer
• J.G. Farrell - novelist and winner of the Booker Prize
• Sir Frank Fletcher - First person to be knighted for services to education and first lay headmaster of a public school (Marlborough College and then Charterhouse School)
• Wilfred Fletcher C.B.E - Designer of the first Severn Bridge and the Tamar Bridge
• F. W. Harvey - Poet
• Lord Frederick Lugard - Governor of Nigeria and Hong Kong, also founder of the University of Hong Kong
• Charles Kay Ogden - Linguist, psychologist, philosopher and inventor of Basic English
• Brian Redman - Successful racing car driver - 3 times Formula 5000 champion amongst other notable victories
• Walter Clopton Wingfield - The Inventor of Lawn Tennis
• Peter Winterbottom - Former England Rugby Union Captain. He also played for the Lions.

The school alumni society is called the Rossallian Club. The Rossallian Club has numerous gatherings every year all over the UK and, with the advent of a large international boarding contingent in recent years, all over the world - the first ever OR meal in Germany took place in 2006. The school also has its own masonic lodge, founded in 1928, that meets three times a year at Freemasons's Hall in London. It is part of the Public School Lodges Council and is open to any Old Rossallian who wishes to join.

Rossall's alumni are one of only nine schools to have won the Halford Hewitt Public Schools Golf Tournament more than twice. The schools are (in order of victories): Charterhouse (16), Harrow (11), Eton (10), Tonbridge (6), Rugby (5), Watson's (4), Rossall (3), Shrewsbury (3), Merchiston (3). Rossall is also positioned 8th overall in the Anderson Scale of past performances in the competition.

Headmasters of Rossall

Inside the Sumner Library

First year at Rossall	Final year at Rossall	Name	Education	Career after Rossall
1844	1849	Dr John Woolley	University of London & University College, Oxford	First Principal of the University of Sydney.
1849	1869	Rev. William Alexander Osborne	St Paul's & Trinity College, Cambridge	Retired after Rossall
1870	1875	Rev. Robert Henniker	Charterhouse & Trinity College, Oxford
1875	1886	Dr. Herbert Armitage James	Abergavenny Grammar School, Jesus College & Lincoln College, Oxford	Headmaster of Cheltenham and Rugby.
1886	1896	Rev. Charles Coverdale Tancock	Sherborne & Exeter College, Oxford	Headmaster of Tonbridge
1896	1908	Rev. Dr. John Pearce Way	Brasenose College, Oxford
1908	1932	Rev. Canon Edward John Walford Houghton	Sherborne & Christchurch, Oxford
1932	1937	Harold George Michael Clarke	St Paul's & Trinity College, Cambridge	Headmaster of Repton
1937	1957	Rev. Charles Edgar Young	Charterhouse & Exeter College, Oxford
1957	1967	Geoffrey Sale	Berkhamstead & Lincoln College, Oxford
1967	1972	Roger Wykeham Ellis	Winchester & Trinity College, Oxford	Headmaster of Marlborough and Head of the HMC
1973	1987	Dr John Sharp	Keighley Grammar & Brasenose College, Oxford	Retired after Rossall
1987	2001	Richard David Walton Rhodes	Rossall & Durham	Retired after Rossall
2001	2008	Timothy Wilbur	Kent & Loughborough	Headmaster of Wanganui Collegiate School

Lawrence House Astronomy & Space Science Centre

The refurbished Rossall Observatory. (Inset - the observatory before restoration)

Rossall is also home to the Lawrence House Astronomy & Space Science Centre - the only centre dedicated solely to the teaching of Astronomy. The project consists of the telescope in Rossall's Assheton Observatory as well as a building of its own containing a lecture theatre, classrooms and a portable planetarium. The telescope is of particular note - being 12 feet (3.7 m) long, 18 inches wide and dating from 1870.

The project has been funded by the Lawrence House Trust and predominantly run by Dr. Nick Lister, originally the head of D.T. at the school and now Astronomer in Residence. Dr Lister studied at Plymouth University before getting his PHD from University College London. He is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and was recently appointed as vice-president of the Association for Astronomy Education, where he succeeded Dr Robert Massey of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, who has now become president of the organisation.

When initial assessments were being made for the feasibility of restoring the observatory, both the telescope and observatory were in a poor condition as a result of years of neglect and an arson attempt by some local children. However, the telescope is made predominantly from brass and thus suffered minimal corrosion and damage. Most importantly the lens of the telescope survived unscathed allowing for restoration. This was carried out at first by several dedicated parents and governors of the school, amongst them Syd Little.

Soon after the basic restoration ideas were raised for a larger project allowing the teaching of astronomy on a larger scale. After getting clearance from the original owners of the telescope to go ahead with the project, Rossall was given funds from the Lawrence House Trust, an educational charity, to go forward with their plans. The centre had an official opening on Tuesday 26 September 2006 with Old Rossallian and former Astronomer Royal Sir Francis Graham Smith in attendance. The centre's motto is 'Astronomy For All' meaning that it offers courses to Rossall Students but also at a small cost to the general public. Courses also range from beginner to advanced to ensure that anybody who wishes to study Astronomy can do so.

Possibly because of its emphasis on practical astronomy as a subject, Rossall School was depicted as the school attended by Dan Dare, the fictional space hero in The Eagle comic who was a favourite character of boys of the 1950s–60s.

Fees (per term)

Senior School

• Day - £2,855.00
• Extended Day - £3,565.00
• IB Day - £3,185.00
• Boarding - £7,270.00
• IB Boarding - £7,995.00

Middle School

• Day - £2,600.00
• Extended Day - £3,565.00
• Boarding - £4,995.00

Gallery

Click any image to see it full-size

• 
  Rossall School Main Drive as viewed from the archway
• 
  Rossall School Libray
• 
  Rossall Prep School
• 
  Another aerial view of Rossall with Cleveleys (middle) and Blackpool (top) in the background
• 
  Rossall School Chapel, Monitors' Lawn and Beecham Music Schools
• The interior of Big School as viewed from the balcony
  The interior of Big School as viewed from the balcony
• 
  Rossall as seen from the playing fields
• 
  The Museum Theatre
• 
  The Square, Rossall
• 
  The "Dick Richards Pavillion"
• The Dining Hall
  The Dining Hall

Further reading

• 'Rossall School, Its Rise and Progress' - Canon St Vincent Beechy (1894)
• 'History of Rossall School' - John Frederick Rowbotham (First ed. 1895, John Heywood)
• 'The Centenary History of Rossall School' - W Furness (1945, Gale and Polden)
• 'A Very Desolate Position' - Peter Bennett (1977, Rossall Archives)
• 'Rossall Will be What You Make it' - Peter Bennett (1992, Rossall Archives)
• 'The Tide Flows On' - Derek Winterbottom (2006, Manx Press)
• 'A Short History of the Rossall School Corps.' - Lt.-Col. L. H. Trist (1960, pp. 27. Fleetwood Chronicle: Fleetwood)
• 'Alleyn’s and Rossall schools : the Second World War, experience and status'- Donald Leinster_Mackay (1990 , Leeds : Museum of the History of Education, University of Leeds.)
• 'Hymns for use in the chapel of Rossall School' - Herbert A. James. (1880, R. Clay, Sons, & Taylor: London)
• 'Rossall. An Ode, by O. Seaman ... for the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the School' - Charles Harford Lloyd (1894, London & New York : Novello, Ewer and Co)

External links

• Official site
• Rossallian Club Website
• Lawrence House Astronomy and Space Science Centre Website
• Rossall Summer School Website
• Old Rossallian Lodge
• Rossall School in the Press
• A Pictorial History of Rossall