Abingdon School
Abingdon School is an independent day and boarding school for boys in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It owns Joscas Preparatory School in Frilford Heath, Oxfordshire and has connections with St Helen & St Katharine School in Abingdon. It is the eighth oldest school in England.
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| Headmaster | Mark Turner |
| School type | Independent |
| Religious affiliation | Church of England |
| Founded | 1100 (foundation), 1256 (endowment) |
| Location | Abingdon, Oxfordshire |
| Enrollment | First Year (11), Third Year (13), Lower Sixth (17) |
| Surroundings | Suburban |
| Sports | Rowing, rugby, cricket, fives, tennis |
| School Motto | MISERICORDIAS DOMINI IN AETERNUM CANTABO |
History
Abingdon School was founded in about 1100 by the Benedictine monks of Abingdon Abbey, and the original school used a room in St. Nicholas's Church. In 1256 Abbot John de Bloseneville left money for the school to support poor students - the school had now moved to a couple of rooms in Stert St. In 1563 John Roysse was persuaded to re-endow the school which then moved to a site south of the abbey. The name John Roysse's Free Grammar School was still in use well into the 20th century. Roysse was a Mercer, and through this association the school has received substantial benefactions from the Worshipful Company of Mercers. Thomas Tesdale, who had been a pupil in 1563 improved the premises and provided support for 13 Abingdon students to study at Oxford - this eventually developed into Pembroke College in 1624. In 1854 the college used new legislation to separate itself from the school. The current site was developed from 1870.
Students and houses
The school currently has around 800 pupils aged 11-18 of which about 135 are boarders. The school is split into 10 houses, 3 of which are solely for boarders, 7 solely for day boys. These are:
- School
- Crescent
These houses have all the middle school boarders (aged 13-16) and the majority of the sixth form boarders (aged 17-18).
- Waste Court
This house has the remainder of the sixth form boarders and all of the lower school boarders (aged 11-12).
- Elliott's
- Gooding's
- Franklin's
- Hamilton's
- Olders'
- Townsend's
- Phelps'
These houses have middle and upper school day boys.
Day boys from 11-12 belong to the Lower School.
With the exceptions of School, Crescent, Waste Court and Lower School all the houses take their names from the name of the current housemaster.
Extracurricular activities
Abingdon is notable in the region for its extensive dedication to extracurricular activities, dubbed the "Other Half" (of the syllabus).
Abingdon has a strong sporting tradition, especially in rowing.
The Debating Society is the school's oldest non-sporting society, founded in 1904. A wide range of motions is debated, from humorous to serious, dealing with the great issues of the day. There are dinner debates with girls schools such as The School of St Helen and St Katharine, Wycombe Abbey and St Mary's, Wantage.
Abingdon's Combined Cadet Force is nationally acclaimed, with the cadets in the contingent's Royal Air Force section winning the 2002 Ground Training Competition (South East) at RAF Uxbridge, Middlesex.
Academic
Abingdon is also academically a very strong school: the students regularly achieve good results and a significant number progress to such venerable universities as St Andrews, Cambridge and Oxford.
Subjects taught to GCSE and A-Level are English, History, Geography, French, Russian, German, Religious Education and Religious Studies, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, Drama, Music, Art and Design, Latin, Greek and Classical Civilisation or Ancient History.
Subjects taught to GCSE only are Spanish and Italian.
Subjects taught for A-Level only are Government and Politics, Economics, Business Studies and Art History, often taught in conjunction with the neighbouring girls' school, The School of St Helen and St Katharine.
Its Russian department is notably strong and was determined the best in the country by a major national newspaper.
Headmasters
- Richard the Pedagogue, ~1100, (unverified)
- John Clyffe, ~1540
- Thomas Godwyn, 1601-1625
- Anthony Huish, 1625-1654
- Robert Jennings, 1657-1683
- Richard Playdell, 1684-1716
- Thomas Woods, 1716-1753
- John Abbot, 1753-1758
- Henry Bright, 1758-1774
- Andrew Portal, 1774-1775
- William Kennedy, 1775-1792
- John Lemprière, 1792-1809
- Edward Nicholson, 1810-1827
- Joseph Hewlett, 1827-39
- William Strange, 1840-1868
- Edmund Harper, 1868-70
- Edgar Summers, 1870-1883
- William Cam, 1883-1893
- Thomas Layng, 1893-1913
- William Grundy, 1913-1947
- James Cobban, 1947-1970
- Eric Anderson, 1970-1975
- Michael St. John Parker, 1975-2001
- Mark Turner, 2001-present
Notable Old Abingdonians
- Thomas Tesdale (1547–1610), maltster and benefactor of Abingdon
- Sir John Bennet (1552–1627), Chancellor of the Diocese of York, 1589–1624, Judge of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1604–1621, Master in Chancery, 1608–1621, and politician
- Sir Thomas Smith (1556–1609), Chief Secretary to Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, 1580s–1595, Clerk of the Privy Council, 1595–1609, and Clerk of Parliament, 1597–1609
- Robert Payne (1596–1651), clergyman and natural philosopher
- Henry Langley (1610–1679), nonconformist minister
- Thomas Moor (1648–1713), religious controversialist
- Francis Ayscough (1701–1763), courtier, and Dean of Bristol, 1761–1763
- Richard Graves (1715–1804), clergyman, writer and translator
- Philip Wenman, 6th Viscount Wenman (1719–1760), politician
- James Dawkins (1722–1757), antiquary and Jacobite
- John Tracy, 7th Viscount Tracy of Rathcoole (1722–1793), Warden of All Souls College, Oxford, 1766–1793
- William Huddesford (1732–1772), Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, 1755–1772
- William Bagshaw Stevens (1756–1800), clergyman, poet, diarist, and Headmaster of Repton School, 1779–1800
- James Brooks (1825–1901), architect
- Nigel Bruce (1895–1953), actor
- Robert Hayward (born 1949), politician
- Matthew Harding (1953–1996) businessmen and vice-president of Chelsea Football Club
- Francis Maude (born 1953), Chairman of the Conservative Party
- Tom Hollander (born 1967), actor
- Toby Jones (born 1967), actor
- Phil Selway (born 1967), member of Radiohead
- Ed O'Brien (born 1968), member of Radiohead
- Thom Yorke (born 1968), member of Radiohead
- Colin Greenwood (born 1969), member of Radiohead
- Jonny Greenwood (born 1971), member of Radiohead
- David Mitchell (born 1973), comedian and actor
Notable current masters
- W. H. Zawadzki, notable Polish historian
- D. J. M. Carson, Territorial Army Major