Blundell's School
| Blundell's School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
Blundells Road ,, EX16 4DN | |
| Coordinates | 50°54′23″N3°27′58″W/ 50.906499°N 3.466174°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public school Privateday andboarding school |
| Motto | Pro Patria Populoque (For the country and the people) |
| Established | 1604 |
| Founder | Peter Blundell |
| Department for EducationURN | 113575Tables |
| Chairman of the Governors | Nigel Hall |
| Head | Bart Wielenga |
| Staff | 360 |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Age | 3 to 18 |
| Enrolment | c. 615 in senior school c. 251 in preparatory school |
| Houses | Francis House (Boys) Gorton House (Girls) |
| Colour(s) | Red & White |
| Former pupils | Old Blundellians |
| Website | http:// blundells.org |
Blundell's Schoolis anindependentco-educationalboardinganddayschool in the Englishpublic schooltradition, located inTiverton,Devon.It was founded in 1604 under the will ofPeter Blundell,one of the richest men in England at the time, and moved to its present site on the outskirts of the town in 1882.
While the full boarding fees are £45,750 per year,[1]the school offers several scholarships and bursaries, and provides flexi-boarding. The school has 360 boys and 225 girls, including 117 boys and 85 girls in the Sixth Form, and is a member of theHeadmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
History[edit]
Peter Blundell,one of the wealthiest merchants of Elizabethan England, died in 1601, having made his fortune principally in the cloth industry. His will set aside considerable money and land to establish a school in his home town "to maintain sound learning and true religion". Blundell asked his friendJohn Popham,Lord Chief Justiceof England, to carry out his wishes, and appointed a number of local merchants and gentry as his first trustees (known asfeoffees). The position of feoffee is no longer hereditary, but a number of notable local families have held the position for a considerable period: the first ancestor of the current chairman of the governors to hold that position was elected more than 250 years ago, and theHeathcoat-Amoryfamily have a long tradition of service on the Governing Body, since Sir John Heathcoat-Amory was appointed in 1865.
The Old Blundell's School was built to be much larger and grander than any other in the West Country, with room for 150 scholars and accommodation for a master and an usher.[2]TheGrade 1 listedbuilding is now in the care of theNational Trustand the forecourt is usually open to visitors. One ex-Blundell's boy was the writerR. D. Blackmore,who in the novelLorna Dooneset the stage for a fight between John Ridd and Robin Snell on the Blundell's triangular lawn.[3]
Peter Blundell's executors established links withBalliol College, Oxford,and withSidney Sussex College, Cambridge,and large sums were settled to provide for scholarships for pupils of the school to attend those colleges.[4]
The prep school St Aubyn's was moved to the Blundell's campus in 2000,[5]taking over the day-boy house Milestones and the Sanatorium, and was renamed Blundell's Prep School. It has about 250 pupils aged from three years to eleven. The headmaster is Andy Southgate.
Sport[edit]
Rugby[edit]
Rugby is the main sport played at Blundell's in the Autumn and Spring terms. The earliest mention of "football" in the Blundellian was in 1861 and the first recorded "rugger" match played by boys at Blundell's was in 1868 againstTiverton Rugby Club,making the school one of the oldest anywhere formally to play the game. The Blundell's crest still hangs in the main room at Twickenham in recognition of this.[6]
OBsDave LewisGloucester Rugby,Matt KvesicandWill Carrick-SmithExeter Chiefsall currently play in theAviva Premiership.[7]
Sam Maunder,brother of Jack Maunder, plays for England U18 squad.[8]
The Russell[edit]
One annual tradition is the school's cross-country run known as the Russell, named after Old BoyJack Russell,a vicar and dog-breeder. It was first run in 1887,[9]and 2009 saw the 129th run.[10]
Southern Railway Schools Class[edit]
The School lent its name to the thirty-third steamlocomotive(Engine 932) in theSouthern Railway'sClass Vof which there were 40. This class was also known as the Schools Class because all40 of the classwere named after prominent English public schools.Blundell's,as it was called, was built in 1934. The locomotive bearing the school's name was withdrawn from service in January 1961. In 2009 Hornby produced a model of this particular Schools class locomotive. As the product photograph shows, while the name of this locomotive has been variously quoted asBlundellsorBlundell's,the apostrophe does actually appear on the nameplate.[11]
2024 attempted murder conviction[edit]
In 2024, a child who had been a pupil at the school was found guilty of attempted murder of two other students and one of the staff; he had been 16 at the time of the assaults in 2023.[12][13]The Guardiansaid that "a troubling picture emerged of aspects of life at the 400-year-old school", with bullying, children having weapons and unrestricted access to their mobile telephones.[12]
Old Blundellians[edit]
 | This article's list of alumnimay not follow Wikipedia'sverifiabilitypolicy.(May 2012) |
The first known society of former pupils, known asOld Blundellians(OBs), was established as early as 1725.[14]
William Hogarthengraved the letterhead for the invitation to a dinner for former pupils of the School in 1725 and the Ticket for Tiverton School Feast in 1740, (image of print courtesy of Antiqueprints).[15]
Notable former pupils include:
A–D[edit]
- Robert Arundell,Governor of the Windward Islands and Barbados
- Vernon Bartlett,journalist and politician
- Edward Bellew,drainage inspector and winner of theVictoria Cross
- Dominic Bess,England cricketer
- R. D. Blackmore,author ofLorna Doone
- Richard Bowring,Master ofSelwyn College, Cambridge
- William Buckland,geologist
- William Edward Buckley,professor of Anglo-Saxon[16]
- George Bull,theologian and bishop
- Giles Bullard,High Commissioner to the West Indies
- Charles Campion,food critic
- Bampfylde Moore Carew,rogue and imposter
- Aelred Carlyle,missionary and monk
- Frederick William Cuming,1900 Olympic gold medal winner as part of the UK cricket team
- Charles Cornwallis Chesney,soldier and military writer
- George Tomkyns Chesney,soldier and novelist
- Ben Collins,Formula 3 racing driver and the infamousStig
- John Conybeare,Bishop of Bristoland notable 18th-century theologian
- Natalie Dew,actress
- John Davis,Welsh cricketer
- Edward Dayman,hymn writer
E–K[edit]
- John Ebdon,writer
- John Eliot,English statesman
- Tristan Evans,Drummer & backing vocals for UK based bandThe Vamps
- Charles Rossiter Forwood,lawyer andAttorney General of Fiji
- Francis Fulford,Anglo-Catholic bishop of Montreal
- John Gay,philosopher
- Anthony Gifford,cricketer and educator
- Michael Gilbert,writer of mysteries and thrillers
- Douglas Gracey,Commander in Chief Pakistan Army 1948-51
- Charles Harper,Governor and Commander-in-Chief of St. Helena 1925–1932
- C. Brian Haselgrovemathematician best known for disproving thePólya conjecturein 1958
- Thomas Hayter,bishop of Norwich 1749–61, bishop of London 1761–62
- Abraham Hayward,man of letters
- Archibald Hill,Nobel Prize winner
- David Gordon Hines,developer of co-operatives in Tanganyika and Uganda
- Walter Hook,Tractarianvicar ofLeeds
- Ella Hunt,actress,dickinson,anna and the apocalypse,intruders
- James Jeremie,academic and churchman
- John Jeremie,governor ofSierra Leone
- C. E. M. Joad,intellectual, broadcasting personality and fare dodger
- Philip Keun,Special Operations ExecutiveCaptain and co-leader of theJade-Amicol French resistance network.
L–R[edit]
- Geoffrey Lampe,theologian and winner of the Military Cross
- Wilfrid Le Gros Clark,surgeon, primatologist and paleoanthropologist who disprovedPiltdown Man
- Robin Lloyd-Jones,Author
- Jeremy Lloyds,Test Cricket umpire
- George Malcolm,army officer
- Thomas Manton,Puritan clergyman
- John Margetson,former British Ambassador to Vietnam, the United Nations, and the Netherlands.
- Vic Marks,Somerset and England cricketer
- Professor John Marrack,DSO, MC, Emeritus Professor of Chemical Pathology in theUniversity of London
- Claire Marshall,journalist
- Michael Mates,formerMP(constituency ofEast Hampshire)
- Hugh Morris,England cricketer and current Managing Director of theEngland and Wales Cricket Board
- Gordon Newton,Editor of theFinancial Times
- Christopher Ondaatje,author and donor to theLabour Party
- William Pillar,Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Supplies
- John de la Pole, 6th Baronet
- Ben Rice,novelist
- Jack Russell,Victorian hunting parson, dog breeder
S–Z[edit]
- Peter Schidlof,Austrian-British violist and co-founder of theAmadeus Quartet
- Edward Seymour, 16th Duke of Somerset
- Evelyn Seymour, 17th Duke of Somerset
- Percy Seymour, 18th Duke of Somerset
- Richard Sharp,England rugby captain
- Richard Shore,cricketer
- Frederick Spring,senior army officer
- Trevor Spring,army officer
- J. C. Squire,poet, writer, historian, and influential literary editor
- Donald Stokes,industrialist and peer
- Jon Swain,award-winning writer, whose memoirs were portrayed in the filmThe Killing Fields
- Frederick Temple,Archbishop of Canterbury
- Clem Thomas,Wales Rugby Captain
- Georgia "Toff" Toffolo,television and media personality
- Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet,English civil servant, governor of Madras
- Henry Hawkins Tremayne,creator of theLost Gardens of Heligan
- John Van der Kiste,author
- Walter Walker,controversial soldier and writer
- Arthur Graeme West,war poet
- John Whiteley,Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff 1949–53
- Cyril Wilkinson,Great Britain hockey player and Olympic Gold Medallist
- Geoffrey Willans,humorist and co-author ofNigel Molesworthseries
- Matthew Wood, 1st Baronet,Lord Mayor of London, MP for the City of London and close friend ofQueen Caroline
- John Wyndham,author whose work includedThe Day of the TriffidsandThe Midwich Cuckoos
Headteachers[edit]
- 2018-present: Bart Wielenga
- 2013–2018: Nicola Huggett
- 2012–2013: Randall Thane
- 2004–2012: Ian Davenport
- 1992–2004: Jonathan Leigh
- 1980–1992: A.J.D. Rees
- 1971–1980: A. Clive S. Gimson
- 1959–1971: J.M. Stanton
- 1947–1959: J.S. Carter
- 1943–1947: R.L. Roberts
- 1934–1942:Neville Gorton
- 1930–1933:Alexander Wallace
- 1917–1930: Arthur Edwin Wynne
- 1874–1917: A.L. Francis
- 1847–1874: John Hughes
- 1834–1847:Henry Sanders
- 1823–1834: Alldersey Dicken
- 1797–1823: William Richards
- 1775–1797: Richard Keats, rector ofBidefordandKing's Nympton,father ofRichard Goodwin Keats(1757–1834),[17]Martha Keats (1753–1833) and ofLewis William Buck(1784–1858), MP.[18]
- 1757–1775: Philip Atherton
- 1740–1757: William Daddo
- 1734–1740:Samuel Wesley
- 1733–1734: John Jones
- 1730–1733: Samual Smith
- 1698–1730: William Rayner
- 1684–1698: John Sanders
- 1669–1684: George Hume
- 1651–1669: Henry Batten
- 1648–1651: Henry Osborne
- 1604–1647: Samuel Butler
Notable former masters[edit]
 |
Former masters of Blundell's have included:
- Terry Barwell,cricketer
- Manning Clark,historian
- Neville Gorton,Bishop of Coventry
- Malcolm Moss,politician
- Grahame Parker,sportsman
- C. Northcote Parkinson,naval historian and author of the bestselling bookParkinson's Law
- Gilbert Phelps,writer and broadcaster
- Lawrence Sail,poet
- Willi Soukop,sculptor
- Stephen Spender,poet and essayist
- Mervyn Stockwood,missioner to the School and laterBishop of Southwark
- Samuel Wesley (the Younger),poet and churchman
References[edit]
- ^blundells official webpage: fee and admissions
- ^GENUKI/Devon: Tiverton 1850
- ^Lorna Doone, A Romance of Exmoor – CHAPTER II
- ^Balliol Archives – Blundell's School
- ^"Eteach – Education Recruitment Vacancies, Supply Teaching Jobs".Archived fromthe originalon 16 July 2011.Retrieved22 June2009.
- ^blundells.org - Rugby
- ^"OB Club - Sport".Blundells.org. 26 November 2011.Retrieved7 February2013.[non-primary source needed]
- ^"RFU".
- ^blundells.org - Headmasters
- ^OB Club - SportArchived25 June 2009 at theWayback Machine
- ^[1]Archived19 May 2009 at theWayback Machine
- ^abMorris, Stephen (21 June 2024)."Boy guilty of attempted murders in Devon private school hammer attack".The Guardian.Retrieved21 June2024.
- ^Evans, Martin (18 April 2024)."Boarding school pupil broke sleeping roommates' skulls with hammer, court hears".The Telegraph.Archived fromthe originalon 18 April 2024.Retrieved21 June2024.
- ^Report & Transactions, Volume 23, Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, 1891
- ^"Search object details".British Museum.Retrieved26 April2013.
- ^Frederic Boase,Modern English Biography,vol. 4 (Netherton and Worth, 1906), p. 2,007
- ^Gentleman's Magazine, 1834, p.653, obituary of Admiral Keats
- ^Vivian, J.L.,(Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, Stucley & Buck pedigree, pp.723
External links[edit]
Media related toBlundell's Schoolat Wikimedia Commons
