Boarding School History
Boarding schools have a long tradition in the United Kingdom
Children have been sent away from home for education for over a thousand years. It used to be the practice in mediaeval times for boys to be sent to great households to act as pages, or for them to be taught in monasteries. Monastic schools existed as early as the sixth century. Winchester College claims to be the oldest boarding school in continual operation, having been founded in 1382 by Bishop William of Wykeham.
The King's School, Ely, is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the small city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. It was founded as a cathedral school circa 970 making it one of the oldest schools in the world, claiming Edward the Confessor as one of its alumni. It was later re-endowed and renamed by Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The school became co-educational in 1970 and in 2004 appointed its first female Head.
One example of a non-monastic institution is Taunton School, which was originally founded in 1847 as the West of England Dissenters’ Proprietary School, accepting sons of non-conformist families at the age of 11, both as boarders and day boys. By 1851 it accommodated around 130 pupils. Renamed as Taunton School in 1899, girls were admitted to the sixth form in the early 1970s, following which the school became fully co-educational. In 2010 the school educates children from the nursery at 2 years of age, through to the sixth form at 18, with an International Study Centre opened in 1996. Notable alumni include General Charles Gordon, "Gordon of Khartoum".
