- Christ College, Brecon
-
This article is about a school in Wales. For other colleges of the same name, see Christ College (disambiguation).
Christ College, Brecon Motto "Possunt Quia Posse Videntur"
("They achieve because they think they can achieve")Type Independent school Religion Anglican Head Emma Taylor Deputy Head Master Simon Spencer Founder Henry VIII Location Brecon
Powys
Wales
Staff 40 aprox Gender Co-educational Ages 11–18 Houses Alway (junior)
Donaldson's (girls)
Orchard (boys)
St. David's (boys)
School (boys)
de Winton (girls)
Bannau (day-girls)Colours Green and Gold Publication The Breconian Website www.christcollegebrecon.com Coordinates: 51°56′46″N 3°23′43″W / 51.9462°N 3.3954°W
Christ College, Brecon is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school, located in the market town of Brecon in mid-Wales. It caters for pupils from eleven to eighteen.
Christ College was founded by Royal Charter in 1541 by King Henry VIII. The Chapel and dining hall date from the 13th Century when the site was occupied by a Dominican order Priory.
The School has been ranked in the top three of all UK Independent Schools in terms of "Value for Money" by the Financial Times newspaper. In February 2011, a Eystyn inspection (equivalent to OFSTED in England) declared Christ College to be "excellent". 18% of GCSE entries were at the highest (A*/A) grades. At A-level, about 10% of entries resulted in B-grades or higher and over 10% of entries resulted in A*/A grades.
Contents
Houses
There are seven Houses in the School, consisting of three boys' houses: St David's, Orchard and School; three girls' houses: de Winton, Bannau, and Donaldson's; and one junior house: Alway.
History
The history of Christ College falls into three periods. For three hundred years it was a Dominican friary; in 1541 Henry VIII established a school on the site and finally in 1855 the modern 'public' school was founded by Act of Parliament. The surviving buildings and architecture reflect each of the three periods. The Dominicans were friars who first came to Britain in 1221; they are first mentioned as being in Brecon, in 1269. Given that range of dates and the evidence of the surviving medieval buildings, it is likely that the friary was founded c.1250.
The chapel is an example of thirteenth century work, though like all the medieval buildings it was much restored by Gilbert Scott in the nineteenth century. More survivals are the two halls with their fifteenth century open timber roofs. Of the cloister, chapter house and other monastic buildings nothing remains but their position can be deduced from documents. In the 1530s momentous changes affected England and Wales. Henry VIII brought all of Wales under his control; this involved the creation of new Welsh counties, including Breconshire. At the same time the King made himself the Head of the Church and then dissolved the monasteries. This combination of events resulted in the foundation of 'the College of Christ of Brecknock' in 1541 to provide education in this area and thus would 'the Welsh rudeness soon be framed to English civility'.
Like many schools founded in the sixteenth century, Christ College suffered dramatic changes of fortune. The maintenance of the buildings was a constant struggle given the relative poverty of the original endowment, or more accurately the reluctance of prebendaries to disgorge part of their income to the College. The English Civil War caused devastation at the hands of the notorious Roger Thomas of Llanfrynach; repairs were carried out by Bishop William Lucy after 1660. By the middle of the nineteenth century the College buildings were ruinous and there were few pupils. A new start was imperative. A committee of local landowners, clergy and businessmen came to the rescue and the school was refounded by Act of Parliament in 1855. As in 1541 political considerations again played a part; this time the threats of Chartism and Dissent prompted conservatives and Anglicans to action.
The new boarding school needed buildings and the Llandaff diocesan architects, Prichard and Seddon, were employed to provide them. The present School House building is theirs; so too is much of the furniture in the chapel. Expansion during the next thirty years produced Donaldson's House and the 'Big School', now the Library.
In the second half of the 20th Century, more building work was completed; this was necessary both to expand the facilities available and to meet the changing needs of what is now a co-educational boarding school.
Christ College is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. There are now 320 pupils at Christ College Brecon with an increasing number of girls and many students from Breconshire and neighbouring counties as well as from overseas, including China, Germany, Spain, Japan and the USA.
Cricket ground
The first recorded match held on the college cricket ground came in 1888, when the college played Llandovery.[1] In use for the entire 20th century, the ground was used by Glamorgan for a List A match against the touring Zimbabweans.[2] The Glamorgan Second XI used the college ground for Second Eleven Trophy matches, firstly in 1996 when they played the Somerset Second XI and secondly in 1997 when they played the Hampshire Second XI.[3]
Notable Old Breconians
See also: Category:Old Breconians- Robert Ackerman - rugby player
- Lord Atkin - lawyer and judge
- William Aubrey - Regius Professor of Civil Law, Oxford
- Bill Evans - rugby player
- Simon Hughes - MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey
- James Dickson Innes - painter
- Arthur Harding - rugby player
- Henry Lewis James - theologian
- Hubert Rees - actor
- Victoria James - first Welsh woman to summit Mt. Everest
- Jack Jones - rugby player
- Maurice Jones - priest and bard
- Thomas Jones - artist
- Thomas Babington Jones - cricketer
- Willie Llewellyn - rugby player
- Teddy Morgan - rugby player
- Thomas Morgan - Navy chaplain
- Jamie Owen - Presenter for the BBC Wales Today news programme
- David Price - Orientalist
- Brinley Rees - Classical scholar
- Paul Silk - Parliamentary clerk
- Glyn Simon - Archbishop of Wales
- Peter Watkins - film director
- Lloyd Williams - cricketer
References
External links
- Official website
- [1] Christ College Estyn Report 2011
Categories:- Schools in Powys
- Independent schools in Wales
- Educational institutions established in the 1540s
- Brecon
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
