The King's School, Rochester

Infobox UK school
name = The King's School


size =
latitude =
longitude =
dms =
established = 604
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = Public (cathedral school)
religion = Church of England
president =
head_label = Headmaster
head = Dr Ian Walker
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label = Chairman of the Governors
chair = The Dean of Rochester
founder = (refounded) Henry VIII
founder_pl =
specialist =
street = Boley Hill
city = Rochester
county = Kent
country = England
postcode =
LEA =
ofsted =
staff =
enrollment = 700
gender = Co-educational
lower_age = 3
upper_age = 18
houses = 5
colours =
publication =
free_label_1 = Former pupils
free_1 = Old Roffensians
free_label_2 = School Song
free_2 = Carmen Roffense.
free_label_3 = School Chaplain
free_3 = Father John Thackary
free_label_4 = Head Boy
free_4 = Alex Fenner
website = http://www.kings-school-rochester.co.uk/
website_name = www.kings-school-rochester.co.uk

The King's School, Rochester is a public school in Rochester, Kent. It is a cathedral school, and being part of the foundation of Rochester Cathedral, the Dean of Rochester Cathedral serves as the chair of the school's governing body. It was founded in 604 AD, and is the second-oldest school in the UK.cite web
url=http://www.kings-school-rochester.co.uk/history.html
title=King's School Rochester: History
date=September 28 2006
accessdate=2007-11-23]

History

Foundation

The school was founded in 604 AD, at the same time as the Cathedral, and refounded by Henry VIII during the Protestant Reformation when the monastery at Rochester was dissolved. It is the oldest choir school and the second-oldest independent school in England and second-oldest school in the United Kingdom, second only to The King's School, Canterbury. It has been known as a centre of political radicalism since the late 19th century.Fact|date=September 2008

Organisation

The school is housed in a variety of buildings around the Cathedral precincts including Old St. Margaret's, which houses the Maths Department.

The School's administrative offices are housed in Satis House, which gained its name from a comment by Queen Elizabeth I who stayed there as a guest of its owner, Richard Watts. As she left, Watts asked his queen if she had been comfortable during her stay. She replied: "Satis".

Within the school there are five houses: - Crick, Parker, Storrs, Whiston and School House. In the Preparatory school, there were previously six houses but now there are only four: - St. Williams, St. Nicholas, St. Andrews and St. Peters house, the fifth one and sixth ones were St. Margarets and St. Justus. These houses compete annually in sports, including Rugby, Hockey, Fencing, Swimming, Athletics and Rowing. A cup is awarded to the winner of each of these events excluding rowing and Fencing.

Old Roffensians

* John Selwyn Gummer, formerly Conservative cabinet minister.
* Pete Tong, BBC Radio 1 Disc jockey.
* Matthew Walker, professional cricketer. [cite web
url=http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/22274.html
title=Matt Walker player profile
work=Cricinfo
date=
accessdate=2007-11-23]
* Harold Stephen Langhorne, Brigadier-General in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps of the British army.
* G. R. S. Mead, author and influential member of the Theosophical Society.
* Dinsdale Landen, actor.
* Peter Rogers, film producer.
* Edwin Arnold, poet, author.
* Richard Dadd, artist.
* David Clive King, author. [cite web
url=http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000007825,00.html
title=Clive King profile at Penguin]
* Rufus Muller, tenor. [cite web
url=http://www.rufusmuller.com/home.htm
title= Rufus Muller biography]
* Peter Elliott, pantomime producer,dancer. [cite web
url=http://www.peter-elliott.co.uk/
title=Peter Elliott profile]

Former headmasters

Headmasters of the school
*John Langhorne (1877 - 1893)
*Ernest W. Davies ( - 1957)
*Canon Douglas Vicary (1957 - 1975) [cite web
url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/13/db1302.xml
title=Obituary for Canon Douglas Vicary
work=The Daily Telegraph
date=March 13, 2007
accessdate=2007-11-23]

References

ee also

* List of the oldest schools in the world

External links

* [http://www.kings-school-rochester.co.uk/ The King's School, Rochester]
* [http://www.ofchoristers.net/Chapters/Rochester.htm Choristers origins in 7th Century]