The Cathedral School, Llandaff

Infobox School
name = Cathedral School Llandaff
native_name =
latin_name = "Schola Ecclesia Cathedralis Landavensise"


imagesize =
caption =
location = Llandaff
city = Cardiff
country = Wales
country1 = , United Kingdom
coordinates =
denomination = Church in Wales
founder = Dean John Vaughan
headteacher = Stephen Morris
gender = Mixed
lower_age = 3
upper_age = 16
houses =
schooltype = Independent, co-educational & day prep school
school_colours = Maroon, Black and Gold
established = 1880
enrollment = 660 pupils (approx.)
homepage = http://www.cathedral-school.co.uk

The Cathedral School, Llandaff is a coeducational Welsh prep school. It is located in Llandaff, Cardiff and has many links to the neighbouring Llandaff Cathedral.

In 1880 Dean John Vaughan opened a school on Llandaff Green for the choristers of the cathedral. Unfortunately, when a German bomb hit the cathedral in 1941, the school was found unsuitable for the growing amounts of pupils. In 1958, restoration work was finished on the Bishop's Palace, which then opened as a school. Since then, the Cathedral School has flourished, now accepting boys and girls aged 3-16. The school celebrated 50 years on the Bishop's Palace site in September 2008.

The link with the cathedral has held strong and now there is not only a high standard boy's choir at the cathedral but a girl's choir too. Both boy and girl choristers have done prestigious work in the Wales Millennium Centre, with Welsh National Opera, Bryn Terfel and Carlo Rizzi, respectively. Music in general at the Cathedral School is very strong with numerous pupils at Grade 8 standard. The music department is housed in the impressive state-of-the-art Jubilee building, with a full range of instruments at one's disposal. There are also specialist teachers in 20 different instruments. There are numerous school groups as well, from School Orchestra to Swing Band, from Flute Group to Senior Chamber Choir. The senior chamber choir has recently undertaken works such as "Carmina Burana" and the Berlioz Te Deum.

Drama has thrived only recently in the Cathedral School but is rapidly expanding. Recent performances include Me and my Girl, Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat, The Sound of Music, Much Ado about Nothing, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Pupils have begun writing their own work for Gala evenings and many pupils are on the books of National Youth Theatre. The next major school production is to be The Wizard of Oz, which will be shown later this summer.

There are over twenty different sports played at the Cathedral School, with pupils at international level in cricket, badminton and squash. Internally, the Cathedral School has had great success against other schools, particularly in rugby, where they came second at the 2007 Rosslyn Park Sevens, the biggest rugby competition in the world.

History

Cathedral schools were established to educate the boys who sang treble in their choirs. There are still almost 40 schools, of which some are preparatory schools, and some are senior independent schools. The Cathedral School, Llandaff is the only surviving Anglican choir school in Wales.

Records are incomplete but we do know that a school of some kind has existed in Llandaff since the 9th Century and it carried on through the Middle Ages. In Henry VIII's reign, a great deal of Church property was disposed of and in 1553 the Manor of Llandaff was sold. This included Bryn-y-Gynnen which was the Bishop's Manor House and was situated close to the cathedral. During the reign of Elizabeth I the people of Glamorgan agreed to fund a teacher at £12 per annum.

The School survived an impoverished time during 1691, when it was called the Free School, and was housed in the Chapter House. Between 1744 and 1746, the present school, designed by John Wood of Bath, was built on the site of Bryn-y-Gynnen. It was known originally as Llandaff Court and was owned by Admiral Thomas Matthew. Admiral Matthew heartily disliked the building, comparing it to a "3 Decker" meaning a ship! In 1840 the office of Dean was revived and the Cathedral was restored by John Pritchard. The present School Chapel was designed by Iwan Christian in 1861.

An article in the Guardian in 1871, which carried an account of the start of a boarding school for choristers in Salisbury, gave the Reverend Fishbourne the idea for a similar establishment in Llandaff for some 20 boys - all potential choristers. The School was housed in a small house near Llandaff Bridge. Soon after, the Chapter cut down Fishbourne's original scheme - much to his great disappointment.

In 1879, when Dr. Vaughan became the Dean, he began plans for a school (sadly now demolished) for around 50 boys at The Cathedral Green in Llandaff village and this was opened in 1880. Dean Vaughan had been the Headmaster at Harrow School and was a great scholar; the school was opened in the village in 1880 and remained on that site until 1958. Dean Vaughan died in 1897 leaving the School with firm foundations.

A German landmine severely damaged the Nave of the Cathedral in 1941 and, when restoration work was completed in 1955, the old School building being found to be "unsuitable" caused it to move to the present premises three years later, which had until then been used as the Bishop's Palace. The School then became a member of the Nathaniel Woodard Corporation.

In 1958 there were 190 boys in 9 forms. Today there are over 600 pupils in 29 forms, including a Nursery. Girls were admitted to the School in 1978 and there are now a considerable number studying here. A thriving group of Girl Choristers now sing Evensong in the Cathedral each Monday and every other Wednesday, as well as singing at charitable events and concerts.

Headmasters

* The Revd C.E. Butler (1880–1883)
* The Revd E. Owen (1883–1889)
* The Revd J.E. Stevenson-More (1889–1905)
* The Revd P.R. Cleave (1905–1912)
* G.L. Robanthan & R. Brice-Smith (1912–1919)
* T.R. Coombes (1919–1946)
* N.L. Westbury-Jones (1946–1957)
* R.J.B. Hulland (1957–1975)
* G.L. Hill (1975–1983)
* J.C. Knapp (1983–1993)
* D.A. Evans (Acting Head) (1993–1994)
* P.L. Gray (1994–2008)
* S. Morris (2008– )

External links

* [http://www.cathedral-school.co.uk/ The Cathedral School website]