Information about Winchester College

Winchester College
Motto	Manners makyth man
Established	1382
Type	Public School
Head Master	Dr Ralph Townsend
Founder	William of Wykeham
Location	College Street Winchester Hampshire England
Staff	100 (approx.)
Students	670 (approx.)
Gender	Boys
Houses	10
School colours	Blue, Brown & Red
Publication	The Wykehamist, Quelle
Former pupils	Old Wykehamists
Website	www.winchestercollege.co.uk

Winchester College is a well-known boys' independent school, and an example of an English public school, in the city of Winchester in Hampshire, England. Officially known as Collegium Sanctae Mariae prope Wintoniam (or Collegium Beatae Mariae Wintoniensis prope Winton), or St Mary's College near Winchester, the college is commonly referred to as "Win: Coll:" or just "Winchester". Winchester has existed for over six hundred years - the longest unbroken history of any school in England. It is one of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868.

History

Winchester College was founded in 1382 by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor to Richard II, and the first seventy poor scholars entered the school in 1394. It was founded in conjunction with New College, Oxford, for which it was designed to act as a feeder: the buildings of both colleges were designed by master mason William Wynford. This double foundation was the model for Eton College and King's College, Cambridge some 50 years later (a sod of earth from Winchester and a number of scholars were sent to Eton for its foundation), and for Westminster School, Christ Church, Oxford and Trinity College, Cambridge in Tudor times.

In addition to the seventy scholars and 16 "Quiristers" (choristers), the statutes provided for ten "noble Commoners". These Commoners ("Commoners in Collegio") were paying guests of the Head Master or Second Master in his official apartments in College. Other paying pupils ("Commoners extra Collegium"), either guests of one of the Masters in his private house or living in lodgings in town, grew in numbers till the late 18th century, when they were all required to live in "Old Commoners" and town boarding was banned. In the 19th century this was replaced by "New Commoners", and the numbers fluctuated between 70 and 130: the new building was compared unfavourably to a workhouse, and as it was built over an underground stream epidemics of typhus and malaria were common.

In the late 1850s four boarding houses were planned (but only three built, namely A, B and C), to be headed by masters: the plan, since dropped, was to increase the number of scholars to 100 so that there would be "College", "Commoners" and "Houses" consisting of 100 pupils each. In the 1860s "New Commoners" was closed and converted to classrooms, and its members were divided among four further boarding houses (D, E, G and H, collectively known as "Commoner Block"). At the same time two more houses (F and I) were acquired and added to the "Houses" category; a tenth (K) was acquired in 1905 and allotted to "Commoners". (The distinction between "Commoners" and "Houses" is now of purely sporting significance, and "a Commoner" means any pupil who is not a scholar.) There are therefore now ten houses in addition to College, which continues to occupy the original 14th century buildings, and the total number of pupils is almost 700.

The headmaster is currently Dr Ralph Townsend, formerly of Sydney Grammar School and Oundle School.

Boarding houses

Houses

Official Name	Informal Name	House Letter
Chernocke House	Furley's	A
Moberly's	Toye's	B
Du Boulay's	Cook's	C
Fearon's	Kenny's	D
Morshead's	Freddie's	E
Hawkins'	Chawker's	F
Sergeant's	Phil's	G
Bramston's	Trant's	H
Turner's	Hopper's	I
Kingsgate House	Beloe's	K

Every pupil at Winchester, apart from Scholars (also known as Collegemen), lives in a boarding house, chosen when applying to Winchester. It is here that he eats and sleeps. Each house is presided over by a housemaster (who takes on the role in addition to teaching duties) and a number of house tutors. Houses compete in school competitions, and in particular in sporting competitions. Each house has an official name, used mainly as a postal address, and an informal name, usually based on the name or nickname of an early housemaster. Each house also has a letter assigned to it, in the order of their founding, to act as an abbreviation. A member of a house is described by the informal name of the house with "-ite" suffixed, as "a Cookite", "a Toyeite" and so on. The houses have been ordered by their year of founding.

The scholars live in the original buildings, known as College; individual scholars are known as "Collegemen". College is not usually referred to as a house, except for the purposes of categorisation: hence the terms 'housemaster of College' and 'College house' are not generally used. The housemaster of College is known as the 'Master in College'. Within the school, 'College' refers only to the body of scholars (and their buildings); 'Winchester College' and 'the college' refer to the school as a whole.

College does not have an informal name, although the abbreviation Coll: is sometimes used, especially on written work. It also has a letter assigned to it, X, but it is considered bad form to use this except as a laundry mark.

Chapel

Winchester College Chapel

East Window

Chapel Ceiling

Situated on the south side of Chamber Court, the Chapel is part of the original College buildings and retains its original wooden fan-vaulted ceiling. Built to easily accommodate just over 100 people, it is now too small for the current school population of around 660. Additional seating installed in 1908 allows the Chapel to seat just over 300 people with the remainder worshipping in the nearby St. Michael's Church.

The Chapel's most striking feature is its stained glass. The East window depicts the stem of Jesse. Down the Chapel's north and south sides is a collection of saints. Little of the original medieval glass survives. A firm of glaziers in Shrewsbury was tasked with cleaning the glass in the 1820's. At that time there was no known process for cleaning the badly deteriorated glass and so it was copied, while most of the original glass was scattered or destroyed. Some pieces have been recovered. The south west corner holds the largest piece, bought and donated by Kenneth Clark. Five other figures bequeathed by Otto von Kienbusch and two more donated by Coleorton Church, Leicestershire were placed in Fromonds Chantry in 1978.

The school is blessed with the internationally renowned Winchester College Chapel Choir, who sing regular services in the chapel, as well as other venues. There is also a Junior choir for St. Michael's church, known as Michla.

<gallery caption="Chapel Restoration"> Image:Winchester_College_Chapel_North_Side_stonework_pre_estoration.JPG |North Side (Pre-restoration) Image:Winchester_College_Chapel_North_Side_stonework_post_restoration.JPG |North Side (Post-restoration) </gallery> The exterior of the Chapel is currently undergoing a large scale restoration project to clean and protect the stonework. It is one of the main projects being undertaken by the Development Society. One can easily see the difference the restoration has made. While very bright at the moment, the restored stonework is expected to weather with time.

Academic structure

Until the 1860s the predominant subject of instruction was classics, and there was one main schoolroom used as both the classroom and the place of preparation, under extremely noisy conditions: there were adjacent rooms used for French and mathematics. Under the headmastership of George Ridding proper classrooms were built, and pupils had the option of joining "Parallel Div" for the study of history and modern languages. Later still a "Sen: Science Div" was added. Science teaching at Winchester had a high reputation: one of the early science masters duplicated the experiments of Hertz about radio waves, the equipment for which is still preserved at Science School.

For much of the twentieth century the senior forms were divided among three "ladders": the A ladder for classics, the B ladder for history and modern languages and the C ladder for mathematics and science. There was also a vertical division, in descending order, into Sixth Book (equivalent to the sixth form at other schools), Senior Part, Middle Part and Junior Part: depending on ability, new boys were placed in either Junior or Middle Part.

The school now offers a wide range of subjects, and no longer has a system of ladders. In addition, all boys throughout the school are required to attend lessons on "div subjects" (history, literature and politics) that do not lead to examinations. The purpose is to ensure a broad education which does not focus solely on examinations.

Winchester has its own entrance examination, and does not use Common Entrance. Those wishing to enter a Commoner house make their arrangements with the relevant housemaster some time before sitting the exam. Those applying to College do not take the normal entrance examination but instead sit a separate, harder, exam called "Election": successful candidates may obtain, according to their performance, a scholarship, an exhibition with or without emolument or a Headmaster's nomination.

Notions

Main article: Notions (Winchester College)

A notion is a manner or tradition peculiar to Winchester College. The word notion is also used to refer to unique and peculiar words used (with diminishing frequency) in the school. An example is "toytime", meaning prep or homework. It can also refer to more recent slang, some of which features the altering of vowels in certain words for sarcastic emphasis.

The Notions Test was until recently an important tradition in most houses, in which juniors were required to answer questions about notions. Although now banned under various pretexts including the European human rights conventions, the test was usually administered to new boys during their first term at the school by more senior boys, and aimed to test and demonstrate their familiarity with the vocabulary, history and traditions of the school. College Notions was more elaborate and continued for a few years longer than the Commoner tests. It took the form of an end-of-term celebration and marked the point at which new Collegemen formally became known as Jun: Men.

War Cloister

Situated to the west of College Meads, this cloister serves as a memorial to the Wykehamist dead of the two world wars. It was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and dedicated in 1924 and again in 1948.

A bronze bust of Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding sits on the west side of the cloister.

War Cloister occupies a strategic position in Kingsgate Street, so that all Commoners go through it on their way to and from class.

Prefectorial system

College

Traditionally there were always 18 prefects in College, though since the mid-twentieth century there have been fewer, 10 to 14 being typical. Of these, five (later increased to six) hold salaried offices. Historically, these were as follows, in descending order of seniority:

• Aulae Praefectus (Aul: Prae:, Prefect of Hall), the head boy of the school. ("Hall", in this connection, is not restricted to the dining hall but means the College as a whole, as in the phrases "Trinity Hall" and "hall of residence".) He acts jointly with the Sen: Co: Prae: (see below)
• Bibliothecae Praefectus (Bib: Prae:, Prefect of Library), until recently in charge of Moberly Library (the school academic library); this function has now been taken over by a full-time librarian.
• Scholae Praefectus (Schol: Prae:, Prefect of School), in charge of bookings of the old School building and miscellaneous other functions.
• two Capellae Praefecti (Cap: Prae:, Prefects of Chapel): functions obvious. Formerly they took turns to officiate; until recently practice has been to differentiate between the "Sen: Cap: Prae:" and the "Jun: Cap: Prae:". Nowadays there is only one Cap: Prae:

The post of Jun: Cap: Prae: (junior chapel prefect) has recently been abolished and has been replaced by Ollae Praefectus (Oll: Prae:), which literally translates as "prefect of tub". (This is the revival of an ancient office, which was suppressed in the nineteenth century when the office of Bib: Prae: was created. The duties were to do with catering, especially the disposal of uneaten food from College lunch, which was collected in a special wooden vat and given to the poor. This vat or tub is still on display in College Hall.)

Each Officer, in addition to his specialized duties, has charge of a College Chamber (day-room). Thus when IVth Chamber was reopened, increasing the number of chambers to six, a sixth Officer was created, the Coll: Lib: Prae:, in charge of Upper Coll: Lib: (the fiction library available to Collegemen). The post had previously existed informally, but the holder used not to rank as an Officer.

Formerly, there were one or two (originally five) further prefects "in full power", invariably, though improperly, known as Co: Praes. Officers and Co: Praes had authority throughout the school; the remaining prefects had authority only in College. Nowadays, while there are still six officers, they have little to do with the running of the school and are mainly responsible for their respective chambers, and there are no other College Co: Praes. In practice, only the Prefect of Hall has significant duties outside College.

The present practice is for all fifth-years in College to be prefects. Each officer nominates a prefect from those members of his year who are not officers to act as his deputy within his chamber; any prefects left over are sometimes known as "Jemimas" (reason unknown). The seven senior inferiors (non-prefects) in College are known as Custodes Candelarum (tollykeepers), but this is a purely nominal dignity. The next senior person in a chamber after the prefects and tollykeepers was once known as the in loco, and kept the accounts for Chamber Tea.

Commoner Houses

Outside College there is a Sen: Co: Prae: (Senior Commoner Prefect), who acts as joint Head Boy with the Prefect of Hall. There are then a number of Co: Praes (Commensalibus Praefecti, Commoner Prefects) with authority over all Commoners: traditionally, no Commoner has authority over any Collegeman. Nowadays, there is generally only one Co: Prae: per house, who acts as the senior house prefect. In addition, each house has a number of House Prefects, with authority only in that house. The Co: Praes (heads of houses) meet weekly together with the Prefect of Hall and Head Master to discuss the running of the school.

Sweat

There has been no system of fagging for some decades. College prefects used to engage junior boys as "valets": by the 1960s this had become a voluntary arrangement in which the valets were paid for their services, and the system disappeared altogether in the early 1970s. Similarly in the 1970s some Commoner houses retained traditions, for example in Toye's, of "trap-cads", who would perform services for senior boys for money and other benefits. Junior Collegemen still take it in turns to perform services ("sweat") for the whole Chamber such as bringing down bread and milk. The College Officers and the College Editor of The Wykehamist each engage (and pay) a second-year as a "writer" (Latin: "Scriptor"), to perform a variety of duties, more or less related to the position held by their Officer - for example, the Cap: Prae:'s writer puts out the choir's hymnsheets before services, while the Schol: Prae:'s writer collects and delivers the morning's newspapers to each chamber.

Sport

Main article: Winchester College Football

Winchester College has its own game, Winchester College Football (also known as 'Win: Co: Fo:' or, more recently, 'Winkies'), played only at Winchester. It is played in Common Time (the spring term), the main game in Short Half (the autumn term) being Association football.

Winchester Football could be considered a cross between football and rugby, but neither of these comparisons is helpful to the spectator or the tactician. It is above all else a court game in its rules and tactics: volleyball with the feet and especially tennis are the most helpful analogies. The game can be played by teams of 6, 9, 10, 11, 15 or 22 men.

There is also a distinctive Winchester version of Fives, resembling Rugby Fives but with a buttress on the court.

At one time Winchester was one of the Lord's schools, competing in a trilateral cricket tournament with Eton and Harrow; and for this reason the first cricket eleven is still known as "Lords" (with or without the apostrophe). Since 1855 Winchester has not taken part in this, instead playing Eton alternately at the two schools. Eton Match, when played at Winchester, was until recently the major event attended by Old Wykehamists and the main showcase for the school and its activities, but now most of the non-cricket-related functions have been moved to "Wykeham Day" in the autumn. Eton Match itself has now been replaced by "Winchester Day", featuring a match between Wykehamists and Old Wykehamists.

Rackets is also played. Should the same person be Captain of Lord's and Captain of Rackets, he is known as "Lord of Lords and Prince of Princes", in allusion to Prince's Club in London.

Former pupils

See List of notable Old Wykehamists.

Southern Railway School's Class

The School lent its name to the second steam locomotive (Engine 901) in the Southern Railway's Class V of which there were 40. This Class was also known as the Schools Class because all 40 of the class were named after prominent English public schools. 'Winchester', as it was called, was built in 1930, along with the rest of the initial ten locomotives in the class. The locomotive bearing the School's name was withdrawn in the early 1960s.

Winchester quotations

Manners makyth man
- William of Wykeham Motto of Winchester College and New College, Oxford

''Broad of Church and broad of mind,
Broad before and broad behind,
''A keen ecclesiologist,
A rather dirty Wykehamist.
- John Betjeman "The Wykehamist"

Leader in London's preservation lists
And least Wykehamical of Wykehamists{:}
Clan chief of Paddington's distinguished set,
Pray go on living to a hundred yet!
- John Betjeman "For Patrick" (about Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron Kinross)

You can always tell a Wykehamist, because you can't tell him anything
- Anon.

O, Eternal God, the Life and the Resurrection of all them that believe in Thee, always to be praised as well for the Dead as for those that be Alive, we give Thee most hearty Thanks for our Founder, William of Wykeham; and all other our Benefactors, by whose Benefits we are here brought up to Godliness and the studies of good Learning; beseeching Thee that we, well using all these Thy Blessings to the Praise and Honour of Thy Holy Name, may at length be brought to the Immortal Glory of the Resurrection, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
- "Thanksgiving for the Founder" as at present used on commemoration days

Bibliography

• Mansfield, Robert, School Life at Winchester College: 1866
• Adams, Wykehamica: Oxford, London and Winchester 1878
• Kirby, T. F., Annals of Winchester College: London 1892
• Tuckwell, The Ancient Ways: Winchester Fifty Years Ago: 1893
• Leach, Arthur F., A History of Winchester College: London 1899
• Cook, About Winchester College: London 1917
• Fearon, The Passing of Old Winchester: Winchester 1924, repr. 1936
• Firth, J. D'E., Winchester College: Winchester 1961
• Dilke, Christopher, Dr Moberly's Mint-Mark: A Study of Winchester College: London 1965
• Sabben-Clare, James, Winchester College: Paul Cave Publications, 1981, ISBN 0861460235
• Stevens, Charles, Winchester Notions: The English Dialect of Winchester College: London, 1998

External links

• Winchester College website
• Victoria County History (Hampshire) s.v. St. Mary's College
• The Great Conjunction: The Symbols of a College, the Death of a King and the Maze on the Hill (Unpopular Books, 1992), pamphlet by the Archaeogeodetic Association and the London Psychogeographical Association
• A history of the Quiristers of Winchester College
• http://www.astoft.co.uk/winchestercollege Pages on the architecture of the College

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