Christ's Hospital - History

History

Christ’s Hospital was the result of the vision of King Edward VI, assisted by Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, and Sir Richard Dobbs, Lord Mayor of the City of London. Its genesis was the earlier dissolution of the monasteries and the resultant overflow onto the streets of the poor and destitute. Encouraged by a sermon from Ridley, exhorting mercy to the poor, the King wrote to the Lord Mayor encouraging him to action. This he did via a committee of 30 merchants. Henry VIII had already granted the use of Greyfriars to the City for the relief of the poor. Edward granted the Palace of Bridewell, his lands at the Savoy, and rents and other chattels to create three Royal Hospitals — Bridewell Hospital (now the King Edward's School, Witley, Surrey), St Thomas' Hospital and Christ's Hospital, which was for the education of poor children.

The first boys and girls entered the school in Newgate in 1552. The Royal Charter was granted and signed by its Founder, Edward VI, the following year. The first Treasurer was Richard Grafton. The Protestant Foundation survived the Marian period and in the 1560s sent its first scholars to Oxford and Cambridge.

The school occupied Newgate as its major site for 350 years, but from time to time children were housed in other parts of the country. 32 children perished during the Great Plague of 1665. In the following year the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the Hospital except four cloisters and three wards, but there were no casualties among the children. Around 200 pupils were sent to Islington and Clerkenwell and then to Ware and Hertford. By the end of the 17th century the buildings had been rebuilt with the assistance of Sir Christopher Wren, a Governor of Christ's Hospital, and Nicholas Hawksmoor who designed the Writing School (1696). The church of Christ Church Newgate Street, designed by Wren, replaced the damaged choir of the former Greyfriars' church, and served as a place of worship for the children of Christ's Hospital in the City until the move to Horsham.

Christ's Hospital was given its second Royal Charter by Charles II in 1673. This charter specifically created the Royal Mathematical School whose original purpose was to train mathematicians and navigators who would serve as naval officers or merchant seafarers. Samuel Pepys, Secretary to His Majesty's Navy and from 1699 Vice President of Christ's Hospital, made a considerable contribution to Christ's Hospital. Isaac Newton, Jonas Moore, John Flamsteed, and Edmund Halley contributed to plans for the course of study of the new school within the foundation.

The girls settled at Hertford from 1707. The Governors had been paying a teacher in Hertford from 1653, and the removal of some children from London following the Great Fire strengthened the link with the town. In 1761, 200 boys under the age of 10 along with the boys from Ware were relocated to Hertford. In 1778 the last girls were moved out of London to join the others at Hertford, where the school was rebuilt 1795–1798 to provide accommodation for the new numbers.

Christ's Hospital's most famous Upper Master was James Boyer who presided from 1778 to 1799 and instructed James Leigh Hunt, Charles Lamb, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Two of 19th-century London's most notable architects, John Shaw Senior and John Shaw Junior, were architects and surveyors to Christ's Hospital throughout the first half of the 1800s. The Shaws' work included the old school hall (c.1825).

HRH The Duke of Cambridge started a tradition of Royal Presidents in 1854.

A commission of inquiry in 1837 proposed reforms, and in 1864 the Taunton Commission investigated the endowed schools. As a result of this a greater number of girls were admitted. However in the 1890s boys still outnumbered girls at Hertford.

Another commission in 1877 proposed a new site for the school, where all the boys would be taught. This proposal was questioned by some of the Governors. The Duke of Cambridge said "I am one of those who are perfectly prepared to go with the spirit of the age in which we live, but I confess that I am also one of those who do not love change for change’s sake. To upset an old and long standing institution... is a very dangerous experiment to try."

However, the proposal was carried out. 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) of land outside Horsham in Sussex was purchased from the Aylesbury Dairy Company for £47,500. The foundation stone was laid by Edward, Prince of Wales on 23 October 1897, on behalf of the Sovereign, the date being the anniversary of the birthday of the founder. Architectural features from the old school buildings (the Grecians' Arch and the Wren Arch) were salvaged and incorporated in the new buildings.

The boys were relocated from Newgate and Hertford to the new site in 1902. Hertford became a girls-only school.

Over the centuries Christ’s Hospital has continued to enjoy royal patronage. In 1919, George V became the first Royal Patron, followed by George VI in 1937 and HM The Queen in 1953.