Houses
The school is split into 11 houses, some of which are 'day houses' (and only admit day-pupils, those who go home after school), the others having a mix of day-pupils and boarders. The houses are named after people connected to the house or school in various ways — mainly prominent Old Westminsters but also former Head Masters and House Masters. Other than College, Grant's is the oldest house, not only of Westminster but of any public school.
Houses are a focus for pastoral care and social and sporting activities, as well as accommodation for boarders. All the day houses are mixed-sex, and all houses admit girls; only Busby's, Liddell's and Purcell's provide boarding accommodation for girls - the remainder admit day girls only.
Each house has associated colours, which are worn on ties awarded for various (usually sporting) achievement while representing the house. There are also pink-striped ties awarded for achievement while representing the whole school, with the amount of pink denoting the level of achievement. Wren's and Milne's use slightly different colours on house ties from those seen on their shirt.
| House | Abbr. | Founded | Named after | Colours | Pupils | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boarding | Non-boarding | ||||||
| College | CC | 1560 | n/a | Dark green | Boys | Girls | |
| Grant's | GG | 1750 | The "mothers" Grant - landladies who owned the property and put up boys in the days before boarding existed, when the School only accommodated Scholars; the oldest house in any of the Public Schools. | ■ | Maroon on light blue | Boys | Mixed |
| Rigaud's | RR | pre-1896 (rebuilt) | Stephen Jordan Rigaud | ■ | Black on orange | Boys | Mixed |
| Busby's | BB | 1925 | Richard Busby | ■ | Dark blue on maroon | Mixed | Boys |
| Liddell's | LL | 1956 | Henry Liddell | ■ | Blue on yellow | Mixed | Mixed |
| Purcell's | PP | 1981 | Henry Purcell | Pink | Girls | Boys | |
| Ashburnham | AHH | 1881 | The Earls of Ashburnham whose London house is now part of the School | ■ | Light blue on dark blue | None | Mixed |
| Wren's | WW | 1948 | Christopher Wren | ■ | Pink on black (Blue and Maroon used on ties) | ||
| Dryden's | DD | 1976 | John Dryden | ■ | Silver on red | ||
| Hakluyt's | HH | 1987 | Richard Hakluyt | ■ | Yellow on blue | ||
| Milne's | MM | 1997 | A. A. Milne | ■ | Black on orange (Tie uses Red and Yellow) | ||
College, the House of the Queen's Scholars (all of whom board), has assigned to it some of the non-boarding girls who enter the School in the VIth form.
Read more about this topic: Westminster School
Famous quotes containing the word houses:
“Wherever there’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a cop beating up a guy, I’ll be there. I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad. I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry and they know supper’s ready. And when the people eat the stuff they raise, and living in the houses they build, I’ll be there, too.”
—Nunnally Johnson (1897–1977)
“It breedeth no small offence and scandal to see and consider upon the one part the curiosity and cost bestowed by all sorts of men upon their private houses; and on the other part the unclean and negligent order and spare keeping of the houses of prayer by permitting open decays and ruins of coverings of walls and windows, and by appointing unmeet and unseemly tables with foul cloths for the communion of the sacrament.”
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
“I like old people when they have aged well. And old houses with an accumulation of sweet honest living in them are good. And the timelessness that only the passing of Time itself can give to objects both inside and outside the spirit is a continuing reassurance.”
—M.F.K. Fisher (1908–1992)