Salisbury Cathedral School

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}} {{Use British English|date=November 2016}} {{Infobox school | name = Salisbury Cathedral School | logo = Logo salisbury cathedral school.png | logo_size = 150px | image = Salisbury Cathedral School, from Cathedral tower.jpg | caption = | image_size = | coordinates = {{coord|51.0637|-1.7961|type:edu_region:GB-WIL|format=dec|display=inline,title}} | motto = ''Domine dilexi decorem domus tuae''<ref>Salisbury Cathedral School Motto: ''"Domine dilexi decorem domus tuae"'' Psalm 25:8: 'I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house'. [Originally suggested as the School's motto by Bishop George Moberly - c.1885]</ref> | established = {{Start date and age|1091}} | closed = | type = Private preparatory day and boarding school<br/>Choral foundation school<br/>Cathedral school | religious_affiliation = Church of England | president = | head_label = Headmaster | head = Sally Moulton | r_head_label = | r_head = | chair_label = Chair of Governors | chair = James Clements | founder = Saint Osmund | specialist = | address = 1 The Close | city = Salisbury | county = Wiltshire | country = England | postal_code = SP1 2EQ | local_authority = | ofsted = | urn = 126518 | staff = 38 | enrolment = 220<ref name="get">{{Cite web |title= Salisbury Cathedral School |url=https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/126518 |website=GOV.UK: Schools |access-date=17 October 2023}}</ref> | enrolment_as_of = October 2023 | gender = Mixed | lower_age = 3 | upper_age = 13 | houses = 4 | colours = | publication = | free_label1 = | free_text1 = | free_label2 = | free_text2 = | free_label3 = | free_text3 = | website = {{Official URL}} }} '''Salisbury Cathedral School''' is a co-educational private school in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, which was founded in 1091 by Saint Osmund. The choristers of Salisbury Cathedral are educated at the school.

==History== The school was founded in 1091 at Old Sarum<ref name="vch-early">{{Cite book|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol3/pp156-183|title=A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 3|date=1956|publisher=University of London|editor1-last=Pugh|editor1-first=R.B.|location=London|chapter=The cathedral of Salisbury: From the foundation to the fifteenth century|access-date=24 October 2020|editor2-last=Crittall|editor2-first=Elizabeth|via=British History Online}}</ref><ref>Nicholas Orme, '[http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/themes/95/95744.html School founders and patrons in England, 597–1560]', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online edn, Oxford University Press, Oct 2006, accessed 28 Jan 2008</ref> by Saint Osmund, the Bishop of Salisbury and Earl of Dorset, who was canonised in 1456.<ref name="Powicke81">Powicke, ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 81</ref><ref>Robertson, Dora H., ''Sarum Close'' (Jonathan Cape, 1938; 2nd. ed. 1969)</ref> Osmund was born in Normandy and was a first cousin of William the Conqueror, King of England: William's father, Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy, was the brother of Isabella, Countess of Séez, the mother of Osmund.<ref name="Powicke81"/>

The first notable pupil of the school was John of Salisbury, who served Archbishop Thomas Becket until the latter was murdered in 1170. In the 12th century, the school was no doubt housed near the cathedral at Old Sarum. At the start of the 13th century, the centre of the Diocese of Salisbury was moved from Old Sarum to its present site, and the choristers must have lodged with canons in the new Cathedral Close. After 1319, a house was built in the Close to accommodate the school (known as 'The Choristers' House'), and the school remained here for the next 300 years. The choristers were educated in the Chancellor's Grammar School nearby.

In 1335, most of the students of the College of the Valley Scholars near the cathedral transferred to Salisbury Hall, Oxford, and after that the College was "practically a nursery for a few scholars attending the Cathedral Grammar School" until the Reformation, when it was dissolved.<ref>Arthur Francis Leach, ''English Schools at the Reformation 1546-8'' (1896), [https://books.google.com/books?id=P7McAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA21 p. 21]</ref> thumb|The school in the Close, Salisbury, c. 1827 In 1714, the school moved to a new School House built for it on the northwest side of The Close. This became known as Wren Hall. The house connected to it, Braybrooke House, was the home of the Chancellor's Grammar School.<ref name=CGS>[https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/527 "Chancellor's Grammar School, Salisbury"], wiltshire.gov.uk, accessed 22 October 2023</ref>

In 1818, as reported by Nicholas Carlisle, the school was known as the Close School, distinguishing it from the City School. He understood that it had been founded by Bishop Herbert Poore.<ref name=NC>Nicholas Carlisle, ''A Concise Description of the Endowed Grammar Schools in England and Wales'', Volume 2 (Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, 1818), [https://books.google.com/books?id=rY-8ceSYvWoC&pg=PA746 pp. 746, 747]</ref>

In 1847, Bishop Hamilton combined the Cathedral School, or Choristers' School, with the Chancellor's Grammar School, and the school was thereafter known as the Cathedral School.<ref name=CGS/>

As the site in the Close could not keep pace with the growing number of pupils, in 1946 the school was relocated to the former Bishop's Palace in the grounds of the cathedral. The building is designated as Grade I listed by English Heritage.<ref name=NHL>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1251561|desc=Cathedral School|access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref>

In 1987, the first girls were admitted. The cathedral became the first in England to have female choristers when it opened its choristership programme to girls in 1991.<ref>[http://www.salisburycathedralschool.com/about-the-school/history.php History] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120908210948/http://www.salisburycathedralschool.com/about-the-school/history.php |date=8 September 2012 }}</ref>

A library partly funded by the former bookshop chain Ottakar's was opened in October 2002. Two members of the Heneage family, who owned the company, were former pupils.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

=== Leaden Hall School === In 2016, Leaden Hall School, a nearby independent school for girls aged 2 to 13, was merged into Salisbury Cathedral School.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Leaden Hall School|url=https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/126520|access-date=2020-10-24|website=GOV.UK|language=en}}</ref> At first, the Leaden Hall site was to be for younger pupils at the enlarged school.<ref>{{Cite web|date=5 July 2017|title=New Deputy Head to join SCS in September|url=http://www.salisburycathedralschool.com/scs/about/news/New-Deputy-Head.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202231259/http://www.salisburycathedralschool.com:80/scs/about/news/New-Deputy-Head.html|archive-date=2 February 2019|website=Salisbury Cathedral School}}</ref>

The Leaden Hall site, owned by the dean and chapter,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Annual Report 2018/19|url=https://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/sites/default/files/salisbury-cathedral-ar-2018-19_WEB.pdf|access-date=24 October 2020|website=Salisbury Cathedral|page=5|archive-date=27 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027114740/https://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/sites/default/files/salisbury-cathedral-ar-2018-19_WEB.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> is west of the former Bishop's Palace, on West Walk, and is bounded to the west by the River Avon. Its buildings include Leaden Hall (or Leadenhall), which has its origins in one of the first stone houses constructed in the new cathedral close, as a canon's residence.<ref name="vch-early" /> The present house is a 1717 rebuilding to the north, reusing some of the older stonework. Of two storeys under a tiled roof, the west front has four bays (including a later northern bay) and a 19th-century Gothic porch. The building was designated as Grade I listed in 1952.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1355816|desc=Leaden Hall|access-date=24 October 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

Occupants of Leaden Hall include Henry Chichele (d. 1443), archdeacon, chancellor, and later Archbishop of Canterbury; Gilbert Kymer (d. 1463), Dean of Salisbury and twice Chancellor of Oxford University;<ref>{{Cite web|date=1997|title=Map of the Close: Leaden Hall|url=http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/history.php?page=21|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928084242/http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/history.php?page=21|archive-date=28 September 2011|website=Salisbury Cathedral}}</ref> and (after the rebuilding), John Fisher (1748–1825), Bishop of Salisbury.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Ronald Brymer Beckett|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4xaaAAAAIAAJ|title=John Constable and the Fishers: The Record of a Friendship|author2=John Constable|publisher=Routledge and Paul|year=1952|page=43}}</ref>

There was a school on the site from at least 1953.<ref name="wch-leaden">{{cite web|title=Leaden Hall School, Salisbury|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/605|access-date=24 October 2020|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council}}</ref> A charity was linked to the school from 1963 to 2018.<ref>{{EW charity|309489|Leaden Hall School Limited}}</ref> In 2003 there were 261 pupils, including 40 boarders,<ref name="wch-leaden" /> and around the time of the merger there were 130.<ref>{{Cite web|date=10 February 2017|title=Leaden Hall School|url=http://www.indschools.co.uk/school/leadenhallschoolsp12ep|access-date=2020-10-24|website=The Independent Schools Directory}}</ref>

==Location== thumb|Salisbury Cathedral School (below left of centre) The school's 27-acre campus<ref>Salisbury Cathedral School. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070116122214/http://www.salisburycathedralschool.com/images/Salisbury_preprep.pdf Pre-Prep School prospectus], accessed January 2008</ref> is next to Bishop Wordsworth's School, in the southern part of Salisbury Cathedral Close, which at {{convert|80|acre|m2}} is the largest Cathedral Close in Britain.<ref name="SalisburyWeb">{{cite web|title=Visitor Information, Salisbury Cathedral|url=http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/visitor.intro.php|access-date=2008-01-25|archive-date=4 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215344/http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/visitor.intro.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> The main school building is the former Bishop's Palace, parts of which date from the building of the cathedral in the 13th century. The pre-preparatory part of the school is located in newer buildings adjacent to the palace, but uses some of the main school facilities. The boarding house is also in The Close. Sports facilities include football, rugby and cricket pitches, an athletics track, tennis courts/hockey pitches (Astro Turf) and an outdoor swimming pool.

==Academics== Scholarships are offered on entry to the school at Years 3 and 6, with choral scholarships offered at Years 4 and 5. An exchange programme with pupils from Union High School, South Africa, is available to Year 7 students.

Pupils generally take the Common Entrance Exam at the end of Year 8 and many progress to senior private schools.<ref>[http://www.salisburycathedralschool.com/study/curriculum.php Curriculum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421021444/http://www.salisburycathedralschool.com/study/curriculum.php |date=21 April 2012 }}</ref> Some also leave at Year 6 for local grammar schools, or other independent schools.

==Choir== The school continues to serve its original function of educating choristers of the cathedral choir. Every year auditions are held for children between ages 7 and 9 and successful applicants receive scholarships to attend the school.<ref>[https://www.salisburycathedralschool.com/choristers/ Choristers]</ref> It was the first English cathedral to allow girls to become choristers, and is unique in that the girls have equal duties with the boys. Many choristers board in a large boarding house located near the school.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.salisburycathedralschool.com/scs/boarding/day-in-the-life-of-a-boarder.html#kTD7jFiQz1bv5IX6.97|title=Day in the Life of a Border|website=salisburycathedralschool.com|access-date=29 March 2016}}</ref>

== In media == The school featured in a BBC television documentary entitled ''Angelic Voices: The Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral'', which was first broadcast in March 2012.

==Notable former pupils== {{colbegin}} *John of Salisbury (c. 1120–1180): Author, diplomat and Bishop of Chartres<ref name="ReferenceA">Osmond, Stephen E., ''Register of Past & Present Pupils of the Cathedral School Salisbury'' (5th.Ed. 2002; publ. Salisbury Cathedral School Association)</ref> *Henry Lawes (1595–1662): Musician and composer. A Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in the reigns of King Charles I & King Charles II. He was appointed Musician in the 'Private Musick for the Voices' to King Charles II. (Buried in Westminster Abbey).<ref name="ReferenceA"/> *William Lawes (1602–1645): Brother of Henry Lawes (above). Composer and musician. Appointed as 'Musician in Ordinary for Lutes and Voices' to King Charles I. He was killed during the rout of the Royalists at the Battle of Rowton Heath.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> *Edward Lowe (c.1602–1682): Composer, author & organist. Professor of Music at Oxford University (1671–1682).<ref name="ReferenceA"/> *Sir Stephen Fox (1627–1716): [Noted in John Evelyn's Diary as ''‘…a poore boy from the quire of Salisbury’''].<ref>Diary of John Evelyn: (6 September 1680)</ref> Founder of The Royal Hospital, Chelsea; Commissioner of the Treasury.<ref name="ReferenceB">in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref><ref>Clay, Christopher: 'Public Finance & Private Wealth; The Career of Sir Stephen Fox', (Oxford University Press, 1978).</ref> *Thomas Wyndham, 1st Baron Wyndham of Finglass (1681–1745): Lawyer; Lord Chancellor of Ireland (1728); Lord High Steward of Ireland (1739).<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/> *John Greenhill (1644?–1676): English portrait painter and draughtsman (Associated with 24 major portraits). Pupil of Sir Peter Lely.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> *Henry Greenhill (1646–1708): (Brother of John Greenhill, above) As a Commissioner of the Admiralty, directed the building of Plymouth Dockyard.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> *James Harris (1709–1780): Grammarian and politician.<ref>Probyn, Clive T.: 'The Sociable Humanist; The Life & works of James Harris' (Oxford University Press. 1991)</ref><ref>Burrows, Donald and Dunhill, Rosemary. 2002. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=LFtEfASau1YC&pg=PA1101 Music and Theatre in Handel's World: The Family Papers of James Harris 1732–1780]''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-816654-0}}.</ref> *James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury GCB (1746–1820): Son of the above and noted diplomat.<ref>''Harris, James, first earl of Malmesbury (1746–1820), diplomatist'' by H. M. Scott in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> *William Benson Earle (1740–1796): Author & composer.<ref>''Earle, William Benson'', in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> *Sir George Ridout Bingham, KCB (1777–1833): Army Officer in the Peninsular War. Commanded the garrison of St.Helena guarding the Emperor Napoleon.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>Glover, Gareth: ''Wellington's Lieutenant – Napoleon's Gaoler (The Peninsula Letters & Diaries of Sir George Ridout Bingham)'', Pen & Sword Books, 2005</ref> *Bernard George Ellis (1890–1979): Winner of the George Cross in 1918.<ref>[http://www.vconline.org.uk/bernard-g-ellis-am/4589137613 Ellis on The Comprehensive Guide to the Victoria & George Cross]</ref> *Walter Kendall Stanton (1891–1978): Organist & composer. Director of BBC Midland Radio Music. Editor of the BBC Hymn Book. First Professor of Music at Bristol University.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="Smith, Peter L. 2011">Smith, Peter L.: ''In the Shadow of Salisbury Spire'', The Hobnob Press, 2011</ref> *Stephen Clissold (1913–1982): Author: subjects include mediæval mystics, Latin America & Yugoslavia. In 2nd World War, worked with the British Mission to Yugoslavia. He was the interpreter between Sir Winston Churchill & Marshal Tito at their first meeting.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="Smith, Peter L. 2011"/><ref> Catalogue of papers of Stephen Clissold (1913–1982), 1940–1982, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford</ref> *Doctor Bernard Rose (1916–1996): Don, organist and master of the choristers, Magdalen College, Oxford. *Professor John Blacking (1928–1990): Anthropologist and ethnomusicologist.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> *Professor Nicholas Daniel (born 1962): Oboist & conductor.<ref>''DANIEL, Nicholas'' in ''Who's Who 2007'' (London, A. & C. Black, 2007)</ref> *David Gascoyne (1916–2001): Surrealist poet.<ref>Barker, Sebastian. ''Obituary: David Gascoyne''. The Independent. 28 November 2001.</ref> *Air Vice-Marshal David Hills CB OBE (born 1925)<ref>''HILLS, Air Vice-Marshal David Graeme Muspratt'' in ''Who's Who 2007'' (London, A. & C. Black, 2007)</ref> *Robert Key MP (born 1945): Conservative politician.<ref>''KEY, (Simon) Robert'' in ''Who's Who 2007'' (London, A. & C. Black, 2007)</ref> *Michael Mates MP (born 1934): Conservative politician.<ref>''MATES, Lt-Col Rt Hon. Michael (John) '' in ''Who's Who 2007'' (London, A. & C. Black, 2007)</ref> *Martin Woodhouse (1932–2011): Author and scriptwriter. *Jonathan Meades (born 1947): Writer and television film-maker.<ref name="Meades, Jonathan 2014">Meades, Jonathan (2014). ''An Encyclopaedia of Myself''. Fourth Estate, London. {{ISBN|978-1-85702-905-5}}.</ref> *Mike Wedgwood (born 1950): Bass guitarist, formerly a member of The Overlanders, Curved Air and Caravan.<ref name="Meades, Jonathan 2014"/> *Robert Wilkie (born 1962): Former United Secretary of Veterans Affairs. {{Div col end}}

==See also== *List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Official website}} *[https://www.isi.net/school/salisbury-cathedral-school-6875 Independent Schools Inspectorate reports] *[https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/529 Wiltshire Council, Wiltshire Community History – The Cathedral School, Salisbury]

{{Schools in Wiltshire}} {{Authority control}}

Category:People educated at Salisbury Cathedral School Category:Boarding schools in Wiltshire Category:Choir schools in England Category:Educational institutions established in the 11th century Category:1091 establishments in England Category:Grade I listed buildings in Wiltshire Category:Private schools in Wiltshire Category:Preparatory schools in Wiltshire Category:Schools in Salisbury School Salisbury Category:Church of England private schools in the Diocese of Salisbury