Christ College, Brecon, is a
co-educational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
,
boarding and day independent school, located in the cathedral and market town of
Brecon
Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...
in mid-
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. It currently caters for pupils aged 7–18 years.
History
Christ College was founded by
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...
in 1541 by
King Henry VIII.
The school still uses the medieval chapel and halls of the Dominican Priory dissolved by Henry.
The school has been ranked in the top three of UK independent schools in terms of "value for money" by the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...
'' newspaper. In December 2017, Estyn (HM's Inspectorate for Education & Training in Wales) assessed Christ College's performance as "excellent" across all five inspection areas – the highest grade that can be awarded. In 2017, 96% of
GCSE grades were A*-C and 100% of the pupils achieved 5 or more GCSEs at Grade C. At
A-Levels
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...
, the overall pass rate (A*-E grades) was at 98% and 83% of results were at A*-C.
Houses
There are seven houses in the school. There are: two senior boys' boarding houses,Orchard and School; two senior girls' boarding houses, de Winton and Donaldson's; a mixed day house, St David's; and Alway House, for boys and girls aged 11–13. In September 2014, St Nicholas House opened for boys and girls aged 7–11.
Cricket ground
The first recorded match held on the college cricket ground was in 1888, when the college played
Llandovery College
, image = Llandovery College (geograph 5927072).jpg
, image_size =
, motto = Gwell Dysg Na Golud( here areno riches better than learning)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Independent day and bo ...
. During the West Indies 1991 tour of England the ground was used to host a limited overs match against Wales,
Brian Lara scoring 82. In use for the entire 20th century, the ground was used by
Glamorgan for a
List A cricket
List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numb ...
match against the touring
Zimbabweans
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Zimbabwe, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Populat ...
. The Glamorgan Second XI used the college ground for
Second Eleven Trophy matches, firstly in 1996 when they played the
Somerset Second XI and secondly in 1997 when they played the
Hampshire Second XI.
Second XI Trophy Matches played on Christ College
/ref>
Old Breconians
* Robert Ackerman – rugby player
* Lord Atkin
James Richard Atkin, Baron Atkin, (28 November 1867 – 25 June 1944), commonly known as Dick Atkin, was an Australian-born British judge, who served as a lord of appeal in ordinary from 1928 until his death in 1944. He is especially remember ...
– lawyer and judge
* William Aubrey
William Aubrey (c. 1529 – 25 June 1595) was Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Oxford from 1553 to 1559, and was one of the founding Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford. He was also a Member of Parliament for various Welsh an ...
– Regius Professor of Civil Law, Oxford
* Collin Bowen – archaeologist and landscape historian
* Andrew Davies SHR – Cricketer
* Bill Evans – rugby player
* Sir Simon Hughes – former MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, former Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats
* James Dickson Innes
James Dickson Innes (27 February 1887 – 22 August 1914) was a British painter, mainly of mountain landscapes but occasionally of figure subjects. He worked in both oils and watercolours.
Style
Of his style, art historian David Fraser Jenkins ...
– painter
* Arthur Harding
Arthur Flowers Harding (8 August 1878 – 15 May 1947) was an English-born international rugby union player who played for and captained the Wales national team. Often called 'Boxer' Harding, he was a member of the Wales team for the famous '' ...
– rugby player
* Henry Lewis James – theologian
* Hubert Rees
Hubert Rees (27 April 1928 – 20 October 2009) was a Welsh character actor, known for his supporting roles in British television shows throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Early life
Rees was born on 27 April 1928 in Abergavenny, Wales.
Career
R ...
– actor
* Jack Jones – rugby player
* Maurice Jones
Maurice Antonia Jones (born September 14, 1964) is the CEO of OneT a coalition of companies dedicated to creating one million jobs for African Americans by the end of the 2020s. Previously, he was president and CEO of the Local Initiatives Supp ...
– priest and bard
* Thomas Jones – artist
* Thomas Babington Jones – cricketer
* Andrew Lewis (rugby player)
* Willie Llewellyn
William Morris "Willie" Llewellyn (1 January 1878 – 12 March 1973) was a Welsh international rugby union player. He captained Wales in 1905 and London Welsh in 1902. He was a member of the winning Welsh team who beat the 1905 touring All Black ...
– rugby player
* Kieran Marmion – rugby player
* Teddy Morgan
Edward "Teddy" Morgan (22 May 1880 – 1 September 1949) was a Welsh international rugby union player. He was a member of the victorious Wales team who beat the 1905 touring All Blacks in the famous '' Match of the Century'' and is remembered for ...
– rugby player
* Thomas Morgan – Navy chaplain
* Jamie Owen
Jamie Owen (born 1967) is a Welsh journalist, broadcaster, writer and former BBC Wales Today presenter. He joined the BBC in 1989, first working at BBC Radio and then presenting BBC Wales Today between 1994 and 2018. He has presented other TV an ...
– Presenter for the BBC Wales Today news programme
* Matt Powell SHO – rugby player
* David Price – Orientalist
* Thomas Price (Carnhuanawc)
The Reverend Thomas Price (2 October 1787 – 7 November 1848) (known by the bardic name of Carnhuanawc) was a historian and a major Welsh literary figure of the early 19th century. Price was also "an essayist, orator, naturalist, educationalis ...
- historian and Welsh language advocate
* Brinley Rees
Brinley Roderick Rees (27 December 1919 – 21 October 2004) was a Welsh academic. He wrote extensively on Classics, particularly the study of the Greek language. His early work was devoted to Greek papyri; a later publication was devoted to ...
– Classical scholar
* Sir Paul Silk – Parliamentary clerk
* Peter Watkins
Peter Watkins (born 29 October 1935) is an English film and television director. He was born in Norbiton, Surrey, lived in Sweden, Canada and Lithuania for many years, and now lives in France. He is one of the pioneers of docudrama. His films ...
– film director
* Lloyd Williams – cricketer
* Roger Williams - former MP
References
External links
*
Profile
on the ISC #REDIRECT ISC
{{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
website
* Estyn
Estyn is the education and training inspectorate for Wales. Its name comes from the Welsh language verb ''estyn'' meaning "to reach (out), stretch or extend". Its function is to provide an independent inspection and advice service on quality ...
Inspectio
Reports
{{authority control
Independent schools in Powys
Educational institutions established in the 1540s
Brecon
Boarding schools in Wales
Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
Schools with a royal charter
1541 establishments in Wales
Glamorgan County Cricket Club