(Strong and faithful) , established = 1880 , closed = , type = Independent day and boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Michael Sloan , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , chair = , founder = Canon Nathaniel Woodard , specialist = , address = South Road , city = Taunton , county = Somerset , country = United Kingdom , postcode = TA1 3LA , local_authority = , ofsted = , urn = 123912 , staff = , enrolment = 470 , gender = Co-educational , houses = 7 , lower_age = 13 , upper_age = 18 , colours = Red, dark blue, gold
, publication = Aluredian , free_label_1 = Former pupils , free_1 = Old Aluredians (OAs) , free_label_2 = Affiliation , free_2 = Woodard Corporation , free_label_3 = , free_3 = , website = http://www.kings-taunton.co.uk/ King's College is an independent co-educational secondary day and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

in Taunton, Somerset, England. A member school of the Woodard Corporation, it has approximately 450 pupils aged 13 to 18, including about 300 boarders. Its affiliated prep school is

King's Hall School King's Hall School is a co-educational prep school that provides day and Boarding school. The school is located within the parish of Cheddon Fitzpaine, just north of Taunton, Somerset, in the West of England. It is housed in the Grade II* list ...

. The head of the school is currently Michael Sloan, who started his first academic year in the winter of 2022.

History

King's College, Taunton, or King Alfred's College as it was originally named, was founded in 1880 by Canon Nathaniel Woodard. King's College was the fifth of the Woodard schools to be opened. Woodard purchased the recently built buildings of

Taunton Grammar School The Municipal Buildings are historic buildings in Corporation Street, Taunton, Somerset, England. The buildings, which were the home of Taunton Grammar School before becoming the headquarters of Taunton Borough Council, are Grade II* listed. Hi ...

in South Road when financial difficulties forced the Grammar School to move back to their original site. The buildings had been designed by

Charles Edmund Giles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

under the instructions of the Grammar School's Headmaster

William Tuckwell William Tuckwell (1829–1919), who liked to be known as the "radical parson", was an English Anglican clergyman well known on political platforms for his experiments in allotments, his advocacy of land nationalisation, and his enthusiasm for Chr ...

and were built between 1867 and 1869. Maintaining the link with the past, Woodard adopted the

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

badge of Bishop Richard Fox (the Grammar School's founder) as the new King’s crest. Today Bishop Fox and Tuckwell are still names of school Houses and former pupils are known as Old Aluredians (OAs) after King Alfred. One of the most notable parts of the school is the Chapel, built from 1903 and designed by W. E. Tower with later extensions in 1936 and 1986. The Chapel was the particular project of the school Provost, Prebendary Henry Meynell, who sought the support of benefactors, most notably the former Prime Minister the Marquess of Salisbury. Henry Richards MP bestowed the fine organ formerly in St Michael Bassishaw. The school also had the support of the Gibbs Family of Tyntesfield. H. Martin Gibbs, the school Custos, was responsible for building the Lady Chapel and for donating some fine pieces of devotional art. The main building has been designated as a Grade II listed building.

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

stood for MP in Taunton, and many of his early political appearances took place on what is currently the school's 1st XV Rugby pitch. After the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1936,

Emperor Haile Selassie I Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia ('' ...

fled in exile to Bath. During his stay in the UK his youngest son and eldest grandson went to King's College, and the Emperor himself distributed awards at Sports Day in 1937. Two trophies were donated by the Emperor. Before the

General Election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

in 1964, the prime minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, addressed a public meeting at the school. Junior pupils (from the age of around 8) were part of the school from 1880. When the school purchased

Pyrland Hall Pyrland Hall is a country house near Cheddon Fitzpaine in the English county of Somerset. It is a Grade II* listed building. History Pyrland Hall was built around 1760 for Sir William Yea of the Yea baronets. It is a brick building with Bath st ...

in 1952 the Junior School moved to that site. Pyrland Hall is now known as

co-educational

prep school Preparatory school or prep school may refer to: Schools *Preparatory school (United Kingdom), an independent school preparing children aged 8–13 for entry into fee-charging independent schools, usually public schools *College-preparatory school, ...

. The school became co-educational in 1968 (in that it admitted girls into the Sixth Form), becoming fully co-educational in 1991. There are currently seven boarding houses: Bishop Fox, King Alfred, Woodard (After Nathaniel Woodard) Tuckwell (after

, Meynell, Taylor and

Carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

. All these houses, plus Neates, King Edward's and Perratt's, which no longer exist, were male boarding houses until 1991 when Meynell converted to become the first all female boarding house. Carpenter became a female boarding house in 1994 and Taylor house was founded as a female boarding house in 1997. Until the conversion to full coeducational status, Sixth Form girls were assigned to one of the male boarding houses but lived in separate accommodation. In 2007, the school choir took part in a choral competition on the BBC programme ''

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Ta ...

'' and came first, and in the same year the senior rugby team were victorious in

The National Schools 7's The Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens is an English rugby union sevens tournament, organised by Rosslyn Park F.C., that has evolved into the world's largest rugby tournament with some 9,500 boys and girls aged 13 – 19 competing annually from o ...

. The school chapel is the venue for an annual concert by the

Somerset chamber choir Somerset Chamber Choir is a choir based in the county of Somerset, England. The choir was formed in 1984 by former members of Somerset Youth Choir, and typically gives two concerts annually. Initially, these were mainly around Taunton, but in J ...

Houses

;Boys * King Alfred * Tuckwell * Woodard * Bishop Fox * Neates (Disbanded) ;Girls * Carpenter * Taylor * Meynell

Notable students

Former students of King's College, Taunton, are referred to as "Old Aluredians". * Robin Appleford, youngest pilot in the Battle of Britain - 1940 *

Neil Brand Neil Brand (born 18 March 1958) is an English dramatist, composer and author. In addition to being a regular silent film accompanist at London's National Film Theatre, Brand has composed new scores for two restored films from the 1920s, '' The ...

, South African cricketer. * Jos Buttler, first-class

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

for Lancashire and England * Charles Ching, judge *

Tom Banton Thomas Banton (born 11 November 1998) is an English cricketer. He made his international debut for the England cricket team in November 2019. Domestic and franchise career Banton made his Twenty20 cricket debut for Somerset in the 2017 NatWest ...

, Somerset and England cricketer * Sir Geoffrey Cox QC PC MP, Her Majesty's Attorney General of England and Wales and Advocate General of Northern Ireland, 2018–20, Conservative Member of Parliament * Richard Harden, first-class

for Somerset * Calvin Harrison, cricketer *

Antony Hewish Antony Hewish (11 May 1924 – 13 September 2021) was a British radio astronomer who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974 (together with fellow radio-astronomer Martin Ryle) for his role in the discovery of pulsars. He was also awarded the ...

, Nobel Prize in Physics - 1974 * Sir John Keegan, military historian * Neil Kernon, musician, record producer * Simon Jones, film, stage TV & radio actor, narrator * Henry Litton CBE, judge * Christopher Mackenzie-Beevor, courtier * Jonathan Meades, author and broadcaster *

Angus Moon Philip Charles Angus Moon KC (normally known as "Angus Moon") (born 17 September 1962) is a barrister and joint head of Serjeant's Inn chambers, London. He was called to Bar 1986 and was appointed as a Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdo ...

, QC and Head of Chambers at Serjeants Inn *

David Pipe David Ronald Pipe (born 5 November 1983) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or full-back. Club career Born in Caerphilly, Wales, Pipe began his career in the youth system at Coventry City. He made his senior ...

, racehorse trainer * Geoffrey Rippon, Baron Rippon of Hexham PC, Conservative Member of Parliament * Matthew Robinson, rugby player for Wales * Michael Scott (priest), pioneer campaigner against apartheid *

Juno Temple Juno Temple (born 21 July 1989) is a British actress. She has appeared in the films ''Notes on a Scandal'' (2006), ''Atonement'' (2007), ''The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2008), ''The Three Musketeers'' (2011), ''The Dark Knight Rises'' (2012), '' Mag ...

, actress *

Roger Twose Roger Graham Twose (born 17 April 1968) is an English-born former cricketer, who played 16 Test matches and 87 One Day Internationals for New Zealand in the mid-1990s. In February 2021, Twose was appointed as the director of New Zealand Cric ...

, first-class

for New Zealand * Ted Nash, English entrepreneur *

Tom Voyce Thomas Michael Dunstan Voyce (born 5 January 1981) is a former English rugby union player who played at wing or fullback. He previously played for England. Voyce married Anna Wood in September 2015. Biography Born 5 January 1981 in Truro, ...

, rugby player for Gloucester Rugby *

Tom Webley Thomas Webley (born 2 March 1983) is an English cricketer. Webley is a left-handed batsman who bowls slow left-arm orthodox. Born in Bristol before moving to the village of Corfe Mullen in Dorset, Webley had been educated at King's College, a ...

, cricketer * Dominic Wood, CBBC presenter Dick and Dom * John Eakin, British Blind Open Golf champion - 2011 *

The Turner Twins Hugo Turner FRGS and Ross Turner FRGS (born 22 October 1988), better known as The Turner Twins, are British adventurers best known for their pioneering expeditions. Biography The twins were born in Exeter and grew up near Christow in Devon. ...

- Hugo & Ross Turner, adventurers * Maddie Hinch, women's England and Great Britain hockey goalkeeper *

Will Smeed William Conrad Francis Smeed (born 26 October 2001) is an English cricketer. He made his Twenty20 debut on 11 September 2020, for Somerset in the 2020 T20 Blast. On 10 August 2022 he became the first player to score a century in The Hundred (101 ...

, Somerset county cricket player

References

External links

*
Profile
on the Independent Schools Council website
Old Aluredian website
{{Authority control Anglo-Catholic educational establishments Boarding schools in Somerset Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Independent schools in Somerset Woodard Schools Educational institutions established in 1880 1880 establishments in England Schools in Taunton Church of England independent schools in the Diocese of Bath and Wells