Salisbury Cathedral School is a co-educational
independent school in
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
, 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
Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest r ...
by
Saint Osmund, the Bishop of Old Sarum and
Earl of Dorset
Earl of Dorset is a title that has been created at least four times in the Peerage of England. Some of its holders have at various times also held the rank of marquess and, from 1720, duke.
A possible first creation is not well documented. Abou ...
, who was recognised for his good works when he was canonised several hundred years later in 1456.
[Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 81] 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.
The first notable pupil of the school was
John of Salisbury
John of Salisbury (late 1110s – 25 October 1180), who described himself as Johannes Parvus ("John the Little"), was an English author, philosopher, educationalist, diplomat and bishop of Chartres.
Early life and education
Born at Salisbury, E ...
, who served
Archbishop Thomas Becket until the latter was murdered in 1170. John was quoted by
Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.
[Power of a woman:Memoirs of a turbulent life: Eleanor of Aquitaine](_blank)
p.339 by Robert Fripp. accessed 24 January 2008
Originally, the school would have been 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 would then have lodged with various 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 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 which, with the house connected to it (Braybrooke House), acted as the centre of the school campus until the middle of the 20th century. As this site could not keep pace with the growing number of pupils, the school was relocated in 1946/47 to the former Bishop's Palace in the grounds of the cathedral. The building is designated as
Grade I listed by
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
.
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.
A library partly funded by the former bookshop chain
Ottakar's
Ottakar's was a chain of bookshops in the United Kingdom founded in 1987 by James Heneage. Following a takeover by the HMV Group in 2006, the chain was merged into the Waterstone's brand.
History
James Heneage established the Ottakar's chai ...
was opened in October 2002. Two members of the Heneage family, who owned the company, were former pupils.
Leaden Hall School
In 2016, Leaden Hall School, a nearby independent school for girls aged 2 to 13, was merged into Salisbury Cathedral School. At first, the Leaden Hall site was to be for younger pupils at the enlarged school.
The Leaden Hall site, owned by the dean and chapter, 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.
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.
Occupants of Leaden Hall include
Henry Chichele (d. 1443), archdeacon, chancellor, and later
Archbishop of Canterbury;
Gilbert Kymer
Gilbert Kymer (died 1463) was Dean of Salisbury Cathedral, Chancellor of Oxford University, and a physician.
Kymer was educated at the University of Oxford. He was a proctor of the University (1412–13) and Principal of Hart Hall, Oxford (1412 ...
(d. 1463),
Dean of Salisbury
The Dean of Salisbury is the head of the chapter of Salisbury Cathedral in the Church of England. The Dean assists the archdeacon of Sarum and bishop of Ramsbury in the diocese of Salisbury.
List of deans
High Medieval
* Walter
* Osbert
...
and twice Chancellor of
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
; and (after the rebuilding),
John Fisher
John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI.
Fisher was executed by o ...
(1748–1825), Bishop of Salisbury.
There was a school on the site from at least 1953.
A charity was linked to the school from 1963 to 2018. In 2003 there were 261 pupils, including 40 boarders,
and around the time of the merger there were 130.
Location
The school's 27-acre campus is next to
Bishop Wordsworth's School, in the southern part of Salisbury
Cathedral Close, which at is the largest Cathedral Close in Britain.
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
independent schools. Some also leave at Year 6 for local
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
s, 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. 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.
In media
The school featured in a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television documentary entitled ''Angelic Voices: The Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral'', which was first broadcast in March 2012.
(c. 1120–1180): Author, diplomat and
(1595–1662): Musician and composer. A Gentleman of the
. He was appointed Musician in the 'Private Musick for the Voices' to King Charles II. (Buried in
).
(above). Composer and musician. Appointed as 'Musician in Ordinary for Lutes and Voices' to
. He was killed during the rout of the Royalists at the
.
(c.1602–1682): Composer, author & organist. Professor of Music at Oxford University (1671–1682).
Founder of The Royal Hospital, Chelsea; Commissioner of the Treasury.
of Finglass (1681–1745): Lawyer; Lord Chancellor of Ireland (1728); Lord High Steward of Ireland (1739).
(1644?–1676): English portrait painter and draughtsman (Associated with 24 major portraits). Pupil of Sir Peter Lely.
(1646–1708): (Brother of John Greenhill, above) As a Commissioner of the Admiralty, directed the building of Plymouth Dockyard.
(1777–1833): Army Officer in the Peninsular War. Commanded the garrison of St.Helena guarding the Emperor Napoleon.
in 1918.
*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.
*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
at their first meeting.
(1916–1996): Don, organist and master of the choristers, Magdalen College, Oxford.
*Professor
(1928–1990): Anthropologist and ethnomusicologist.
MP (born 1934): Conservative politician.
(born 1947): Writer and television film-maker.
.