The King's School, Chester, is a British co-educational independent day school for children aged 4 to 18. It is one of the seven 'King's Schools' established (or re-endowed and renamed) by

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

in 1541 after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It is situated outside the city of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, England. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school comprises an Infant school (years 4–7), a Junior school (years 7–11), a Senior school (years 11–16) and a Sixth form (years 16–18) in which the students choose their

A-level 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 aut ...

subjects.

History

An ancient foundation, attached to a monastery that King Henry VIII had dissolved, it still served a purpose teaching grammar to potential ordinands. It was reconstituted in 1541 as a joint church state enterprise and operated for 400 years in the former monks' refectory. It was one of seven schools in this category, the others being Canterbury, Rochester, Peterborough, Worcester, Gloucester, and Ely. In 1869 new school buildings were constructed and they were formally opened by Gladstone. The school motto is "''Rex dedit, benedicat Deus''” (The King gave it, may God bless it'')'', which was given by John Saul Howson, Dean of Chester. John Saul Howson was the chief instrument in the building and endowing of the King's School, and in its reorganization on a broader basis.

Description

Since 1960, The King's School has been based at its Wrexham Road site on the outskirts of Chester. It has a Sixth Form Centre, a library (the

Wickson Wickson is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Edward J. Wickson (1848–1923), American agronomist and journalist *Frank Wickson Alexander Frank Wickson (March 30, 1861 – December 22, 1936) was a prominent Toronto architect ...

Library) and a music school (the Tim Turvey Music School). Sports facilities include a swimming pool, all-weather sports pitches, grass sports pitches, a cricket pavilion, and a boat house on the River Dee.

Academia

In September 2011, King's adopted a new curriculum alongside its shift from an eight-period to a five-period day. This involved substantial changes, introducing 'enrichment' lessons and replacing the

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

courses with IGCSE.

Extra-curricular activities

The school's pupils engage the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme. The King's School's Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a voluntary contingent within the

CCF CCF can refer to: Computing * Confidential Consortium Framework, a free and open source blockchain infrastructure framework developed by Microsoft * Customer Care Framework, a Microsoft product Finance * Credit conversion factor converts the a ...

. It consists of the mandatory Army Section, with an additional RAF Section. The King's School has also been successful in the F1 in Schools competition, sending a team to the global finals in 2016.

Publications

The Herald is the school's magazine and is published on a termly basis for parents and pupils. Its articles are about current pupils, teachers and former pupils.

Sports

Hockey

In 2011, King's appointed hockey coach Simon Egerton, who is a member of the England hockey team.

Rowing

The King's School Rowing Club The King's School Rowing Club is a rowing club on the River Dee, based at The Groves, Chester, Cheshire. History The club belongs to The King's School, Chester and was founded in 1883. The club won the prestigious Visitors' Challenge Cup at t ...

has been in existence since 1883 with the school's

boat house A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...

situated on the River Dee in the centre of

and is affiliated to British Rowing. Rowing is offered as part of the sports curriculum from the third year onwards. The King's rowers often compete in the top levels of school's competitions, and count numerous ex-Boat-Race crew members alongside National and Olympic squad members amongst it Old King's Scholars Alumni including seven Olympians, three in the London 2012 games. Gold and silver medallists – two gold and one silver Olympic medallists. Olympic Finalists – three in 2012. 14 x Oxford and Cambridge Blues. 47 x GB Senior World Championship representatives – since 1960 and 36 x GB Junior International representatives – since 1970. Kings Chester Boat House

Headmaster

The school's headmaster (since 2017) is George Hartley. He has an undergraduate degree in geography and an postgraduate degree in Environmental Sciences. He has previously been the headmaster/principal of two other British schools.

Previous headmasters

*2007–2017 - Chris Ramsey, linguist *2000–2007 - Tim Turvey, biologist *1981–2000 - Roger Wickson, historian A full list of previous headmasters are engraved on a board displayed in the school.

Notable alumni

Post-1900

* Godfrey Ashby, former bishop of St John's, South Africa *

Michael Axworthy Michael George Andrew Axworthy (26 September 1962 – 16 March 2019) was a British academic, author, and commentator. He was the head of the Iran section at the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office between 1998 and 2000. Personal life and fam ...

* Hagan Bayley, scientist and head of

chemical biology Chemical biology is a scientific discipline spanning the fields of chemistry and biology. The discipline involves the application of chemical techniques, analysis, and often small molecules produced through synthetic chemistry, to the study and ma ...

at the University of Oxford * Graham Benton, British and world indoor rowing champion *

Michael Burdekin Frederick Michael Burdekin is a British civil engineer, and emeritus professor at University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and the University of Manchester. Early life and education Michael Burdekin was born in Hawarden, Fl ...

, civil engineer and emeritus professor of the University of Manchester * John Carroll, mathematician, physicist and former professor of natural philosophy at the University of Aberdeen *

Matthew Collins (academic) Matthew Collins, is a professor at the University of Copenhagen, formerly as a Niels Bohr professor, and also holds a McDonald Chair in Palaeoproteomics at the University of Cambridge. Prior to joining Cambridge he was professor of biomolecul ...

, archaeologist *

Rob Leslie-Carter Robert Michael Leslie-Carter MICE, MAIPM (born 24 October 1970) is a British engineer and project manager with consulting firm Arup, based in London. He was named 'Project Manager of the Year' at the 2003 UK Association for Projec ...

, engineer *

Sir James Dutton Lieutenant General Sir James Benjamin "Jim" Dutton, (born 21 February 1954) is a retired Royal Marines officer and former Governor of Gibraltar. He held various staff positions in his early career, before commanding 40 Commando. As a brigad ...

, former commandant-general, Royal Marines * Rob Eastaway, mathematician and ex-puzzle writer for New Scientist *

Simon Edge Simon John Edge (born 25 December 1964 in Chester, England) is a British novelist and journalist. Educated at the King's School, Chester, he went on to receive a master's degree in Philosophy from St Catharine's College, Cambridge and has a ma ...

, novelist * James Fair, England and Great Britain hockey goalkeeper * Nickolas Grace, actor * George Guest, organist and choirmaster at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

* Matthew Hancock, former

secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport The secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department f ...

(2018), secretary of state for health and social care (2018-21) and member of Parliament for West Suffolk * Phillip Hallam-Baker, computer scientist, mostly known for his contributions to Internet security *

Tom James Thomas James MBE (born 11 March 1984) is a British rower, twice Olympic champion and victorious Cambridge Blue. In a British coxless four in 2012 he set a world's best time which still stood as of 2021. Background and early life James was born ...

, Olympic gold medal oarsman * Glyn Smallwood Jones, colonial administrator and last governor of Nyasaland *

Trevor Kletz Trevor Asher Kletz, OBE, FREng, FRSC, FIChemE (23 October 1922–31 October 2013) was a prolific British author on the topic of chemical engineering safety. He is credited with introducing the concept of inherent safety, and was a major promo ...

, safety engineer and author on industrial safety *

Steve Leonard Stephen Leonard (born 4 September 1972 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish veterinarian and television personality. Early life Leonard's family moved to Cheshire from Northern Ireland when he was six weeks ol ...

, television vet and BBC presenter * Martin Lewis, financial journalist and founder of the MoneySavingExpert.com consumer finance website * Hugh Lloyd, comedy actor * Patrick Mercer, member of Parliament for Newark * Seb Morris, racing driver * Mike Parry, journalist and radio presenter * Ronald Pickup, actor * Jonathan Samuels, Australia correspondent with

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* George Drewry Squibb, lawyer *

David Whitley David Whitley (born 1984) is a British writer, author of the young adult/teen fantasy '' The Midnight Charter'' and two subsequent books in the Agora Trilogy. ''The Midnight Charter'' was published in August 2009 and was Whitley's debut nove ...

, author of

The Midnight Charter ''The Midnight Charter'' is a young adult fantasy novel by David Whitley. It is the first novel in the Agora Trilogy, and the author's debut novel. It was nominated for the 2010 Carnegie Medal, but lost to Neil Gaiman's ''The Graveyard Book''. ...

Olivia Whitlam Olivia Rose Whitlam (born 16 September 1985) is a female rower from Daresbury, near Warrington, England. She became the Under-23 World Champion in 2007 in the pairs with partner Heather Stanning. She competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics with new ...

, Olympic rower *

Arnold Frederic Wilkins Arnold Frederic Wilkins OBE (20 February 1907 – 5 August 1985) was a pioneer in developing the use of radar. It was Arnold Wilkins who suggested to his boss, Robert Watson-Watt, that reflected radio waves might be used to detect aircraft ...

, radar pioneer

Pre-1900

* Randle Ayrton, film and stage actor, producer and director * John Bradbury, 1st Baron Bradbury, civil servant and chief economic advisor to the government during World War I * Thomas Brassey, civil engineer *

Edward Brerewood Edward Brerewood (or Bryerwood) (c. 1565–1613) was an English scholar and antiquary. He was a mathematician and logician, and wrote an influential book on the origin of languages. Life He was son of Robert Brerewood, a wetglover, three times m ...

, mathematician, logician and antiquary *

Charles Burney Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicist a ...

, music historian, musician, composer and philosopher * John Byrom, poet and developer of geometric shorthand * Randolph Caldecott, illustrator * William Chaderton, academic, clergyman and former Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge * John Churton Collins, literary critic and former professor of English literature at the University of Birmingham * Piers Claughton, clergyman and former

archdeacon of London The Archdeacon of London is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England. They are responsible for the eastern Archdeaconry (the Archdeaconry of London) of the Two Cities (London and Westminster) in the Diocese of London, an area with ...

* Thomas Legh Claughton, first bishop of St Albans and former Oxford Professor of Poetry * George Cotton, clergyman and educator, known for establishing schools in British India *

Sir Peter Denis, 1st Baronet Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Denis, 1st Baronet (1713 – 11 June 1778) was an English naval officer and Member of Parliament. Life The son of a Huguenot refugee, Denis was educated at The King's School, Chester and joined the navy as a young man. ...

, naval officer and member of Parliament * John Downham, clergyman and theologian * Joseph Everett Dutton, pathologist, physician and tropical medicine specialist * Thomas Falconer, clergyman and classical scholar * Thomas Francis, physician, former

president of the Royal College of Physicians The president of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is the elected head of the Royal College of Physicians of England, which was founded by letters patent from King Henry VIII in 1518. The president is elected annually late in the year. Presi ...

and former Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford * Christopher Goodman, clergyman and writer *

William Lee Hankey William Lee Hankey (1869–1952) RWS, RI, ROI, RE, NS was a British painter and book illustrator. He specialised in landscapes, character studies and portraits of pastoral life, particularly in studies of mothers with young children such as "We ...

, painter and illustrator * Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill, former member of Parliament for

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces * George Lloyd, clergyman *

Bert Lipsham Herbert Broughall Lipsham (29 April 1878 – 23 March 1932) was a professional footballer who won the 1902 FA Cup Final with Sheffield United. Club career Educated at the King's School, Chester Lipsham was a goal-scoring outside left. He be ...

, England international footballer and FA Cup winner with Sheffield United in 1902. * George Ormerod, antiquary and historian * Sir Ralph Champneys Williams, colonial governor of the British Windward Islands and Newfoundland and Labrador *

Thomas Wilson Thomas Wilson, Tom Wilson or Tommy Wilson may refer to: Actors * Thomas F. Wilson (born 1959), American actor most famous for his role of Biff Tannen in the ''Back to the Future'' trilogy *Tom Wilson (actor) (1880–1965), American actor *Dan Gre ...

, clergyman The Chester Association of Old King's Scholars (CAOKS), founded in 1866, exists to maintain links between former students. It is one of the longest established alumni associations in the country. The school has recently established OAKS (Organization of Alumni of The King's School) to maintain relations with former pupils. OAKS is free to join and open to all alumni.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:King's School, Chester Ancient grammar schools of Cheshire Educational institutions established in the 1540s Independent schools in Cheshire West and Chester Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference 1541 establishments in England Schools in Chester