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 Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: ** Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where ho ...

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 c ...

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, b ...

in 1541 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 disa ...

. 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, Nik ...

'' 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 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 ...

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 a ...

, 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 Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing rec ...

scoring 82. In use for the entire 20th century, the ground was used by

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Mot ...

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. 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
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Old Breconians

* Robert Ackerman – rugby player * Lord Atkin – 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 Harries Collin Bowen, (5 December 1919 – 25 October 2011) was a Welsh archaeologist and landscape historian. He served in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, British Army during the Second World War, and then studied history at Merton College, Oxford. ...

– archaeologist and landscape historian * Andrew Davies SHR – Cricketer *

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

– 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 Henry Lewis James (18 March 1864 – 17 January 1949) was Dean of Bangor from 1934 to 1940 and an author of theological works in Welsh. Life James was born on 18 March 1864 and educated at Ystrad Meurig School, Christ College, Brecon and Jesus ...

– 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 Re ...

– actor *

Jack Jones Jack Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *Jack Jones (American singer) (born 1938), American jazz and pop singer *Jack Jones, stage name of Australian singer Irwin Thomas (born 1971) *Jack Jones (Welsh musician) (born 1992), Welsh mu ...

– 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 Support ...

– priest and bard * Thomas Jones – artist *

Thomas Babington Jones Thomas Babington Jones (20 January 1851 – 6 August 1890) was a Welsh cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Oxford University Cricket Club. Life Jones was born on 20 January 1851 in Maesteg, Glamorgan. He was educated at Christ Col ...

– cricketer *

Andrew Lewis (rugby player) Andrew Leighton Paul Lewis (born 13 June 1973) is a former Welsh international rugby union player who went to school at Christ College, Brecon. Lewis made 29 appearances for the national team, and spent his entire club playing career at Cardiff, ...

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 Kieran Marmion (born 11 February 1992) is an Irish rugby union player who primarily plays as a scrum-half. Marmion currently plays for Irish provincial side Connacht in the Pro14. Marmion came into Connacht's academy through the Irish Exiles ...

– rugby player * Teddy Morgan – 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 Matthew Powell (born 8 May 1978 in Abergavenny, Wales) is a Welsh rugby union footballer, who played for Worcester Warriors at scrum-half. Powell was educated at Christ College Brecon and played for the first XV, coached by Jon Williams, ...

SHO – rugby player * David Price – Orientalist * Thomas Price (Carnhuanawc) - 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 th ...

– Classical scholar *

Sir Paul Silk Sir Evan Paul Silk (born 8 February 1952) is a former clerk in the British House of Commons. He was formerly Clerk to the National Assembly for Wales from March 2001 to January 2007, the most senior official of the Assembly, and acted as the pri ...

– 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 Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantatio ...

- former MP

References

External links

*
Profile
on the

ISC #REDIRECT ISC {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

website * Estyn 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