Marlborough College

Marlborough College is a British boarding school in the county of Wiltshire, founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, although it now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. There are now just over 800 pupils, approximately one third of whom are girls (Marlborough was, in 1968, the first major English public school to allow girls into the sixth form, setting a trend that many other schools would follow). New pupils are admitted at the ages of 13+ ("Shell entry") and 16 (Lower Sixth).

School Buildings

The college is built beside the Mound. This was used as the motte of a castle. No remains of the castle can be seen today. There are speculations that the Mound is actually of much more ancient construction and possibly a similar feature to Silbury Hill. Legend has it that the Mound is the burial site of Merlin and that the name of the town, Marlborough comes from Merlin's Barrow. More plausibly, the name probably derives from the medieval term for chalky ground "marl" - thus "town on chalk".

Related Topics:
Motte - Castle - Silbury Hill - Merlin - Barrow

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The main focus of the college is the Court. This is surrounded by buildings in a number of different styles. At the south end is the back of an early 18th century mansion, later converted to a coaching inn which was bought as the first building for the school. Next to it are the old stables, now converted into boarding houses. The west side consists of the 1960s red brick dining hall, which boasts the largest unsupported roof in the country, and a Victorian boarding house now converted to other purposes. The north west corner is dominated by its Victorian Gothic style chapel which has an interesting collection of pre-Raphaelite style paintings by J R Spencer Stanhope and stained glass by William Morris. The rest of the Court is surrounded by Victorian buildings in styles ranging from mock Tudor to Victorian prison.

Related Topics:
Victorian - Gothic - Chapel - Pre-Raphaelite - Tudor

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On the other side of the Mound is the Science laboratory, built in 1933 and designed to look like an ocean liner. It is an early example of shuttered concrete construction and was listed as a building of architectural significance in 1970.

Related Topics:
1933 - 1970

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