Westminster School

Westminster School (in full, The Royal College of St. Peter at Westminster, but almost always referred to as Westminster School, or even just Westminster, for short) is an ancient English public school, located by Westminster Abbey in Westminster, in central London, and with a history stretching back to the 12th century. Its A-level results over many of the past 20 years, including both 2004 and 2005, have been the highest in the country. The Head Master up to July 2005 was Tristram Jones-Parry, who has been replaced by Dr. Stephen Spurr.

Location

The School is located primarily in the former grounds of the now-defunct monastery at Westminster Abbey, its buildings surrounding the (private) square Little Dean's Yard (known as 'Yard'), off Dean's Yard, where Church House, the headquarters of the Anglican Church, is sited, along with some of the Houses, the Common Room, and College Hall. The humanities are taught in Sutcliff's on the neighbouring Great College Street (named after the sweet shop that used to occupy the ground floor of the building in the 19th century), and the Robert Hooke Science Centre is located some way away, just off Smith Square. Further, College Garden, to the East of Little Dean's Yard, is believed to be the oldest garden in England, under continuous cultivation for at least the last thousand years.

Related Topics:
Westminster Abbey - Church House - Anglican Church - 19th century - Smith Square

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As part of a recent expansion programme funded by a gift from A A Milne, the school added the Millicent Fawcett Hall for dramatic performances and the Manoukian Centre for music, and redeveloped 3/3A Dean's Yard (now known as Weston's) for the humanities.

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The playing fields are at Vincent Square, 600 yards (600 m) away, which Dean Vincent created for the School by hiring a horse and plough to carve ten acres out of the open Tothill Fields. The boathouse is now at Putney, although the school's First Eight still annually exercises its right to land at Black Rod Steps of the Palace of Westminster.

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