Oswestry School - History

History

Established in the ancient half-timbered building close to the great Parish Church of St. Oswald in 1407, the School would later attract the attention of Oliver Cromwell and Queen Elizabeth I; the former dismissed the current headmaster for being a "delinquent" (too "Royalist") whilst the latter gave to the School an endowment of "forty shillings per annum" to help with its running. Early archive records show that a small percentage of the subsidized school-fees was set aside to pay for cock fighting, the pupil entertainment of that time.

Changes to the governance of the School in the mid-seventeenth century saw a gradual transition from the lay Trustees to a group of lay and clerical governors headed by the Bishop of St Asaph, who, from that time on, would appoint the Headmaster. Henceforth, these would be ordained men, a tradition which would extend into the twentieth century.

Increasing numbers in the mid eighteenth century meant a move for the School to its present site, on land next to the battlefield where, in 642 AD King Oswald was defeated by King Penda. The Georgian building, constructed in 1776 on land leased (and later bought) from a local landed aristocrat, still retains its original form. Its closest neighbour, the neo-Gothic Victorian chapel, built in 1863, stands looking across at St. Oswald’s Maes-y-llan battlefield, now the School’s extensive playing-fields.

A major change took place in 1972: with the admission of girls, the School became co-educational. Shortly after this, the local pre-preparatory school, Bellan House, was taken over, thereby eventually allowing the School to offer education spanning the widest possible range – now 2 years up to 18. Previously, like many other public schools, Oswestry solely admitted boys.

Oswestry celebrated its sexcentenary (600th) anniversary in 2007. Like many other public schools, Oswestry has a Old Boys society; they are referred to as Old Oswestrians.