Our past is not behind us, it is all around us in altered form.
Rugby was founded in 1567 through the will of Lawrence Sheriff, purveyor of spices to Queen Elizabeth 1. He established a Free Grammar School for boys of Rugby and Brownsover.
By 1667 Rugby was acquiring a name for scholarship and developed rapidly under a series of outstanding masters including Henry Holyoake (1688-1731), who drew boys from as far afield as Cheshire, Kent and Somerset.
The school moved from the middle of the town to occupy a manor house on the present site of School House in 1750.
In 1823, a pupil, William Webb Ellis, with a fine disregard for the rules of football, took the ball in his arms and ran with it, originating the game of rugby football.
Dr Thomas Arnold
Rugby’s best known Head Master is Dr Thomas Arnold (1828 – 42) who instigated a practice that enabled boys to come to see him privately – a tradition that continues to this day. Arnold is famed for ridding the school of its ‘Flashmans’ and emphasising subjects that were a good ‘ preparation for power’. He treated his senior boys as gentlemen and increased their responsibilities and duties.
Many of today’s schools owe their philosophy to Arnold. His influence also spread to France and to a young boy – Pierre de Coubertin. Inspired by Arnold, he visited Rugby in the 1880’s and concluded that organised sport could be used to raise the aspirations and improve the behaviour of young people. This idea fuelled his vision for universal amateur athletics which culminated , in 1896, in the first modern Olympics in Athens.
Arnold’s influential role in the founding of the Olympics is commemorated in a plaque on the School’s Doctor’s Wall, unveiled by Lord Sebastian Coe in 2009.
In July 2012, in recognition of the role played by Arnold, the Olympic Torch came to Rugby School on its route to the Olympic Stadium.
The walls of the Victorian Chapel , which once resounded to Dr Arnolds passionate sermons, carry tablets in memory of prominent Rugbeians including Lewis Carroll and Rupert Brooke and Dr Arnolds burial place is beneath the central aisle. The Boomer, a huge bell raised in July 1914 and rung every day at noon in the First World War, still calls the School to Chapel.
“First religious and moral principle, second gentlemanly conduct, third academic ability.”
Co-education at Rugby School
Towards the end of the 20th Century, the boys’ school once favoured by England’s monarchs became co-educational. By 1995 Rugby had its first Head Girl, Louise Woolcock, who appeared on the front page of The Times. Now the school is international in outlook and recruitment with boys and girls from all over the UK and from 51 countries around the world.
The King's Oak
At the top of The Close stands The King’s Oak, planted by Edward V11 in 1909, beneath which the Heads of School watch the students file into Chapel. Behind it rises School House where the Head Master has his study – he still sits at the desk of a former Head Master, the 19th century Bishop Percival.
Preserving Traditions
Rugby School preserves many traditions and plays infinite variations on them. We expect every student to own a laptop and parents rightly expect every classroom to be equipped with a high-tech learning environment. Ask their children why they chose Rugby and you will hear about the old-fashioned virtues of house-dining and playing for the house, about belonging to a friendly extended family and being part of a story that they themselves are still writing.
Our Archives team plays a central role in safeguarding that story. They proactively collect and conserve material of long-term historical value, reflecting the diversity of the Rugbeian community and preserving more than 450 years of collective memory. They ensure records are catalogued to the highest standards and made accessible to support teaching, learning and research. Their work helps students, staff and Rugbeians understand the School’s place in the development of education, its relationships with the town, the UK and the wider world and the many individuals who have gone on to make a difference. Through this stewardship they help us celebrate our heritage and uphold the values that continue to shape the whole person.