Christ’s Hospital School

The school was founded by Edward IV in 1552, in response to a sermon from Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London concerning the problem of vagrant children in London. It opened as a co-educational establishment in the former Greyfriars Monastery, the Royal Religious and Ancient Foundation soon outgrew its accommodation, and satellite institutions were used, especially in times of the plague and Great Fire. In 1673, Charles II granted a charter to provide for the foundation of the Royal Mathematical School within Christ’s Hospital to train poor boys in mathematical and scientific skills that would prove useful to navigation and trade and to supply apprentices to merchant and trading companies involved in the exploration and mercantile expansion of the emerging British Empire. John Flamsteed was among the first to teach astronomy to pupils at the school. The girls school moved to Hertford in the 18th century; and the boys to Horsham, West Sussex, in 1902, with the girls school re-unifying in 1985.

Links with the City and the Lord Mayor of London are maintained, with an annual parade through the City of London on St Matthew’s Day and a regular place in the Lord Mayors Show.

The school is best known for the Tudor uniform worn by the boys: a long blue coat, breeches, and buckled shoes. Unusually for an independent school in England, and in keeping with its original charitable purpose, tuition and board are paid on a means tested basis, with many pupils paying no fees at all.

[transcribed from http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Christ:s:Hospital.htm]