Rossall School

Public school in Rossall near Fleetwood, Lancashire, England

Rossall School is a public school (English fee charging boarding and day school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College which had been founded the previous year. Its establishment was "to provide, at a moderate cost, for the sons of Clergymen and others, a classical, mathematical and general education of the highest class, and to do all things necessary, incidental, or conducive to the attainment of the above objects." Along with Cheltenham, Lancing and Marlborough, Rossall was part of a flurry of expansion in public school education during the early Victorian period. Set in a estate next to Rossall Beach, and now with about 900 students, Rossall is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and was granted a royal charter on 21 October 1890.

The idea of founding a boarding school on the Fylde coast originates with a Corsican man named Zenon Vantini. As the owner of the North Euston Hotel in Fleetwood, Vantini opened his hotel expecting many visitors but few people arrived. To boost the number of visitors to Fleetwood and help his hotel and the local economy, Vantini opened two schools in the vicinity of Fleetwood, one for boys and another for girls, totalling 1,000 students. Consequently, Vantini's involvement with the scheme steadily dissipated, Rev. St. Vincent Beechey, the parish priest of Fleetwood, took over. Beechey set about finding the funds required to set up such a school. Beechey got the financial support of Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, The Earl of Derby as patron, the Duke of Devonshire as vice president and John Bird Sumner, then Bishop of Chester and later Archbishop of Canterbury, as visitor. The current chapel was constructed in the 1860s and the school underwent further development from the 1880s to 1900 to accommodate more students and to create further facilities such as the gym which still stands. In 1874 Rossall became the first Church of England school to play a Catholic school in an inter school sports fixture, at cricket, leading Protestant newspapers to warn against such activities and advise Rossall parents to be wary of encroaching papism (the school in question was Stonyhurst College). Two decades later, roughly one hundred O. R. s served in the Boer War, nearly half of them winning distinctions or mentions in despatches. Seventeen old boys died in active service, all of whom are now commemorated in the stalls of the school chapel. Rossall was widely considered to be in top 30 public schools in the UK by the end of Queen Victoria's reign also earning itself a place in the Public Schools Yearbook and the Public School News section of the Cambridge Review. Despite some financial difficulties as a result of fund embezzling by a bursar, by the end of the 1920s Rossall's academic results were amongst the best in the country with record numbers achieving scholarships to Oxbridge and attaining distinctions in the Higher Certificate examinations.

During the world wars large numbers of Old Rossallians lost their lives in combat, 297 in World War I alone – the majority of whom are now commemorated in the extension memorial chapel. Rossall has a memorial plaque at St Georges Chapel by the Menin Gate in honour of its fallen, alongside schools such as Rugby, Eton and Harrow. 1,617 ORs fought in World War I, 300 of whom received war honours. however these plans were scrapped when the government requisitioned the campus for several departments of the Office of Works, the Board of Education and the Ministry of Pensions. As a result, the school moved to Naworth Castle.

Benjamin Britten gave a concert in Big School in 1954. In the 1970s, in a bid to ensure the highest standards during a period of declining boarding, girls were allowed to enrol. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the school pushed on with a development programme and had royal visits including from the Queen in 1994 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its foundation. The school went through great financial difficulty at the turn of the millennium. Rossall has since had more investment than previously, with the boarding houses including Maltese Cross having undergone varying degrees of refurbishment. The middle school now runs from years 7 to 9, one year longer than traditionally. As a part of the modernising of the school the IB was introduced as an alternative to A Levels in 1998, being only the 3rd school in the UK to do so, and there is now an international boarding contingent. Rossall promotes relatively affordable private education in relation to the rest of the UK – 80% of those who attend the school are the first in their family to attend an independent school and a large number of scholarships and bursaries are available. 2007 saw the return of the Rossall Summer School – developed to give children from outside the UK the opportunity to develop their English speaking skills as well as being a chance for those thinking of going to a boarding school to consider whether they are suited to the lifestyle. On 23 March 2022, a plane was forced to make an emergency landing on the school's field as a shortage of fuel meant the pilot was unable to complete the flight. Nobody was injured, and no students were at the school at the time.

This was erected in 1867, under the reign of William Osborne, with the foundation stone being laid by William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire. It is believed to have been designed by Edward Graham Paley. It is clearly modelled on the entrance gates of the Oxbridge colleges and originally had large wooden doors which were locked at night; these have since been removed for improvements in access.

In the 1860s a new school chapel was built to cope with the increasing number of students, the old chapel serving, as it does today, as the school library. The new chapel was designed by Edward Graham Paley, extended by Robert Lorimer and includes carvings by Eric Gill. The chapel organ was designed by Harrison & Harrison. The design was not without fault however – it was constructed from bricks encased in a weatherable coating that would dissolve away to leave it looking in the same condition as the rest of the square. The largest section of wood panelling behind the headmaster's table in the dining hall is made from an oak tree that grew in the back garden of George Mallory. It was claimed in 1944 that it was the largest school dining hall in the country, and was described by F. A. M. Webster in his book Our Great Public Schools as, "one of the most splendid in the country." There are four coats of arms attached to the exterior of the dining hall to commemorate the various families associated with Rossall over the years: the Allen Family for the medieval and Renaissance owners of the site; the Hesketh Family for the Anglican family who acquired the sequestered property of the Roman Catholic Allens during the English Reformation; the Fleetwood family who intermarried with the Heskeths and became the most recent owners of the site prior to the original loan of Rossall Hall for the opening of the school by their last representative, Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood; and the Beechey Family for the founder of the school, St. Vincent Beechey. During the summer of 2020 the Dining Hall was undergoing major renovations, for the first time after Queen Elizabeth II visited the school in 1994. The project was funded through the Rossall School Foundation. Renovations included a new colour scheme, which is now light blue and white.

Stone from Rossall can be found in the cloisters of Canberra Grammar School along with stones from Eton, Westminster, St Paul's, Charterhouse, Uppingham, Clifton, Tonbridge, Shrewsbury, Sherborne, Wellington, Cheltenham, Repton and Radley.

The school offers both A levels and the International Baccalaureate IB Diploma Programme for Sixth form students. Senior School students follow the British curriculum, whilst the Junior School has its own curriculum.

There are 64 clubs and societies in operation at Rossall including the traditional rugby union, football, fives and hockey. There is a Croquet Club. As well as competing in sporting competitions around the country, Rossall plays host to inter school tournaments. These have included hockey, preparatory school rugby union and basketball. The fives competition in 2005 included Lancing College, Malvern College, Uppingham School and Shrewsbury School. Since 2016, Rossall School offers the "Elite Football Programme", a co corricular program for boys and girls. The program was run in partnership with Fleetwood Town F. C. Following the end of the relationship of the schools partnership with Fleetwood Town in 2024 the School and the new partnership Club, Manchester City F. C., announced their collaboration going forward in running the "Elite Football Programme".

Rossall was the first school in the United Kingdom to form a Cadet Corps. It was founded in February 1860 when the threat of a French/Irish Catholic invasion was at its height. Although Rugby School claims to have raised a company of Volunteer Riflemen in 1804 The institution is still present in the school today with around 100 cadets currently enlisted. In recent years the shooting team has excelled with notable victories in the Home Guard Cup and Loyal's Regimental Cup. The CCF at Rossall received the Queens colours on Tuesday 29 June 2010, to celebrate its 150th anniversary and to acknowledge its status as the oldest cadet corps in the UK. Through the Cadet Vocational Qualifications Organisation (CVQO) the School CCF offers cadets (aged 16–19) and above the opportunity to gain internationally recognised BTEC First Diploma qualifications in Public Services and Music. Each BTEC First Diploma is the equivalent of 4 GCSEs, grade C – A*.

Rossall fives – Rossall's unique version of fives game unique to Rossall – a cross between rugby and hockey, originally derived from the Eton field game, played on the beach in the harshest winter months.

The school alumni society is called the Rossallian Club. The Rossallian Club has gatherings every year all over the UK and, with the advent of a large international boarding contingent in recent years, all over the world – the first ‘OR’ (Old Rossalian) meal in Germany took place in 2006. The school also has its own masonic lodge, founded in 1928, that meets three times a year at Freemasons' Hall in London. It is part of the Public School Lodges Council and is open to any Old Rossallian who wishes to join. Rossall alumni are among just nine schools to have won The Halford Hewitt golf tournament more than twice. These schools are (in order of victories): Charterhouse (16), Harrow (11), Eton (10), Tonbridge (6), Rugby (5), Watson's (4), Rossall (3), Shrewsbury (3), Merchiston (3). Rossall is also positioned 8th overall in the Anderson Scale of past performances in the competition.

First year at Rossall Final year at Rossall Name Education Other notes 1844 1849 John Woolley University of London & University College, Oxford First Principal of the University of Sydney. 1849 1869 Rev. William Alexander Osborne St Paul's & Trinity College, Cambridge Retired from education after Rossall 1870 1875 Rev. Robert Henniker Charterhouse & Trinity College, Oxford Retired from education after Rossall 1875 1886 Herbert Armitage James Abergavenny Grammar School, Jesus College & Lincoln College, Oxford Headmaster of Cheltenham and Rugby. President of St. John's College, Oxford. 1886 1896 Rev. Charles Coverdale Tancock Sherborne & Exeter College, Oxford Headmaster of Tonbridge 1896 1908 Rev. Dr. John Pearce Way Bath College & Brasenose College, Oxford Retired from education after Rossall 1908 1932 Rev. Canon Edward John Walford Houghton Sherborne & Christ Church, Oxford Retired from education after Rossall 1932 1937 Harold George Michael Clarke St Paul's & Trinity College, Cambridge Headmaster of Repton 1937 1957 Rev. Charles Edgar Young Charterhouse & Exeter College, Oxford Retired from education after Rossall 1957 1967 Geoffrey Sale Berkhamstead & Lincoln College, Oxford Director of Studies, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst 1967 1972 Roger Wykeham Ellis Winchester & Trinity College, Oxford Headmaster of Marlborough and Head of the HMC 1973 1987 John Sharp Keighley Grammar & Brasenose College, Oxford Retired from education after Rossall 1987 2001 Richard David Walton Rhodes Rossall & St John's College, Durham Retired from education after Rossall 2001 2008 Timothy Wilbur Kent & Loughborough Headmaster of Wanganui Collegiate School 2008 2013 Stephen Charles Winkley St Edward's and Brasenose College, Oxford Previously Head of Uppingham School 2013 2018 Elaine Purves University of Durham Head of St John's International School, Brussels2018PresentJeremy QuartermainPeterhouse, Cambridge, Trinity College, Dublin and University of East AngliaPreviously Deputy Head Academic of Brentwood School

Rossall is also home to the Lawrence House Astronomy and Space Science Centre – the only centre dedicated solely to the teaching of astronomy. The project consists of the telescope in Rossall's Assheton Observatory as well as a building of its own containing a lecture theatre, classrooms and a portable planetarium. The telescope is of particular note – being 12 feet (4 m) long, 18 inches wide and dating from 1870. The objective diameter of the telescope is 6.5 inches and it has a focal length of f/13.5. The project has been funded by the Lawrence House Trust and predominantly run by Nick Lister, originally the head of design and technology at the school and now Astronomer in Residence. Lister is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and was appointed as vice president of the Association for Astronomy Education, where he succeeded Dr Robert Massey, who became president of the organisation. When initial assessments were being made for the feasibility of restoring the observatory, both the telescope and observatory were in a poor condition as a result of years of neglect and an arson attempt by some local children. The telescope is made predominantly from brass and thus suffered minimal corrosion and damage. Most importantly the lens of the telescope survived unscathed allowing for restoration.