Winchester College

{{Infobox school

| name = Winchester College

| image = File:St Catherine's Hill and Winchester College - geograph.org.uk - 2685606.jpg

| caption = The school seen from Winchester Cathedral

| coordinates = {{coord|51|03|29|N|01|18|46|W|type:edu_region:GB|display=inline,title}}

| pushpin_map =

| motto = Manners makyth man

| established = {{start date and age|1382}}

| type = {{ubl|Public school | Private co-educational boarding school}}

| religion = Church of England

| head_label = Headmaster

| head = Elizabeth Stone

| chair_label = Warden

| chair = Richard Stagg

| founder = William of Wykeham

| address = College Street

| city = Winchester, Hampshire

| country = England

| postcode = SO23 9NA

| urn = 116532

| staff = {{c.|350}}

| enrolment = c. 740

| gender = Male (mixed at 16-18)

| lower_age = 13

| upper_age = 18

| houses = 11 (10 Commoner or Old Tutor Houses plus College): {{ubl|College|A. Chernocke House (Furley's)|B. Moberly's (Toye's)|C. Du Boulay's (Cook's)|D. Fearon's (Kenny's)|E. Morshead's (Freddie's)|F. Hawkins' (Chawker's)|G. Sergeant's (Phil's)|H. Bramston's (Trant's)|I. Turner's (Hopper's)|K. Kingsgate House (Beloe's)}}

| colours = Blue, brown & red {{color box|#1034A6}}{{color box|#654321}}{{color box|#CD0000}}

| publication = The Wykehamist, Quelle, The Spirit Lamp, The Trusty Servant

| alumni = Old Wykehamists

| free_label_3 = School song

| free_3 = Domum

| website = {{URL|https://www.winchestercollege.org/}}

}}

Winchester College is an English public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 as a feeder school for New College, Oxford, and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the nine schools considered by the Clarendon Commission. The school has begun a transition to become co-educational, and has accepted male and female day pupils from September 2022, having previously been a boys' boarding school for over 600 years.

The school was founded to provide an education for 70 scholars. Gradually numbers rose, a choir of 16 "quiristers" being added alongside paying pupils known as "commoners". Numbers expanded greatly in the 1860s with the addition of ten boarding houses. The scholars continue to live in the school's medieval buildings, which consist of two courtyards, a chapel, and a cloisters. A Wren-style classroom building named "School" was added in the 17th century. An art school ("museum"), science school, and music school were added at the turn of the 20th century. A war cloister was built as a memorial in 1924.

The school has maintained traditions including its mascot, the Trusty Servant; a set of "notions" forming a sort of private language; and a school song, Domum. Its headmasters have included the bishops William Waynflete in the 15th century and George Ridding in the 19th century. Former pupils are known as Old Wykehamists.

History

= Foundation and early years =

File:Richard II founding charter for Winchester College 1382.jpg

Winchester College was founded in 1382 by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor to both Edward III and Richard II, in part because of the lack of trained priests following the Black Death. Winchester was to act as a feeder school to New College, also founded by Wykeham.{{harvnb|Adams|1878|pp=19–23}} According to its 1382 charter and final statutes (1400), the school is called in Latin {{lang|la|Collegium Sanctae Mariae prope Wintoniam}} ("St Mary's College, near Winchester"), or {{lang|la|Collegium Beatae Mariae Wintoniensis prope Winton}} ("The College of the Blessed Mary of Winchester, near Winchester").{{cite book |last=Hebron |first=Malcolm |editor-last=Foster |editor-first=Richard |title=50 Treasures from Winchester College |publisher=SCALA |isbn=978-1785512209 |chapter=The statutes of Winchester College, 1400 |date=2019 |pages=9, 45–47, 55}} The first 70 "poor scholars" entered the school in 1394.{{cite web |title=Winchester College: Heritage |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/welcome/heritage |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126150709/https://www.winchestercollege.org/welcome/heritage |archive-date=26 January 2022 |url-status=live}} In the early 15th century the specific requirement was that scholars come from families where the income was less than five marks sterling (£3 6s 8d) per annum; in comparison, the contemporary reasonable living for a yeoman was £5 per annum.{{cite journal |last=Harwood |first=Winifred A. |title=The Household of Winchester College in the later Middle Ages 1400-1560 |journal=Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club Archaeological Society |date=2004 |volume=59 |pages=163–179 |url=http://www.hantsfieldclub.org.uk/publications/hampshirestudies/digital/2000s/vol59/Harwood.pdf |access-date=4 September 2018}}

Other innovations at Winchester included enforcing discipline through the pupils themselves, using prefects. Discipline was in any case meant to be less harsh than was common in medieval schools, at least as the statutes read.{{harvnb|Adams|1878|pp=56–7}} Winchester was also unusual in giving education to boys aged 12–18, as universities would accept students within this age range.{{harvnb|Leach|1899|pp=159–160}} These features, including the double foundation, formed the model for Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, some 50 years later.{{cite book |last=Clutton-Brock |first=A. |title=Eton |date=1900 |publisher=George Bell and Sons |pages=3–5 |url=https://archive.org/details/eton02clutgoog/page/n20/mode/2up}} Eton and Winchester formed a close partnership at that time.{{harvnb|Adams|1878|pp=65–67}} At first only a small number of pupils other than scholars were admitted; by the 15th century the school had around 100 pupils in total, nominally the 70 scholars, 16 choirboys known as "quiristers", and the rest "commoners". Demand for places for commoners was high, and though at first restricted, numbers gradually rose.{{cite book |last=Turner | first=David |title=The Old Boys: the decline and rise of the public school |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-300-18992-6 |pages=2–9}}

= Early modern period =

As the college was a religious as well as educational establishment, it was threatened with closure during Henry VIII's reign. A statute to this effect was drawn up in 1545, which was only halted by his death. Edward VI swiftly reversed direction.{{harvnb|Adams|1878|pp=70–71}}. Edward made provision for worship and Bible readings to be made in English rather than Latin.{{harvnb|Adams|1878|pp=73–76}}. In the early modern period, under Henry, Edward, Elizabeth and James, royal visits were accompanied by presentations of Latin and a small amount of Greek occasional poetry, composed by the pupils. Elizabeth also granted an exemption to allow Winchester, Eton and elsewhere to conduct their religious services in Latin, to help pupils to improve their skills in the language.{{harvnb|Adams|1878|p=77}}.

= Victorian era to present =

From the 1860s, ten boarding houses, each for up to sixty pupils, were added, greatly increasing the school's capacity.{{cite web |title=Houses: Why is it so important to belong? |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/living/houses |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=22 February 2020 |archive-date=24 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024135711/https://www.winchestercollege.org/living/houses}} By 2020, the number of pupils had risen to 690.{{cite web |title=Winchester College |url=https://www.schoolsearch.co.uk/listing/winchester-college-hampshire |website=SchoolSearch.co.uk |access-date=22 February 2020}} From 2022, the school has accepted day pupils in the Sixth Form, including girls.{{cite web |url=https://www.schoolmanagementplus.com/admissions-marketing/winchester-college-welcoming-day-pupils-and-girls-for-the-first-time/ |title=Winchester College: Welcoming girls for the first time |date=14 October 2022 |work=School Management Plus |access-date=11 February 2023}}

Buildings

The college consists of an assemblage of buildings from medieval times to the present day. There are 94 listed buildings, set in grounds of some 250 acres, of which 100 acres are water meadows, 52 acres are playing fields, and 11 acres are formal gardens; the area includes St Catherine's Hill. The medieval buildings, representing most of the original foundation from the school's opening in 1394, include Outer Gate and Outer Court, Chamber Court, the chapel, and the Cloisters. These are built in flint with limestone facings and slate roofs.{{sfn|Sabben-Clare|1981|pp=1–3}}{{cite web |title=Buildings and Grounds |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/welcome/location/buildings |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=27 October 2022}} The chapel retains its original wooden fan-vaulted ceiling, designed by Hugh Herland, carpenter to Richard II. Little of the original medieval glass, designed by Thomas Glazier, survives, as it was scattered in the 1820s, but some is now housed in Thurburn's Chantry, at the back of the chapel, and in Fromond's Chantry, inside the Cloisters.{{cite web |title=Chapel |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/explore/location/buildings/chapel |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=4 October 2020}} The "School" building was constructed in 1683–1687 in Wren style, with a statue of the founder above the door by C. G. Cibber.{{cite web |title=Winchester College, Hampshire: Late 14th century |url=http://www.astoft.co.uk/winchestercollege.htm |website=Astoft |access-date=28 October 2022}} (3 pages) partly consisting of text from {{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |author1-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Lloyd |first2=David |title=Hampshire and the Isle of Wight |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1967}} The school was greatly extended in the 19th century with the addition of boarding houses for "commoners", paying pupils, as opposed to the scholars who continued to live in the medieval College.{{sfn|Sabben-Clare|1981|pp=13–17}} At the turn of the 20th century, a Music School, "Museum" (art school), and Science School, all architect-designed, were added. A hall big enough for the enlarged school, New Hall, was opened in 1961, accommodating the oak panelling removed from the Chapel in the 1874 refurbishment.{{sfn|Sabben-Clare|1981|pp=24–26}} In 1924, a War Cloister was constructed; it now serves as a memorial of the Wykehamists killed in the two World Wars.{{cite web |title=The War Cloister, Winchester College |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1095486 |publisher=Historic England |access-date=4 October 2020}} Visitors may tour areas such as Chamber Court, the chapel, College Hall, the Cloisters, School and Museum, for a fee.{{cite web |url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/out-and-about/winchester-college-the-school-thats-survived-six-centuries-of-turmoil-including-the-sacking-of-the-city-around-it-252183 |title=Winchester College: The school that's survived six centuries of turmoil, including the sacking of the city around it |date=6 February 2023 |work=Country Life |access-date=11 February 2023 |quote=}}

File:Winchester College courtyard and learned duck - geograph.org.uk - 45847.jpg|Medieval architecture: Chamber Court, 1394, looking through Middle Gate to Outer Court and Outer Gate

File:Winchester_College_Chapel.jpg|Hall and Chapel, 1394

File:Winchester College School building.jpg|School in Wren style, 1683–1687

File:Sergeant's House on Romans Road.jpg|Sergeant's House by G. E. Street, 1869{{cite web |title=House from Home: Sergeant's (Phil's) |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/stories/House_from_Home_Sergeants |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=28 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419182539/https://www.winchestercollege.org/stories/House_from_Home_Sergeants |archive-date=19 April 2021 |date=9 March 2021}}

File:Winchester College Science School.jpg|Science School by Henry Hill, 1904

Winchester College War Cloister from eastern entrance.jpg|War Cloister by Herbert Baker, 1924

Accommodation

= College =

The seventy scholars live in the original buildings, known as "College". The scholars are known as "Collegemen", and the schoolmaster in charge of them is called the Master in College. Collegemen wear black gowns, following the founding traditions of the school. Collegemen enjoy certain privileges compared to the Commoners, such as having open fires and being allowed to walk across Meads, the walled sports field outside School.{{cite web |title=Winchester College |url=https://www.cityofwinchester.co.uk/Education/College/college.html |website=The City of Winchester |access-date=8 October 2020 |date=1990}}

= Boarding houses =

Every pupil at Winchester, apart from the Scholars, lives in a boarding house, chosen or allocated when applying to Winchester. It is here that he studies, eats and sleeps. Each house is presided over by a housemaster (who takes on the role in addition to teaching duties), assisted by house tutors. Houses compete against each other in school sports. Each house has an official name, usually based on the family name of the first housemaster, which is used mainly as a postal address. Each house also has an informal name, usually based on the name or nickname of an early housemaster. Each house also has a letter, in the order of their founding, to act as an abbreviation, especially on laundry tags. A member of a house is described by the informal name of the house with "-ite" suffixed, as "a Furleyite", "a Toyeite", "a Cookite" and so on. College does not have an informal name, although the abbreviation Coll is sometimes used; "X" (meaning, not one of the boarding houses) was originally used only on laundry tags.{{cite web |title=Houses |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/living/houses |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=8 October 2020}}

Academic

= Admission =

Winchester is considered one of the most prestigious schools in the world.{{cite web |title=Winchester College |url=https://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/schools/winchester-college#:~:text=Winchester%20College%2C%20founded%20by%20William,one%20of%20the%20strongest%20academically. |publisher=The Good Schools Guide |access-date=8 October 2023}} It has its own entrance examination, and does not use Common Entrance like other major public schools. Those wishing to enter a Commoner House make their arrangements with the relevant housemaster some two years before sitting the exam, usually sitting a test set by the housemaster and an interview. Those applying to College do not take the normal entrance examination but instead sit a separate, harder, exam called "Election": successful candidates may obtain, according to their performance, a scholarship, an exhibition or a Headmaster's nomination to join a Commoner House.{{cite web |title=Timeline for Entry |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/admissions/13 |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=8 October 2020}} Admission to College was historically coupled to remission of fees, but this has ceased;[http://www.winchestercollege.org/scholarships Scholarships for College] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608134650/http://www.winchestercollege.org/scholarships |date=8 June 2010}}. Winchester College. Retrieved on 13 August 2013. instead, means-tested bursaries ranging from 5% to 100% of the school fee are provided, according to need.{{cite web |title=Bursaries |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/admissions/bursaries |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=8 October 2020}} From 2022, Winchester admitted girls into the 6th form (year 12) as day pupils, with girls boarding from 2024.{{cite web |title=Winchester College in the 21st Century |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/newsletters/the-winchester-vision |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=9 February 2021}} For 2023/24, the fee is £49,152 per annum (£16,384 per term) for boarding pupils and £36,369 per annum (£12,123 per term) for day pupils.{{cite web | url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/admissions/fees | title=Winchester College | Fees }}

= Structure =

In addition to normal lessons, all boys throughout the school are required to attend a class called Division (known as "Div") which explores parts of history, literature, and politics that do not lead to external examinations; its purpose is to ensure a broad education.{{cite web |title=Div |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/learning/div |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=4 October 2020}}

From year 9, pupils study for at least nine GCSE and IGCSEs. Every pupil studies English, mathematics, Latin, French or German, and at least two sciences at this level, as well as "Div". Pupils then study three A-levels, "Div", and an Extended Project Qualification.{{cite web |title=Curriculum |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/learning/curriculum |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=8 October 2020}}

= Results =

Winchester College is particularly known for its academic rigour.{{cite web |date=28 August 2022 |title=Winchester College Review |url=https://whichschooladvisor.com/uk/school-review/winchester-college |access-date=13 October 2022 |website=Which School Advisor}}

In 2023 at A-Level, 79.6% of student results were graded A*-A, with 42.4% at A*. At GCSE, 88.4% of results were graded 7 or higher, with 73.1% of grades being 8 or 9, and 50.5% of all grades achieving the top grade of 9.{{cite web |title=Winchester College Exam Results and Universities |url=https://winchestercollege.org/learning/exam-results-and-universities |website=winchestercollege.org |access-date=23 April 2024}} In the same year, 17% of pupils secured places at Oxbridge, while notable US destinations included Harvard, Columbia, UPenn, and Chicago.

Between 2010 and 2018, an average of 33% of leavers obtained places at Oxford or Cambridge.{{cite web |title=Winchester College Leavers' Destinations |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/assets/files/uploads/WinColl_4974_LeaversDestination_v1.0.pdf |website=winchestercollege.org |access-date=25 October 2022}}

Activities

=== Sport ===

File:Winchester College Football The Starting Hot in Commoners vs OTH match.jpg: a "hot" between OTH (brown and white) and Commoners (red and white) on Meads in 2023|alt=Photograph of a football scrum on a long narrow pitch with ropes and nets along the sides]]

Winchester College has its own game, Winchester College football (also known as "Win: Co: Fo:" or "Winkies"), played only at Winchester.{{cite news |title=Arcane public school games explained: Anyone for Rugby Fives, The Field Game or Winkies? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/arcane-public-school-games-explained-anyone-rugby-fives-field-game-or-winkies-9695696.html |work=The Independent |date=29 August 2014 |access-date=4 October 2020 |archive-date=10 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310123413/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/arcane-public-school-games-explained-anyone-rugby-fives-field-game-or-winkies-9695696.html |url-status=dead }} It is played in the spring term with a competition between the school's houses; it is largely managed by the boys.{{cite web |title=Sport: Winchester College Football |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/learning/sport |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=8 October 2020}}

A distinctive Winchester version of fives resembles Rugby fives but with a buttress on the court. The buttress enables a skilful player to cause the ball to ricochet in an unexpected direction.{{cite news |title=Get Active: Why Winchester Fives is better than squash |url=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/11867466.get-active-why-winchester-fives-is-better-than-squash/ |access-date=4 October 2020 |work=Southern Daily Echo |date=19 March 2015}}

File:Winchester College Boat Club - geograph.org.uk - 1338845.jpg |alt=Photograph of buildings with a concrete apron beside a river]]

The school has an active rowing club called the Winchester College Boat Club which is based on the River Itchen. The club is affiliated to British Rowing (boat code WIN){{cite web|url=https://www.britishrowing.org/club/winchester-college-bc/|title=Club details|website=British Rowing}} and was twice winner of the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup (in 1949 and 1954) at the Henley Royal Regatta.{{cite web |url=http://www.rowinghistory.net/henley?event=Princess+Elizabeth+Challenge+Cup&competitor= |title=Results |website=Friends of Rowing History |access-date=8 October 2020}}

Rivalry — particularly sporting — between Winchester and Eton has existed for centuries.{{cite news |last1=Sherwood |first1=H. |title=Winchester College v Eton feud comes to Downing Street |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/16/rishi-sunak-boris-johnson-winchester-college-v-eton-feud-comes-to-downing-street |access-date=19 January 2022 |publisher=UK Guardian |date=16 February 2020 |quote=[Eton and Winchester] have been rivals for centuries}}

= Combined Cadet Force =

Pupils of the school in their second year are currently required to serve in the college's Combined Cadet Force.{{cite web |title=Combined Cadet Force |url=http://www.winchestercollege.org/combined-cadet-force |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621021137/http://www.winchestercollege.org/combined-cadet-force |archive-date=21 June 2010 |url-status=dead |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=29 October 2022}}

The organisation was founded in 1860 as "The Winchester College Rifle Volunteer Corps" by various boys in their top year as a result of the perceived threat of Napoleon III after the Orsini plot, and remained entirely autonomous until it was taken over by the Second Master in 1868. It was enrolled as a Cadet Corps in the 1st Hants Volunteer Battalion. In 1908, the Officer Training Corps was established, and by 1914, through the request of the War Office that Senior Cadets be given appropriate training for the war effort, almost every student became involved in the Corps, though it was never explicitly compulsory. In the Second World War, it was renamed as "The Junior Training Corps", though its function was still to prepare boys for Officer responsibilities. Montgomery remarked on inspecting the Corps in 1946 that there was "latent leadership in all ranks". In 1948, the "Junior Training Corps" became known as the "Combined Cadet Force" (CCF) which incorporated RAF and RN sections. In 1963, "Alternative Service Activities" were introduced for boys who did not want to join the CCF. Pupils were made eligible to opt out of the CCF at the end of their second year after starting at the beginning of the year: this is still the school's policy.{{cite web |title=Armoury |url=http://www.winchestercollege.org/UserFiles/pdfs/Armoury.pdf |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=29 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716141752/http://www.winchestercollege.org/UserFiles/pdfs/Armoury.pdf |archive-date=16 July 2011 |date=2005 |url-status=dead}} Further history of the CCF is given in {{harvnb|Sabben-Clare|1981|pp=169–176}}

= Music =

Winchester offers extensive opportunities for musical development, with two-thirds of pupils playing at least one instrument. The school has a music school and numerous practice rooms, and a variety of choirs, ensembles, and orchestras. The chapel choir has existed since the school's foundation. Music and choral scholarships fund free tuition for candidates proficient in multiple instruments at grade 6 level or above.{{cite web |last=Bryan |date=2024-04-25 |title=Exploring Winchester College: A Comprehensive School Review |url=https://britannia-study.co.uk/boarding-schools/winchester-college-review/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=Britannia UK}}

Traditions

= ''The Trusty Servant'': the school mascot =

File:Winchester Trusty Servant 2.jpg: 19th-century print|alt=Old-fashioned allegorical print of a man in a long buttoned coat and hose, wearing a sword and holding tools in his hand, with a pig's head and donkey's ears]]

The Trusty Servant is an emblematic figure in a painting at Winchester College, that serves as the school's unofficial mascot and the name of its alumni magazine.{{cite web |title=Publications |url=https://wincollsoc.org/news/publications |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=4 October 2020 |archive-date=29 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629041531/https://wincollsoc.org/news/publications |url-status=dead }} A painting of The Trusty Servant and accompanying verses both devised by the poet John Hoskins in 1579 hangs outside the college kitchen. The current version was painted by William Cave the Younger in 1809. The painting depicts a mythical creature with the body of a man, the head of a pig, with its snout closed with a padlock, the ears of an ass, the feet of a stag, and tools in his left hand.{{cite book |last1=Skull |first1=Joseph |editor1-last=Foster |editor1-first=Richard |title=50 Treasures from Winchester College. |publisher=SCALA |isbn=9781785512209 |page=86 |chapter=Dr Collegio Wintoniensi, 1640s|date=30 January 2019 }} The verses are on the virtues that pupils of the college were supposed to have. The college arms are shown in the background of the painting.{{cite book |author=Burnett, Mark Thornton |title=Constructing "monsters" in Shakespearean drama and early modern culture |publisher=Macmillan |year=2002 |page=139}}

= ''Notions'': the school language =

A notion is a specialised term peculiar to Winchester College. The word notion is also used to describe traditions unique to the school. An example of a notion is "toytime", meaning homework, from the notion "toys", a wooden cubicle that serves as a pupil's workspace in a communal room, known as "mugging hall" in Commoner Houses or a "chamber" in College.Lawson, W.H., Hope, J.R. and Cripps, A.H.S., Winchester College Notions, by Three Beetleites: Winchester 1901, pp. 81, 126–127

= ''Manners makyth man'': the school motto =

File:New College Oxford Coat Of Arms.svg

Since the foundation, Winchester College has had numerous words and phrases directly associated with it, including its motto, its graces, and a prayer. A grace is read before and after every lunch and formal meal in College Hall. Two separate graces are traditionally sung during Election, the scholarship process.

Manners makyth man

– Motto of Winchester College, New College, Oxford, and the founder of the two colleges, William of Wykeham

The Latin grace before meals in College goes:{{cite book |last1=Stevens |first1=Charles |last2=Stray |first2=Christopher |author2-link=Christopher Stray |title=Winchester Notions: The English Dialect of Winchester College |publisher=Athlone Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-485-11525-5}}

Latin grace	English translation
class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none
{{lang\|la\|Benedic nobis, Domine Deus, Atque iis donis tuis, Quae de tua largitate Sumus Sumpturi, Per Jesum Christum, Dominum nostrum. Amen.}} \| Bless us, Lord God, And those Thy gifts, Of which through Thy bounty We are about to partake, Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The Latin grace after meals in College goes:

Latin grace	English translation
class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none
{{lang\|la\|Agimus tibi gratias, Omnipotens Deus, Pro his et universis donis tuis, Quae de tua largitate Accepimus, Qui vivis et regnas, Et es Deus, In saecula saeculorum. Amen. }} \| We return thanks to Thee, Almighty God, For these and all Thy gifts, Which through They bounty We have received Who livest and reigneth, And art God, World without end. Amen.

= ''Domum'': the school song =

File:Winchester College River Itchen, playing fields, Science School.jpg

The school song is entitled "Domum" and is sung at the end of the summer term, known as Cloister Time. The origin of the song is unknown; it was described as "an old tradition" in the 1773 History and Antiquities of Winchester.{{harvnb|Adams|1878|pp=407–}}

The traditional tune was composed by John Reading.{{cite book |title=The British Minstrel, and Musical and Literary Miscellany: A Selection of Standard Music, Songs, Duets, Glees, Choruses, Etc. and Articles in Musical and General Literature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RO4sAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA131 |year=1843 |publisher=W. Hamilton |pages=131–}}{{cite book |title=William of Wykeham and his Colleges |url=https://archive.org/details/williamofwykeham00walcuoft/page/n504/mode/1up |year=1852 |publisher=D. Nutt |page=i}} A new tune, by Malcolm Archer, was officially adopted by the school in about 2007.{{cite web |title=Winchester College - The School Song: Domum |website=www.winchestercollege.org |access-date=2 May 2018 |url=http://www.winchestercollege.org/domum |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930130040/http://www.winchestercollege.org/domum |archive-date=30 September 2017 |df=dmy-all}}

According to legend, the text was written in the 17th century by a pupil who was confined for misconduct during the Whitsun holidays.The Gentleman's Magazine, 1796, vol. 66, pp. 208–210. (In one account, he was tied to a pillar.) It is said that he carved the words on the bark of a tree, which was thereafter called "Domum Tree", and cast himself into Logie (the river running through the school grounds).Charles Dickens, All the Year Round 29 June 1872 p 160. There is still a "Domum Cottage" in that area. The author of the text apparently wrongly treated domum as a neuter noun.Robert Townsend Warner, Winchester (1900) p 168.

A "Domum Dinner" is held at the end of the summer term for leavers. It was formerly restricted to those former scholars of Winchester who were also scholars of New College, and distinguished guests. Until the reforms of the 19th century, there were three successive Election Dinners held during Election Week, culminating in a Domum Ball. Originally these festivities occurred around Whitsun, as suggested by references in the song to early summer such as "See the year, the meadow, smiling" and "Now the swallow seeks her dwelling".

Influence

Winchester's approach to education was influential on later schools. It was unusual in the medieval period in giving education to boys aged 12–18, as universities would accept students within this age range. The age range, the double foundation with New College, Oxford, and the approach to discipline formed the model for Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, some 50 years later.

Pupils of the school have appeared in many works of fiction: the school itself rather less often.{{sfn|Sabben-Clare|1981|pp=177–180}} The figure of Sir Humphrey Appleby in the TV series Yes Minister is among the best-known Old Wykehamists in fiction.{{cite web |last1=Leys |first1=Colin |title=The Dissolution of the Mandarins: the sell-off of the British state |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/dissolution-of-mandarins-sell-off-of-british-state/ |website=Open Democracy |access-date=6 November 2022 |date=15 June 2012}}

As with other prominent public schools, a locomotive of the Southern Railway V Class was named after Winchester College. The second of the class, No. 901 Winchester was constructed by Southern at the nearby Eastleigh Works; it entered service in 1930.{{cite book |last=Russell |first=J. H. |title=A Pictorial History of Southern Locomotives |publisher=Haynes Publishing |year=1991 |page=306}}

Headmasters

The headmasters of Winchester College from the 14th century onwards are:{{sfn|Sabben-Clare|1981|pp=198–199}}

{{Columns-list|colwidth=20em|

1373 Richard Herton
1388 John Melton
1394 Thomas Romsey
1407 John Pole
1414 Thomas Romsey
1418 Richard Darcy
1424 Thomas Alwyn
1430 William Waynflete
1441 Thomas Alwyn
1444 William Yve
1454 John Barnard
1459 John Grene
1465 Clement Smyth
1467 Richard Dene
1484 John Rede
1490 Robert Festham
1495 William Horman
1501 John Farlyngton
1507 Edward More
1515 Thomas Erlisman
1525 John Twychener
1531 Richard Twychener
1535 John White
1542 Thomas Bayly
1547 William Everard
1553 Thomas Hyde
1561 Christopher Johnson
1572 Thomas Bilson
1579 Hugh Lloyd
1588 John Harmar
1596 Benjamin Heydon
1602 Nicholas Love
1613 Hugh Robinson
1627 Edward Stanley
1642 John Pottinger
1653 William Burt
1658 Henry Beeston
1679 William Harris
1700 Thomas Cheyney
1724 John Burton
1766 Joseph Warton
1793 William Stanley Goddard
1810 Henry Dison Gabell
1824 David Williams
1836 George Moberly
1867 George Ridding
1884 William Andrewes Fearon
1901 Hubert Murray Burge
1911 Montague John Rendall
1924 Alwyn Terrell Petre Williams
1934 Spencer Leeson
1946 Walter Fraser Oakeshott
1954 Henry Desmond Pritchard Lee
1968 John Leonard Thorn
1985 James Paley Sabben-Clare{{cite news |title=James Sabben-Clare, gifted headmaster of Winchester – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2017/03/28/james-sabben-clare-gifted-headmaster-winchester-obituary/ |access-date=28 October 2022 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=28 March 2017}}
2000 Nicholas Tate{{cite web |title=Nicholas Tate |url=https://www.ibo.org/council/peterson/tate/ |publisher=IBO.org |access-date=28 October 2022 |date=27 April 2004 |archive-date=18 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618201246/https://www.ibo.org/council/peterson/tate/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}
2003 Thomas Richard Cookson{{cite web |title=Former Headmaster Tommy Cookson MBE Honoured |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/stories/tommy-cookson-headmaster-awarded-mbe |publisher=Winchester College |access-date=28 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628070158/https://www.winchestercollege.org/stories/tommy-cookson-headmaster-awarded-mbe |archive-date=28 June 2022 |date=11 June 2022}}
2005 Ralph Douglas Townsend{{cite news |title=The long view |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/nov/29/schools.publicschools1 |work=The Guardian |date=29 November 2005 |access-date=1 September 2011 }}
2016 Timothy Roderick Hands{{cite web |url=http://www.winchestercollege.org/headmaster |title=Winchester College - Meet the Headmaster |website=www.winchestercollege.org |access-date=2 May 2018 |url-status = live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003113418/http://www.winchestercollege.org/headmaster |archive-date=3 October 2017 |df=dmy-all}}
2023 Elizabeth Stone{{cite web |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/stories/winchester-college-welcomes-new-head#:~:text=The%20Warden%20and%20Fellows%20of,Winchester%20College%20from%20September%202023. |title=Winchester College Welcomes New Head |website=www.winchestercollege.org |access-date=11 February 2023}}

}}

File:WilliamWaynflete.jpg|William Waynflete as bishop, c. 1470

File:Bp George Moberly.jpg|George Moberly, 1870

File:Painting of George Ridding by Walter William Ouless.jpg|George Ridding, 1879,
by Walter William Ouless

Former pupils

Current pupils of Winchester College are known as Wykehamists, in memory of the school's founder, William of Wykeham; former pupils are known as Old Wykehamists,{{cite book |last=Spicer |first=Paul |title=Sir George Dyson: His Life and Music |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MNXCAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA139 |year=2014 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-84383-903-3 |page=139}} or amongst themselves as Old Woks.{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Michael |title=Slang: The People's Poetry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Xdv4FTyXfkC&pg=PP38 |year=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-998653-8 |page=38}}

Fictional Old Wykehamists appear in over 50 novels, starting with Tobias Smollett's eponymous Peregrine Pickle in 1751.{{sfn|Sabben-Clare|1981|p=178}}

Controversy

In 1872, under the headmaster George Ridding, "tunding", beatings given by a prefect (a senior pupil), using a ground-ash across the shoulders, were still permitted. The matter became a national scandal, known as "the Tunding Row", when "an overzealous Senior Commoner Prefect"{{sfn|Sabben-Clare|1981|pp=44–45}} beat a pupil for refusing to attend a notions test. Ridding made matters worse by trying to defend the action. He eventually limited the prefects' power to beat, and forbade notions tests as a "disgraceful innovation".{{cite book |last=Gwyn |first=Peter |editor-last=Custance |editor-first=Roger |title=Winchester College, sixth-centenary essays |date=1982 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=019920103X |pages=431–477 |chapter=The 'Tunding Row' [of 1872]. George Ridding and the belief in 'boy-government'}}

In the 1970s and 80s, the college allowed a Christian Forum to operate on college grounds which was later described as "cult-like", and which gave access to pupils to a man who carried out sadomasochistic abuse on several of them.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/jan/18/winchester-college-christian-forum-society-report-child-abuse|title=Winchester college society was cult-like, finds report into child abuse|first=Harriet|last=Sherwood|date=18 Jan 2022|work=The Guardian}} The perpetrator, John Smyth, was a leader of the evangelical Christian Iwerne camps where abuse was also reported to have taken place. He was assisted in this by former Winchester pupil Simon Doggart. The college and the Iwerne Trust became aware of these allegations in 1982, but neither reported them to the police.{{cite news |last1=Laville |first1=Sandra |last2=Sherwood |first2=Harriet |title=Public school defends role in alleged cover up of abuse at Christian camps |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/02/public-school-defends-role-in-alleged-cover-up-of-abuse-at-christian-camps |access-date=13 August 2019 |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=2 February 2017}} Smyth was warned off and moved to Zimbabwe and then South Africa where abuse continued.{{cite news |last=Sherwood |first=Harriet |title=Welby in spotlight over sadistic abuse claims at Christian camps |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/13/justin-welby-church-scrutiny-sadistic-christian-camp |access-date=13 August 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=13 August 2019}} An independent review into the abuse, commissioned by the college, was published in January 2022,{{cite web |title=Review of Abuse in The 1970s and 1980s by John Smyth QC of Pupils from Winchester College |url=https://www.winchestercollege.org/stories/a-statement-from-the-warden-and-fellows-of-winchester-college |access-date=2022-01-20 |publisher=Winchester College}} alongside the Makin Review by the Church of England and a review by the Titus Trust (which succeeded the Iwerne Trust). On 12 November 2024, following publication of the Makin Review, Justin Welby announced his intention to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury; this report was critical of the Church's handling of allegations of abuse committed by the barrister John Smyth, aided by Doggart, and was also critical of Welby's failure to investigate the allegations.

In 2005, Winchester College was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools found guilty of running an unlawful price-fixing cartel by the Office of Fair Trading.[The Schools Competition Act Settlement Trust {{cite web |url=http://www.scast.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=54 |title=History |access-date=2011-02-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320120955/http://www.scast.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=54 |archive-date=20 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}] As a penalty, the schools paid for a trust fund to benefit the affected pupils.{{cite web |url=http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2006/182-06 |title=OFT names further trustees as part of the independent schools settlement |publisher=Office of Fair Trading |access-date=2 May 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610055129/http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2006/182-06 |archive-date=10 June 2008 |df=dmy-all}} Winchester College, like Eton, received a fifty per cent reduction in its penalty in return for its full cooperation.{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article588559.ece |title=Independent schools face huge fines over cartel to fix fees |newspaper=The Times |access-date=2015-08-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007080058/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article588559.ece |archive-date=7 October 2008 |df=dmy-all }}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1455730/Private-schools-send-papers-to-fee-fixing-inquiry.html |title=Private schools send papers to fee-fixing inquiry |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=3 January 2004 |access-date=15 March 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625070958/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1455730/Private-schools-send-papers-to-fee-fixing-inquiry.html |archive-date=25 June 2013 |df=dmy-all }}

In 2017 Winchester College suspended its Head of Art History for providing students with information about questions on an upcoming public exam.{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/exam-fraud-scandal-at-winchester-college-7mff3dp8p |title=Exam fraud scandal at Winchester College |first=Callum |last=Adams |date=28 August 2017 |access-date=2 May 2018 |newspaper=The Times }} The headmaster of Winchester confirmed that the school had treated the matter "very seriously" and that no boy was responsible for the "exam irregularity". The information was widely distributed, resulting in their papers being disallowed.{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Richard |title=Eton pupils' marks disallowed over second exam paper leak |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/aug/30/eton-pupils-marks-disallowed-over-second-exam-paper-leak |access-date=30 August 2017 |work=The Guardian |date=30 August 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830170131/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/aug/30/eton-pupils-marks-disallowed-over-second-exam-paper-leak |archive-date=30 August 2017 |df=dmy-all}}{{citation |title=The rigged crapshoot of top exam grades |url=https://www.ft.com/content/67c52b88-8e2f-11e7-a352-e46f43c5825d |author=Miranda Green | publisher=The Financial Times |date=1 September 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010204026/https://www.ft.com/content/67c52b88-8e2f-11e7-a352-e46f43c5825d |archive-date=10 October 2017 | df=dmy-all }}