Charterhouse School
Charterhouse is a public school (English boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Originally founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charterhouse Square, Smithfield, London, it educates over 800 pupils, aged 13 to 18 years. Charterhouse is one of the original nine English public schools reported upon by the Clarendon Commission in 1864 leading to its regulation by the Public Schools Act 1868.
Charterhouse
1611
Vicky Tuck
Alex Peterken
Andrew Turner
≈550
Co-education
13 to 18
≈800
15[4]
Pink, grey and maroon
The Carthusian
The Charterhouse Review
The Greyfriar
The Greyhound
Carmen Carthusianum
Charterhouse charges full boarders up to £44,220 per annum (2022/2023)[5] and is among the most expensive Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) schools in the UK.[6] It educated the British Prime Minister Lord Liverpool and has a long list of notable alumni.
The Under School consists of the first three years of attendance at Charterhouse, being the Fourth Form, the Removes and the Fifth Form (GCSE year). Pupils in Under School wear a weekday uniform consisting of a white or blue shirt, house tie, grey trousers, optional blue or black jumper or sweater-vest, dark grey jacket and black leather shoes. A waistcoat is optional. Variations include various society and school honours' ties.[43]
Transition from the Under School to the Upper School occurs upon successful completion of the GCSE exams.
The Specialists (Lower and Upper Sixth Forms) constitute the last two years of attendance at Charterhouse, and form the Upper School. Having completed the GCSE exams successfully, 'First & Second Year Specialists' (as they are colloquially referred) spend two years studying for their A-Level or Pre-U examinations, usually in three subjects, although some students will read for four, or their IB exams. The grey jacket is replaced by a grey blazer with pink squares and shirts may be pink or of striped patterns.
Whether in Under or Upper School, any pupil who has been awarded his House or School 'Colours' for sport or culture, may wear his 'Colours' tie in place of his house tie. School monitors may also wear their monitor tie instead of a house tie, if they so choose. For further on this, please see below, under "School Honours".
During Cricket Quarter, the school uniform can vary slightly from that of the two preceding terms. Boys may wear cravats in house colours instead of ties and are permitted to wear straw boaters similar to the 'Harrow Hat' found at Harrow School, but these are almost never worn by the majority of pupils. Boys in the Under School may also wear navy blazers similar to those worn by the Specialists. As well as these variations, boys may roll up their sleeves in hashes unless asked not to by a beak.
Members of the 1st XI Cricket Team have their own variation on summer dress which is described later in the article.
School Honours is the Colours system rewarding pupils in various fields with variations on school dress. They are as follows:
House colours – House colours are a variation on the house tie. Colours awarded for house sport prowess have thicker stripes in the House colour, whereas those awarded for cultural prowess have thin doubled striped.
School colours – School colours are awarded for services to School sport, culture and other areas deemed worthy. They all have a similar design of a solid colour and are covered in the crest of Thomas Sutton, the school's founder. However, they come in varying colours:
The Head of School – The Heads of School (head boy and deputy, as well as the head girl and deputy head girl) is permitted to wear a Pink tie adorned with Sutton Crests.
1st XI Major Sports – Members of the 1st Team in major school sports (football, hockey and cricket) are permitted to wear maroon ties.
Minor Sports – Holders of colours in Minor Sports are permitted to wear a silver ties.
Academic/Scholars – Holders of Academic or Scholars colours are permitted to wear a green tie.
Culture – Those deemed worthy enough in cultural fields are permitted to wear a purple tie.
Service – Brown ties are awarded for commendable service to the school community. Most frequently they are awarded by the CCF.
1st XI Cricket – Members of the 1st XI Cricket team are permitted to wear pink blazers with Sutton's Crest on the front pocket to Hashes on match days (usually Saturdays).
Greyhounds – Every year a few Carthusians are given Greyhound awards for outstanding service to the school. Those awarded the prize are permitted to wear a navy blue tie with rampant gold greyhounds, the greyhound being a notable feature of the coat of arms of Thomas Sutton.
Academic – Pupils who have gained distinctive academic achievements are awarded the Academic Tie and may be referred to as Scholars of the school. They are permitted to wear a green tie adorned with the Sutton Crest.
Culture – Pupils who have contributed to the school distinctively in terms of culture (music, drama etc.) are awarded the Culture Tie, which has a deep purple colour with the Sutton Crest.
Sports[edit]
Origins of football[edit]
Association Football is the main Winter sport at the school. During the 1840s at both Charterhouse and Westminster School pupils' surroundings meant they were confined to playing their football in the cloisters, making the rough and tumble of the handling game that was developing at other schools such as Rugby impossible, and necessitating a new code of rules. Dingley Dell, the most active non-school team in the London area in the five years before the Football Association was established in 1863, played Charterhouse eight times between February 1860 and February 1863.[44] During the formulation of the rules of the Association Football in the 1860s representatives of Charterhouse and Westminster School pushed for a passing game, in particular rules that allowed forward passing ("passing on"). Other schools (in particular Eton College, Shrewsbury School and Harrow) favoured a dribbling game with a tight off-side rule. It is claimed that Stoke Ramblers was formed in 1863 when former pupils of Charterhouse School formed a football club while apprentices at the North Staffordshire Railway works in Stoke-on-Trent.[45] By 1867 the Football Association had chosen in favour of the Charterhouse and Westminster game and adopted a "loose" off-side rule that permitted forward passing.[46] The modern forward-passing game was a direct consequence of Charterhouse and Westminster football.
Cricket ground[edit]
The first recorded match on the school cricket ground came in 1859, when the school played Marlborough College. From its inception, the school has used the ground to take on a number of colleges in England.[47] The cricket ground has held a single List-A match, which was played between Surrey and Warwickshire in the 1972 John Player League.[48] Starting in 2006, the ground has held a number of Surrey Second XI fixtures in the Second XI Championship and Second XI Trophy.[49][50]
Herbarium[edit]
The School's Herbarium carries the Index Herbariorum designation GOD and is maintained as The Charterhouse School Herbarium[51] in the University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley.
The scope of the collections is mainly the British Isles, although some plants are from Europe, South Africa and eastern North America. The principal collectors were James Edward Moxon, Rev. George Brown Moxon, Rev. Tullie Cornthwaite, Rev. Samuel Titmas (first curator of Charterhouse Museum), Frederick Yorke Brocas, Andrew Bloxam, William Gardiner, James Buckman and John Drew Salmon. The collections are currently being digitised and being released by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, on the herbaria@home[52] website.
Fees[edit]
In any given year, there is some contention about which is the most expensive public school in England, depending on whether one compares day fees or boarding fees. In 2019, Charterhouse was reported to be among the most expensive schools for boarding pupils.[54] Charging up to £11,415 per term in 2014/15, Charterhouse is the 7th most expensive HMC boarding school in the UK.[6] For the 2022/23 academic year, day boarding fees are £36,540 and boarding is £44,220.[55]
Film location[edit]
The school is occasionally used as a film location. It was used as a filming location for Jules Shear's music video for his 1983 single Whispering Your Name, in which Shear visits the school as a guest music teacher and a group of British schoolchildren mime to the chorus. The song would eventually be a hit for Allison Moyet 11 years later. It was used to represent the Palace of Westminster in the 2018 BBC drama Bodyguard[72] and in seasons 4 and 5 of Netflix's The Crown where the Memorial Chapel and South African Cloisters are made to represent the House of Commons as well as the film Peterloo which used the chapel as the House of Lords. In addition, a location outside Brooke Hall was used in the filming of The Crown season 5. It has previously been used in The Boys are Back, Jupiter Ascending, St Trinians 2, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (an adaptation of a Charles Dickens novel), Foyle's War, An Ideal Husband, and Vampire Academy.[73][74][75]
