St Paul's Cathedral School
St Paul's Cathedral School is an independent school associated with St Paul's Cathedral in London and is located in New Change in the City of London.[1]
This article is about the school in the City of London, institutionally associated with St Paul's Cathedral. For the public school, now located at Barnes, see St Paul's School, London.St Paul's Cathedral School
Private preparatory school
Choral foundation school
Latin: Fide Et Literis
(By Faith and By Learning)
1123
Martin Kiddle
Simon Larter-Evans
40~
Co-educational
4 to 13
240~
Boyce, de la Mare, Groves, Stainer
Burgundy and Blue
Old Paulcathes (members of the Guild of the Companions of St Paul)
Originally the school was set up to provide education solely for the choristers and dates from about 1123, when eight needy children were given a home and education in return for singing in the cathedral. The Choir School and a Grammar School co-existed under the aegis of the cathedral for many years, until the Grammar School was moved and re-established in 1511 by the humanist Dean John Colet to become St Paul's School. The Cathedral School and St Paul's School (now a public school) are now distinct and separate institutions.
The original Choir School, which stood in St Paul's Churchyard, was destroyed with the cathedral in the Great Fire of London in 1666.[4] The school has had several incarnations being re-built in 1670, in 1822 (in Cheapside) and 1875 (in Carter Lane). The building of 1875 is now a Youth Hostel.[5] The current buildings date from the 1960s and were designed by the Architects' Co-Partnership.[6]
Activities[edit]
In addition to the daily Evensong, the choristers of St. Paul's Cathedral, have taken part in a number of important recordings and tours and have performed at a number of important state occasions, including the funerals' of Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, as well as the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales.[7]
Child-abuse controversy[edit]
In December 2007 Stephen Douglas-Hogg, a former Classics and house master of the school, was arrested and charged with the abuse of a number of choristers during the 1980s. Following his attempted suicide[8] during the initial stages of proceedings in October 2008, the 50-year-old Douglas-Hogg changed his plea halfway through the trial[9] and admitted to 13 counts of indecent assault on five boys aged under 14. On 11 May 2009 Douglas-Hogg was sentenced to four and a half years' imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court.[10]
Notable former pupils include: