View source for Blundell's School

{{Short description|Public school in Devon, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2012}}
{{Infobox school
| name            = Blundell's School
| logo            = Blundells School Crest.png
| logo_size       = 125px
| image           = Blundells.jpg
| image_size      = 250px
| coordinates     = {{coord|50.906499|-3.466174|type:edu_region:GB_dim:100|format=dec|display=inline,title}}
| motto           = ''Pro Patria Populoque''<br />(For the country and the people)
| established     = {{start date and age|1604}}
| closed          = 
| type            = [[Public school (United Kingdom)|Public school]]<br />[[Private schools in the United Kingdom|Private]] day and [[boarding school]]
| religion        = 
| president       = 
| head_label      = Head
| head            = Bart Wielenga
| r_head_label    = 
| r_head          = 
| chair_label     = Chairman of the Governors
| chair           = Nigel Hall
| founder         = [[Peter Blundell]]
| specialist      = 
| address         = Blundells Road
| city            = [[Tiverton, Devon|Tiverton]]
| county          = [[Devon]]
| country         = [[England]]
| postcode        = EX16 4DN
| local_authority = 
| urn             = 113575
| ofsted          = 
| staff           = 360
| enrolment       = c. 615 in senior school<br />c. 251 in preparatory school
| gender          = Co-educational
| lower_age       = 3
| upper_age       = 18
| houses          = Francis House (Boys) <br />
Gorton House (Girls) <br />
North Close (Girls) <br />
Old House (Boys) <br />
Petergate (Boys) <br />
School House (Years 7 and 8) <br />
Westlake (Sixth Form)
| colours         = Red & White {{color box|Red}} {{color box|White}}
| publication     = 
| free_label_1    = Former pupils
| free_1          = Old Blundellians
| free_label_2    = 
| free_2          = 
| free_label_3    = 
| free_3          = 
| website         = http://www.blundells.org
}}

'''Blundell's School''' is an [[Private schools in the United Kingdom|independent]] [[co-education]]al [[boarding school|boarding]] and [[Day school|day]] school in the English [[Public School (United Kingdom)|public school]] tradition, located in [[Tiverton, Devon|Tiverton]], [[Devon]]. It was founded in 1604 under the will of [[Peter Blundell]], one of the richest men in England at the time, and moved to its present site on the outskirts of the town in 1882.

While the full boarding fees are £45,750 per year,<ref>[https://blundells.org/senior-school/admissions/fees blundells official webpage: fee and admissions]</ref> the school offers several scholarships and bursaries, and provides flexi-boarding. The school has 360 boys and 225 girls, including 117 boys and 85 girls in the Sixth Form, and is a member of the [[Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference]].

==History==
[[File:oldblundells.jpg|thumb|left|Old Blundell's]]

[[Peter Blundell]], one of the wealthiest merchants of Elizabethan England, died in 1601, having made his fortune principally in the cloth industry. His will set aside considerable money and land to establish a school in his home town "to maintain sound learning and true religion". Blundell asked his friend [[John Popham (Lord Chief Justice)|John Popham]], [[Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales|Lord Chief Justice]] of England, to carry out his wishes, and appointed a number of local merchants and gentry as his first trustees (known as [[feoffee]]s). The position of feoffee is no longer hereditary, but a number of notable local families have held the position for a considerable period: the first ancestor of the current chairman of the governors to hold that position was elected more than 250 years ago, and the [[Heathcoat-Amory baronets|Heathcoat-Amory]] family have a long tradition of service on the Governing Body, since Sir John Heathcoat-Amory was appointed in 1865.

The Old Blundell's School was built to be much larger and grander than any other in the West Country, with room for 150 scholars and accommodation for a master and an usher.<ref>[http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/Tiverton/Tiverton1850.html GENUKI/Devon: Tiverton 1850]</ref> The [[Grade I listed buildings in Devon|Grade 1 listed]] building is now in the care of the [[National Trust]] and the forecourt is usually open to visitors. One ex-Blundell's boy was the writer [[R. D. Blackmore]], who in the novel ''[[Lorna Doone]]'' set the stage for a fight between John Ridd and Robin Snell on the Blundell's triangular lawn.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130416055935/http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/romance/LornaDooneaRomanceofExmoor/chap2.html Lorna Doone, A Romance of Exmoor – CHAPTER II]</ref>

Peter Blundell's executors established links with [[Balliol College, Oxford]], and with [[Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge]], and large sums were settled to provide for scholarships for pupils of the school to attend those colleges.<ref>[http://archives.balliol.ox.ac.uk/History/blundells.asp Balliol Archives – Blundell's School]</ref> 

The prep school St Aubyn's was moved to the Blundell's campus in 2000,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.eteach.com/JobSeekers/RecruiterProfile.aspx?EmpNo=17679 |title=Eteach – Education Recruitment Vacancies, Supply Teaching Jobs |access-date=22 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716024816/http://www.eteach.com/JobSeekers/RecruiterProfile.aspx?EmpNo=17679 |archive-date=16 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> taking over the day-boy house Milestones and the Sanatorium, and was renamed Blundell's Prep School. It has about 250 pupils aged from three years to eleven. The headmaster is Andy Southgate.

===2024 attempted murder===

In 2024, a pupil at the school was found guilty of attempted murder of two other students and one of the staff using a hammer; he had been 16 at the time of the assaults in 2023.<ref name="Guardian-2024">{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Stephen |title=Boy guilty of attempted murders in Devon private school hammer attack |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jun/21/boy-guilty-attempted-murders-devon-blundells-private-school-hammer-attack |access-date=21 June 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=21 June 2024}}</ref><ref name="Tel-2024">{{cite news |last1=Evans |first1=Martin |title=Boarding school pupil broke sleeping roommates' skulls with hammer, court hears |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/18/pupil-at-boarding-school-broke-roommates-skulls |access-date=21 June 2024 |work=The Telegraph |date=18 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418132306/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/18/pupil-at-boarding-school-broke-roommates-skulls |archive-date=18 April 2024}}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]'' said that 
"a troubling picture emerged of aspects of life at the 400-year-old school", with bullying, children having weapons and unrestricted access to their mobile telephones.<ref name="Guardian-2024"/>

The boy was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 12 years. In November 2024, [[Johannah Cutts|Mrs Justice Cutts]] lifted the anonymity orders and named him as Thomas Wei Huang from Malaysia.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Grierson |first1=Jamie |last2=Rawlinson |first2=Kevin |title=Boy given life sentence over school hammer attack named as Thomas Wei Huang |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/nov/01/boy-given-life-sentence-over-school-hammer-attack-named-as-thomas-wei-huang |access-date=1 November 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=1 November 2024}}</ref>

==Sport==
[[File:Ticket for Blundell's School Feast by William Hogarth.jpg|thumb|1740 ticket for Blundell's School Feast by [[William Hogarth]]]]

===Rugby===
Rugby is the main sport played at Blundell's in the Autumn and Spring terms. The earliest mention of "football" in the Blundellian was in 1861 and the first recorded "rugger" match played by boys at Blundell's was in 1868 against [[Tiverton Rugby Club]], making the school one of the oldest anywhere formally to play the game. The Blundell's crest still hangs in the main room at Twickenham in recognition of this.<ref>[http://www.blundells.org/archive/sports/rugby/history.htm www.blundells.org - Rugby]</ref>

OBs [[Dave Lewis (rugby union)|Dave Lewis]] [[Gloucester Rugby]], [[Matt Kvesic]] and [[Will Carrick-Smith]] [[Exeter Chiefs]] all currently play in the [[English Premiership (rugby union)|Aviva Premiership]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blundells.org/obclub/obclub/sport_rugby.htm |title=OB Club - Sport |publisher=Blundells.org |date=2011-11-26 |access-date=2013-02-07}}{{Primary-source-inline|date=February 2013}}</ref>

[[Sam Maunder]], brother of Jack Maunder, plays for England U18 squad.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.englandrugby.com/england/england-18s/squads/sam-maunder/| title = RFU}}</ref>

===The Russell===
One annual tradition is the school's cross-country run known as the Russell, named after Old Boy [[Jack Russell (priest)|Jack Russell]], a vicar and dog-breeder. It was first run in 1887,<ref>[http://www.blundells.org/admin/school_hms.htm www.blundells.org - Headmasters]</ref> and 2009 saw the 129th run.<ref>[http://www.obclub.co.uk/obclub/sport_the-russell.htm OB Club - Sport] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625194140/http://www.obclub.co.uk/obclub/sport_the-russell.htm |date=25 June 2009 }}</ref> 

==Southern Railway Schools Class==
[[File:932 Blundells Eastleigh 1948.jpg|thumb|932 ''Blundell's'' Schools Class 4-4-0 at Eastleigh in 1948.]]
The School lent its name to the thirty-third steam [[locomotive]] ([[List of SR V "Schools" class locomotives|Engine 932]]) in the [[Southern Railway (UK)|Southern Railway's]] [[SR V Schools class|Class V]] of which there were 40. This class was also known as the Schools Class because all [[SR Class V Locomotive List|40 of the class]] were named after prominent English public schools. ''Blundell's'', as it was called, was built in 1934. The locomotive bearing the school's name was withdrawn from service in January 1961. In 2009 Hornby produced a model of this particular Schools class locomotive. As the product photograph shows, while the name of this locomotive has been variously quoted as ''Blundells'' or ''Blundell's'', the apostrophe does actually appear on the nameplate.<ref>[http://www.hornby.com/locomotives-89/r2744x/product.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519074225/http://www.hornby.com/locomotives-89/r2744x/product.html|date=19 May 2009}}</ref>

==Old Blundellians==
{{Category see also|People educated at Blundell's School}}
{{alumni|date=May 2012}}
The first known society of former pupils, known as [[:Category:People educated at Blundell's School|Old Blundellians]] (OBs), was established as early as 1725.<ref>Report & Transactions, Volume 23, Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, 1891</ref>

[[William Hogarth]] engraved the letterhead for the invitation to a dinner for former pupils of the School in 1725 and the ticket for Tiverton School Feast in 1740.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?partid=1&objectid=3260427 |title=Search object details |publisher=British Museum |access-date=2013-04-26}}</ref>

Notable former pupils include:


*[[Robert Arundell]], Governor of the Windward Islands and Barbados
*[[Vernon Bartlett]], journalist and politician
*[[Edward Donald Bellew|Edward Bellew]], drainage inspector and winner of the [[Victoria Cross]]
*[[Dominic Bess]], England cricketer
*[[R. D. Blackmore]], author of ''[[Lorna Doone]]''
*[[Richard Bowring]], Master of [[Selwyn College, Cambridge]]
*[[William Buckland]], geologist
*[[William Edward Buckley]], professor of Anglo-Saxon<ref name=boase>Frederic Boase, ''Modern English Biography'', vol. 4 (Netherton and Worth, 1906), p. 2,007</ref> 
*[[George Bull]], theologian and bishop
*[[Giles Bullard]], High Commissioner to the West Indies
*[[Charles Campion]], food critic
*[[Bampfylde Moore Carew]], rogue and imposter
*[[Aelred Carlyle]], missionary and monk
*[[Frederick Cuming (cricketer)|Frederick William Cuming]], 1900 Olympic gold medal winner as part of the UK cricket team
*[[Charles Cornwallis Chesney]], soldier and military writer
*[[George Tomkyns Chesney]], soldier and novelist
*[[Ben Collins (racing driver)|Ben Collins]], Formula 3 racing driver and the infamous [[The Stig|Stig]]
*[[John Conybeare]], [[Bishop of Bristol]] and notable 18th-century theologian
*[[Natalie Dew]], actress
*[[John Davis (cricketer, born 1939)|John Davis]], Welsh cricketer
*[[Edward Dayman]], hymn writer
*[[John Ebdon]], writer
*[[John Eliot (statesman)|John Eliot]], English statesman
*[[Tristan Evans]], Drummer & backing vocals for UK based band [[The Vamps (British band)|The Vamps]]
*[[Howard Ford (decathlete)|Howard Ford]], Olympic athlete<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001464/19270315/373/0015 |title=Athletics |work=Sheffield Independent  |date=15 March 1927 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=18 April 2025}}</ref>
*[[Charles Rossiter Forwood]], lawyer and [[Attorney General of Fiji]]
*[[Francis Fulford (bishop)|Francis Fulford]], Anglo-Catholic bishop of Montreal
*[[John Gay (philosopher)|John Gay]], philosopher
*[[Anthony Gifford (cricketer)|Anthony Gifford]], cricketer and educator
*[[Michael Gilbert]], writer of mysteries and thrillers
*[[Douglas Gracey]], Commander in Chief Pakistan Army 1948–51
*[[Charles Harper (colonial administrator)|Charles Harper]], Governor and Commander-in-Chief of St. Helena 1925–1932
*[[C. Brian Haselgrove]] mathematician best known for disproving the [[Pólya conjecture]] in 1958
*[[Thomas Hayter]], bishop of Norwich 1749–61, bishop of London 1761–62
*[[Abraham Hayward]], man of letters
*[[Archibald Hill]], Nobel Prize winner
*[[David Gordon Hines]], developer of co-operatives in Tanganyika and Uganda
*[[Walter Hook]], [[Tractarian]] vicar of [[Leeds]]
*[[Ella Hunt]], actress, [[Dickinson (TV series)|dickinson]], [[anna and the apocalypse]], [[intruders (2011 film)|intruders]]
*[[James Jeremie]], academic and churchman
*[[John Jeremie]], governor of [[Sierra Leone]]
*[[C. E. M. Joad]], intellectual, broadcasting personality and fare dodger
*[[Philip Keun]], [[Special Operations Executive]] Captain and co-leader of the [[Jade-Amicol network|Jade-Amicol French resistance network]].
*[[Geoffrey Hugo Lampe|Geoffrey Lampe]], theologian and winner of the Military Cross
*[[Wilfrid Le Gros Clark]], surgeon, primatologist and paleoanthropologist who disproved [[Piltdown Man]]
*[[Robin Lloyd-Jones]], Author
*[[Jeremy Lloyds]], Test Cricket umpire
*[[George Malcolm (Indian Army officer)|George Malcolm]], army officer
*[[Thomas Manton (minister)|Thomas Manton]], Puritan clergyman
*[[John Margetson]], former British Ambassador to Vietnam, the United Nations, and the Netherlands.
*[[Vic Marks]], Somerset and England cricketer
*[[John Marrack|Professor John Marrack]], DSO, MC, Emeritus Professor of Chemical Pathology in the [[University of London]]
*[[Michael Mates]], former [[Member of Parliament|MP]] (constituency of [[East Hampshire]])
*[[Hugh Morris (cricketer)|Hugh Morris]], England cricketer and current Managing Director of the [[England and Wales Cricket Board]]
*[[Gordon Newton]], Editor of the ''[[Financial Times]]''
*[[Christopher Ondaatje]], author and donor to the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]
*[[William Pillar]], Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Supplies
*[[Sir John de la Pole, 6th Baronet|John de la Pole, 6th Baronet]]
*[[Ben Rice (author)|Ben Rice]], novelist
*[[John Rinkel]], Olympic athlete<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001055/19241015/121/0009 |title=Cambridge Freshman's Trials |work=The Sportsman |date=15 October 1924 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=18 April 2025}}</ref>
*[[Jack Russell (priest)|Jack Russell]], Victorian hunting parson, dog breeder
*[[Peter Schidlof]], Austrian-British violist and co-founder of the [[Amadeus Quartet]]
*[[Edward Seymour, 16th Duke of Somerset]]
*[[Evelyn Seymour, 17th Duke of Somerset]]
*[[Percy Seymour, 18th Duke of Somerset]]
*[[Richard Sharp (rugby union)|Richard Sharp]], England rugby captain
*[[Richard Shore (cricketer)|Richard Shore]], cricketer
*[[Frederick Spring]], senior army officer
*[[Trevor Spring]], army officer
*[[J. C. Squire]], poet, writer, historian, and influential literary editor
*[[Donald Stokes, Baron Stokes|Donald Stokes]], industrialist and peer
*[[Jon Swain]], award-winning writer, whose memoirs were portrayed in the film ''[[The Killing Fields (film)|The Killing Fields]]''
*[[Frederick Temple]], Archbishop of Canterbury
*[[Clem Thomas]], Wales Rugby Captain
*[[Georgia Toffolo|Georgia "Toff" Toffolo]], television and media personality
*[[Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet|Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet]], English civil servant, governor of Madras
*[[Henry Hawkins Tremayne]], creator of the [[Lost Gardens of Heligan]]
*[[John Van der Kiste]], author
*[[Walter Walker (British Army officer)|Walter Walker]], controversial soldier and writer
*[[Arthur Graeme West]], war poet
*[[John Whiteley (British Army officer)|John Whiteley]], Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff 1949–53
*[[Cyril Wilkinson]], Great Britain hockey player and Olympic Gold Medallist
*[[Geoffrey Willans]], humorist and co-author of [[Nigel Molesworth]] series
*[[Sir Matthew Wood, 1st Baronet|Matthew Wood, 1st Baronet]], Lord Mayor of London, MP for the City of London and close friend of [[Caroline of Brunswick|Queen Caroline]]
*[[John Wyndham]], author whose work included ''[[The Day of the Triffids]]'' and ''[[The Midwich Cuckoos]]''

==Headteachers==
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|*2018-present: Bart Wielenga
*2013–2018: Nicola Huggett
*2012–2013: Randall Thane
*2004–2012: Ian Davenport
*1992–2004: Jonathan Leigh
*1980–1992: A.J.D. Rees
*1971–1980: A. Clive S. Gimson
*1959–1971: J.M. Stanton
*1947–1959: J.S. Carter
*1943–1947: R.L. Roberts
*1934–1942: [[Neville Gorton]]
*1930–1933: [[Alexander Wallace (priest)|Alexander Wallace]]
*1917–1930: Arthur Edwin Wynne
*1874–1917: A.L. Francis
*1847–1874: John Hughes
*1834–1847: [[Henry Sanders (priest)|Henry Sanders]]
*1823–1834: Alldersey Dicken
*1797–1823: William Richards
*1775–1797: Richard Keats, rector of [[Bideford]] and [[King's Nympton]], father of [[Richard Goodwin Keats]] (1757–1834),<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dLUUAAAAQAAJ&dq=Richard+Keats+Master+of+Tiverton+School&pg=PA653 Gentleman's Magazine, 1834, p.653, obituary of Admiral Keats]</ref> Martha Keats (1753–1833) and of [[Lewis William Buck]] (1784–1858), MP.<ref>[[John Lambrick Vivian|Vivian, J.L.]], (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, Stucley & Buck pedigree, pp.723</ref>
*1757–1775: Philip Atherton
*1740–1757: William Daddo 		
*1734–1740: [[Samuel Wesley (the Younger)|Samuel Wesley]]
*1733–1734: John Jones
*1730–1733: Samual Smith
*1698–1730: William Rayner
*1684–1698: John Sanders
*1669–1684: George Hume
*1651–1669: Henry Batten
*1648–1651: Henry Osborne
*1604–1647: Samuel Butler
}}

==Notable former masters==
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2012}}
Former masters of Blundell's have included:
*[[Terry Barwell]], cricketer
*[[Manning Clark]], historian
*[[Neville Gorton]], Bishop of Coventry
*[[Malcolm Moss]], politician
*[[Grahame Parker]], sportsman
*[[C. Northcote Parkinson]], naval historian and author of the bestselling book [[Parkinson's Law]]
*[[Gilbert Phelps]], writer and broadcaster
*[[Lawrence Sail]], poet
*[[Willi Soukop]], sculptor
*[[Stephen Spender]], poet and essayist
*[[Mervyn Stockwood]], missioner to the School and later [[Bishop of Southwark (Anglican)|Bishop of Southwark]]
*[[Samuel Wesley (the Younger)]], poet and churchman

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Blundell's School}}

*[http://www.blundells.org/ Blundell's School website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040620091919/http://www.isinspect.org.uk/reports/2001/0126_01.htm 2001 UK:Independent Schools Inspectorate Report]
*Profiles on the [[Independent Schools Council]] website: [https://www.isc.co.uk/schools/england/devon/tiverton/blundells-preparatory-school/ Preparatory School] and [https://www.isc.co.uk/schools/england/devon/tiverton/blundells-school/ Senior School]
*{{Wikisource-inline|list=
**{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Blundell's School|year=1905|short=x |noicon=x}}
**{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Blundell's School|short=x |noicon=x}}
}}

{{Schools in Devon}}
{{Devon CCC}}
{{Public schools in England}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:1604 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in the 1600s]]
[[Category:Private schools in Devon]]
[[Category:Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference]]
[[Category:Tiverton, Devon]]
[[Category:Boarding schools in Devon]]