In the brighter areas of the Library, beyond the Book Stack and Milne rooms, there stands a room with 2 tables and a collection of chairs, along with large numbers of historical and literary books. It is in this room that the Library Committee holds its meetings and it was in this room that that great Master of the VIth…
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The Armada Tables? by Ben Goodrick-Green and William Mirza
College Hall is one of the oldest and perhaps most remarkable parts of Westminster School. It has survived over six hundred and fifty years, encompassing different ages, social upheaval and times of both prosperity and hardship at Westminster, to be the place where much of the school eats its breakfast, lunch and dinner today. It is claimed by Westminster Abbey…
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In Defence of Walter Hamilton by William Mirza
Walter Hamilton, of all 20th Century Westminster headmasters, has always been the one most considered to be an outsider. He came to the school with a great academic reputation but following his short tenure of seven years and his departure for Rugby College and subsequently Magdalene College, many have been led to say that this particular head never quite fit…
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Elizabeth Primae Reginae by Ben Goodrick-Green and William Mirza
On the 21st May 2010, the 450th anniversary of the re-founding of our school in 1560, a brand new statue of Elizabeth I was unveiled in yard by HM The Queen. Although there are no longer any pupils at the school who witnessed this special event, it has been fully recorded in the Archives here at Westminster. The newspaper The Daily…
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The Busby’s Yard Telephone Box
Up until the mid 00s the school maintained a number of payphones in the boarding houses, as well as on the ground floor of Ashburnham House. As mobile phones became more widely owned and used by pupils the number of calls made using these payphones dwindled and the income was insufficient to cover their maintenance. The school’s Housmasters’ Committee discussed…
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The Scholars’ Race in College Garden
For a period of time in the 20th Century the College Juniors would mark Election Sunday with a race around College Garden. This footage captures the race which took place in the Election Term, 1958.
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The Young Dr Busby
The school does not routinely acquire new portraits and as we already have five paintings of Dr Busby in our collection (along with a bust and countless engravings) another picture of the great Head Master was not high on our priority list. However, when this painting came up for sale at a small auction house in Cockermouth, Cumbria, it was…
