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Kingston Grammar School is an independent selective co-educational school in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. It has a strong academic record and has been consistently ranked as among the top independent schools in Britain. It is particularly renowned as a first class rowing school, consistently winning prestigious races, while the Old Kingstonian hockey team is internationally famous. In 2004, Kingston celebrated the 25th anniversary of the introduction of co-education.
History The school was granted a Royal Charter in 1561 by Elizabeth I which provided several endowments, including the Chapel of St Mary Magdalen and the various lands and buildings then attached to it. The Chapel had housed a school prior to its dissolution by Henry VIII as part of the general attack on Chantries, therefore historians have said that it is probable Elizabeth was doing no more than giving life to something which her father had brought to an untimely end. Though this is the last recorded event that can be reliably traced back, the history of the school extends to earlier times, possibly as early as 1309, the date of its Lovekyn Chapel, one of the few remaining Chantry chapels in England. It celebrated the four hundredth anniversary of its charter in 1961 with a visit from Queen Elizabeth II. The school's history is traceable into the middle-ages, where there are references to schoolmasters lke Gilbert de Southwell in 1272, described as "Rector of the Schools in Kingston", and to Hugh de Kyngeston in 1364 "who presides over the Public School there". Other notable events in the school's history are the founding and endowing of the Chapel by John and then Edward Lovekyn in 1309-1352 and later by William Walworth in 1371. In 1926 the school accepted direct grant status but has long since reverted to full independence as a day school for boys and girls between the ages of ten and nineteen and is represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. In addition to its historic London Road site, the school has acres of playing fields and a boathouse on the Thames opposite Hampton Court Palace. Famous alumni | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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