Millfield

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For other uses, see Millfield (disambiguation).
Millfield
Motto Molire Molendo
Established 1935
Type Independent, boarding
Headmaster Mr Peter Johnson
Founder Jack Meyer
Location Butleigh Road
Street
Somerset
BA16 0YD
England
Students 1260
Gender Mixed
Ages 3 to 20
Houses (Girls' houses are in red; Boy's houses are in blue)
Boarding
Abbey
Acacia
Butleigh
Etonhurst
Holmcroft
Joan's Kitchen
Keen's Elm
Kernick
Kingweston
Martins
Millfield (6th form)
Orchards
Portway (6th form)
St Anne's
Shapwick
Southfield
Walton
Warner
Day
Bullock
Cookson
Skinner
Witt
Kightley
Website www.millfieldschool.com
Coordinates: 51°07′21″N 2°43′39″W / 51.1225, -2.7275

Millfield is an independent school in Street, Somerset, England. It is the largest co-educational boarding school, and the largest co-educational independent school in the country,[citation needed] catering for 1260 pupils, of which 910 are boarders.[1] It is well known for its sporting excellence.

The pupil-teacher ratio is 7.5:1 and the average class size is 12. Over 200 students go on to university each year, over a quarter of whom go to one of the top ten institutions as listed in The Sunday Times University League Table.

It is one of the most prestigious and expensive schools in the country, but many pupils receive subsidised tuition in the form of scholarships and bursaries.

Millfield School has its own Preparatory School, situated in Glastonbury, Somerset.

Contents

[edit] History

Millfield was founded in 1935 by RJO Meyer (always affectionately referred to just as "Boss") in the house originally owned by the Clark family, who owned and ran the major shoe manufacturer Clarks. Over the years the school acquired land and houses around the locale and a result there were many boarding houses within a 10 mile (16 km) radius of the original site. In recent years, several new boarding houses have been built on the school campus, replacing those situated off-campus.

[edit] Sports

Millfield is famous for its sporting achievements. A large purpose-built campus houses a wide range of high quality facilities and 130 staff sports coaches oversee the vast array of sports on offer. Each year, over 25 of Millfield's students win international honours across a broad spectrum of sports. In recent years, Millfield teams have won national championships in basketball, golf, hockey (indoor and outdoor), girls' athletics, fencing, modern pentathlon, triathlon, rugby union sevens, boys' and girls' squash, cricket, orienteering, and boys' and girls' tennis[citation needed]. Recent famous sporting products have been rugby players Anthony Allen and Olly Morgan and cricketers Rory Hamilton-Brown, Simon Jones, Craig Kieswetter and James Hildreth.

Unusually amongst British schools, over the years a number of pupils have competed at the Olympics whilst still enrolled at the school.

A map of the campus showing the extensive facilities.
A map of the campus showing the extensive facilities.

The sports facilities of the school include:

  • 3 Olympic-quality water-based astroturfs
  • 2 18-hole golf courses and a driving range
  • A running track, with track and field facilities
  • 2 multi-purpose sports halls
  • A large equestrian centre (including an indoor riding school)
  • An indoor tennis centre with numerous courts
  • A 50 metre indoor swimming pool
  • A large gym and a free weights room
  • A fencing salle
  • A judo dojo
  • A full sized cricket pitch with practice facilities
  • Large multi use playing fields for rugby and football pitches
  • Many tennis courts, darts centres, squash and netball courts.

[edit] Boarding houses

In past years many boarding houses were located in surrounding villages - meaning the pupils had to be bused in and out of school every day. However the school has now brought all but three (St. Anne's, Walton and Kingweston) on or near the school campus. Several large new boarding houses have recently been constructed within school grounds.

These houses on the campus are Warner, Shapwick, Portway (all located slightly off the campus, within a minutes walk), Acacia, Martins, Abbey, Kernick, Southfield, Butleigh, Etonhurst, Joan's Kitchen, Holmcroft, Orchards and Millfield. Millfield and Portway are both Sixth Form houses.

[edit] Millfield governors

  • Adrian E. White Founder and Chairman of Biwater plc. BBC Governor since 1995
  • Bishop Paul Barber, Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Bath and Wells
  • Ray Burton, Educated at Haberdashers' Aske's and Birmingham University, and then qualified as a chartered accountant
  • Mrs Clare Cripps, Educated at University College, London, senior manager at West Sussex County Council
  • Mrs Judith Derbyshire, solicitor working in private practice in Bristol
  • Jonty Driver, Master of Wellington College from 1989-2000
  • Gareth Edwards, Wales and British Lions rugby player
  • Colin Humphrey, A member of the legal profession for 42 years retiring as Senior Partner of a local firm of solicitors in 2000
  • Richard Mawditt OBE, director of the International Centre of Higher Education Management, University of Bath
  • Atul Patel, Fiji Islander and Old Millfieldian with background in international merchant and investment banking
  • Brian Rigby CBE, former Deputy Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce
  • David Rosser, former Deputy Head of Millfield School and former England Rugby international
  • Mrs Anabel Sexton, former European Brand Communications Director at TaylorMade Adidas Golf
  • Roger Trafford, Former Prep Headmaster at King's College, Taunton, Clifton and the Dragon School
  • Robert Clark
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Notable Old Millfieldians

[edit] References

  1. ^ School website
  2. ^ truthout.org
 This article does not cite any references or sources. (November 2006)
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[edit] External links

[edit] Schools in Somerset

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Schools in the ceremonial county of Somerset
Primary
Comprehensive
Independent (preparatory)
Independent
Special schools
Former
Sixth Form Colleges