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Prior Park College

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Prior Park College
File:PPC Logo.gif
History
Motto Deo Duce Deo Luce
Established 1830
Founder Congregation of Christian Brothers
People
Headmaster Dr. Giles Mercer KSG, FRSA
Chairman Sister Jane Livesey CJ, MA
Chaplain Father Malcolm Smeaton
Miscellaneous
School type Independent
Location Bath, Somerset, UK
Affiliations Prior Park Preparatory School
The Paragon School
Enrollment circa. 550 students
Colours Steel Blue and Sky Blue
Links
Homepage of College Prior Park College
Homepage of Affiliated Schools Prior Park Schools

Prior Park College is a Catholic co-educational boarding school. It is situated on a hill overlooking Bath, England. The adjoining 57 acres (23 ha) Prior Park Landscape Garden, once part of the school site, is now owned by the National Trust.

Overview

Originally intended to be England's first Catholic university, Prior Park College was founded in 1830, and since then has been a Roman Catholic school. It was established by the Irish Christian Brothers, and continues to provide co-educational schooling for boys and girls aged eleven to eighteen in the Catholic tradition and ecumenical spirit. The College is the largest fully co-educational Catholic Independent boarding and day school in Britain.[citation needed]

Prior is affiliated with Prior Park Preparatory School which is located in Cricklade, Wiltshire, and, as of 2006, the Paragon School, Bath.

In 2006 pupils achieved 66% A & B grades with almost a quarter of the year group gaining 3 or more A grades at A-Level.[citation needed] At GCSE 56% of all grades were at A* & A with over a third of pupils gaining 9 or more A* & A grades.[citation needed]

History

The buildings which now house Prior Park College were originally designed and built chiefly by John Wood, the Elder. He was commissioned to build on the site by Ralph Allen. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.[1] The Prior Park Landscape Gardens, now owned by the National Trust, were designed by Capability Brown.

Refurbishments

Since 2000 a major refurbishment has been undertaken of the indoor swimming pool, a new ICT centre, other classroom extensions and the new Mackintosh Dance Studio which opened in September 2006.

Notable Alumni

Sports Facilities

  • The Monument field: a National Trust-owned site, but used solely by Prior Park that holds a number of rugby, football, rounders and cricket pitches and squares, as well as a running track.
  • The Eliminator: a modern facility capable of hosting two matches at once. There are also tennis courts on the Astro, and rugby 7s training takes place here as well.
  • The Netball Courts: four tarmac netball courts.
  • The Top Fields: two cricket pitches with immaculately-kept cricket squares. The Top Fields also include three grass hockey pitches as well as an area used for rugby training.
  • The Swimming Pool: Recently refurbished indoor swimming pool, originally built at the end of the nineteenth century.
  • The Gym: A large indoor area that hosts anything from basketball to badminton.
  • The Old Gym: Soon to be refurbished, the old gym provides a weights and conditioning room as well as a warm-up area for the rugby 1st XV.
  • If additional facilities are ever needed Prior Park College is located within walking distance (10 miles) of the National Lottery-funded Bath University Sports Village, which is the training camp of the England Rugby Union and Netball teams, as well as Bath Rugby Club and the Great Britain Rugby League team.

Houses

  • Within the school, there are four houses for boys and three for girls; three of which are boarding and four are for day-pupils.
  • Boarding houses are Allen and Roche for boys, and St. Mary's for girls.
  • Day houses are Clifford and Burton for boys, and Fielding and English for girls.
  • One further house, Baines accommodates all students in the years seven and eight.

Baines contains several internal houses namely: Garrick, Brownlow, Rice, Moore and Pope, named after previous Prior Park alumni, benefactors and monks.

Trivia

  • Prior Park was used as a location for the 1950 David Niven film The Elusive Pimpernel, and in the early 1980s for Spandau Ballet's promo video for She Loved Like Diamond]. [citation needed]
  • Prior Park was also notable for the high number of teenage drug users that passed through its doors 1999-2005; thanks to the wealth and/or privilege of most of said users' parents, however, the aforementioned fact remains mystifyingly little-known. It is suspected that a coterie of hand-picked pro-establishment students, or "Giles' Bitches" as they are colloquially known, may be responsible for this media silence; equally, the ratarsed former student writing this might just have a grudge against said bourgeois fuck'oles. I know this won't last; but please, dudes, PLEASE, allow some form of criticism to enliven this entry. This is a fucked-up public school just like all the other public schools in this country, and people need to know what actually goes on...the drugs were all grand, it was the relentless brainwashing I took issue with...

References

  1. ^ "Prior Park (Now Prior Park College)". Images of England. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  2. ^ "Prior Park Gossip Bowl 2007" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  3. ^ "Prior Park Gossip Bowl 2007" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  4. ^ "Prior Park Gossip Bowl 2007" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  5. ^ "Prior Park Gossip Bowl 2007" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-03-15.
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