Queen's College, Taunton
Queen's College is a co-educational public school located in Taunton, the county town of Somerset, England. It is an independent day/boarding school for children aged 2–18. The school incorporates Nursery, Pre-Prep, Junior and Senior schools. The current headmaster of the Senior School (11–18) is Chris Alcock. Justin Backhouse heads the Junior School (8–11)
History
First known as the Wesleyan Collegiate Institute, Queen's College was established by the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1843. The building is a symmetrical Tudor Gothic building and set in approximately 35 acres (0.14 km2) of grounds.It was built by Giles and Gane in 1874 and has been designated as a Grade II* listed building.
The college's motto: non scholae sed vitae discimus, "we learn not for scholarship but for life", reflected its ethos of providing more than academic learning to its students.
Sports
The school has sports teams in: cricket, rugby union, hockey, swimming, athletics, netball and tennis. The school also provides less popular disciplines such as canoe polo, fencing, badminton and equestrianism.
Arts
Queen's College teaches performing arts, including drama and music, and dance.
The Quartz festival, running from the first Wednesday of October each year for ten days, is extremely popular and attracts over 6,000 visitors annually.
Houses
The Junior School is split into four day houses and one boarding house, each accepting both boys and girls. The houses are named after local hill ranges: Quantocks, Brendons, Blackdowns and Mendips.
The Senior School is split into boarding and day houses for girls and boys. The houses are named after past headmasters or early pupils:
Notable Old Queenians
Harold Arthur Watkinson- 1st Viscount Watkinson of Woking, PC, CH, Minister of Defence 1959–1962
John Passmore Widgery- Baron Widgery of South Molton, OBE, TD, QC, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales 1971–1980
Arthur Henderson- Baron Rowley of Rowley Regis, PC, Secretary of State for Air 1947–1951
Leighton Seager- 1st Baron Leighton of St Mellons, Shipping Magnate
Sir Robert Hart- 1st Baronet, GCMG, Inspector-General of China's Imperial Maritime Customs Service 1863–1907
Sir Robert Bond- KCMG, Prime Minister of Newfoundland 1900–1909
Sir George Shenton- KB, Mayor of Perth, Australia 1880–1884 & 1886–1888
Nick Harvey- Liberal Democrat MP
John Baron- Conservative MP
Martin Pipe- Racehorse trainer
Carrie Davis- Radio 1 sports analyst
Peter Mitchell- 1978 Nobel Prize Winner (Chemistry)
Matthew Clay- 2006 Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist (Swimming)
Peter Honess- Oscar-nominated, BAFTA award-winning Hollywood film editor (L.A. Confidential); Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Dean Ryan- Internation England Rugby Union player and Head Coach of Gloucester RFU Club
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