The Foundation

The school was founded in February 1572 under a Royal Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I to John Lyon, a wealthy local farmer.^[4] The charter described this as a re-endowment, and there is some evidence of a grammar school at Harrow in the mid-16th century, but its location and connection with Lyon's foundation are unclear.^[5] Evidence for earlier schools, possibly connected with the chantry of St Mary (established in 1324), is weak.^{[5]: 13–17} In the original charter six governors were named, including two members of the Gerard family of Flambards, and two members of the Page family of Wembley and Sudbury Court.^[6]

Speech Room in 1900

The founder John Lyon died in 1592, bequeathing his estate to two beneficiaries: the school and the maintenance of two roads, the Harrow Road and the Edgware Road, both going to London, 10 miles (16 km) away. The Road Trust received by far the greater share, the school's share providing just for the salary of The School Master and some minor provisions. This situation, reasonable at the time because of the need to transport merchandise to market, continued until 1991 when the considerable assets of the Road Trust were reassigned to John Lyon's Charity, a charity to provide educational benefits for the inhabitants of the boroughs through which the roads pass.

John Lyon's school was founded to provide free education for 30 (later extended to 40) poor boys of the parish. However, the School Master was permitted to accept "foreigners" (boys from outside the parish) from whom he received fees. It was the need for foreigners to find accommodation that led to the concept of boarding. As in all schools of the time, education was based on the languages and culture of the ancient civilisations of Rome and Greece.

As the reputation of the school grew through the 19th century, the number of foreigners increased, but the local families became increasingly reluctant to impose on their children a classical education and the number of free scholars declined. In 1825 there were 17 free scholars and 219 foreigners. In 1876 the Lower School of John Lyon was founded under the authority of the Governors of Harrow School to provide a modern education for local boys. It is now known as The John Lyon School and is a prominent independent school; it remains part of the Harrow School Foundation.^[4]

Buildings

It was only after the death of Lyon's wife in 1608 that the construction of the first school building began. Known as the Old Schools, it was completed in 1615 and remains to this day, although it was extended and re-designed by architect Charles Cockerell in 1818. It is a Grade I listed building.

The majority of the school's boarding houses were constructed in Victorian times, when the number of boys increased dramatically.^[5] Speech Room by William Burges (1877), and the chapel (1855) and Vaughan Library (1863), both by Sir George Gilbert Scott, are all Grade II* listed buildings.^[7] A total of 27 School buildings are Grade II listed, including Head Master's House (1843) by Decimus Burton; Museum Schools (1886) by Basil Champneys; and Music Schools (1890) by Edward Prior.

The school War Memorial building, marking the substantial loss of former pupils in the First World War, was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and completed in 1926. Various other buildings such as a central dining hall, sports hall and classroom blocks were added in the 20th century.

Cartel

In 2005, the school was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel, exposed by The Times, which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents, although the schools said that they had not realised that the change to the law (which had happened only a few months earlier) about the sharing of information had subsequently made it an offence.^[8] Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling £3,000,000 into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.^[9]

Uniform

Everyday dress for boys at Harrow consists of a dark blue jacket known as a "bluer" with light grey trousers known as "greyers". With these are worn a white shirt, black tie, black shoes and an optional blue jumper. Boys also wear a Harrow hat, a straw hat with a dark blue band similar to a boater, but shallower in crown and broader in brim. The School blue-and-white woollen scarf and dark blue woollen overcoat may be worn in cold weather. Variations include boys who are monitors (prefects) who are allowed to wear a jumper of their choice of colour, and members of certain societies who may earn the right to replace the standard school tie with one of a variety of scarves, cravats, neck and bow ties of their society.^[10]

Sunday dress, which is worn every Sunday up to lunch and on special occasions such as Speech Day and songs, consists of a black tailcoat, a black single-breasted waistcoat and striped trousers, worn with a white shirt and black tie. Boys with sports colours may wear a grey double-breasted waistcoat; members of the Guild (a society for boys who have achieved distinction in art, music or drama) may wear maroon double-breasted waistcoats with maroon bow ties; members of the Philathletic Club (a society for boys with achievements in sport) may wear black bow ties alongside grey double-breasted waistcoats. School monitors (prefects) may wear black double-breasted waistcoats, a top hat and carry canes.

School houses

Harrow School divides its pupils, who are all boarders, into twelve Houses, each of about seventy boys, with a thirteenth house, Gayton, used as an overflow. Each House has its own facilities, customs and traditions, and each competes in sporting events against the others.

Until the 1950s there existed what was known as 'small houses' where only 5–10 boys stayed at one time while they waited for a space in a large house to become available (hence the use of the term large house in this article). A twelfth large house, Lyon's, was built in 2010.^[3]

House Masters, Assistant House Masters and their families live in the boarding Houses and are assisted by House Tutors appointed from the teaching staff. The House Master oversees the welfare of every boy in his care; for parents, he is the main point of contact with the School.^[3]

Each House has a resident matron and sick room. The matrons are supported by the School's Medical Centre where trained nursing staff offer round-the-clock care. The medical centre is under the direct supervision of the school doctor who is available on the Hill every day for consultation.^[3]

There are no dormitories: a boy shares his room for the first three to six terms and thereafter has a room to himself.^[3]

Harrow Songs

The School has a book of songs, of which the best known is Forty Years On. In the 19th century, most schools had a school song, usually in Latin, which they sang at the beginning and end of term. Harrow had a master, Edward Bowen, who was a poet and a music teacher, and John Farmer, who was a composer. Between 1870 and 1885, these two wrote a number of songs about school life. The inspiring, wistful, amusing and thought-provoking words and the attractive tunes, made the songs very popular. Successors to Bowen and Farmer have added to the collection. The songs are sung in House and School concerts several times a term. Winston Churchill was a great lover of Harrow songs and when he returned for a concert as Prime Minister in 1940, it was the first of many annual visits. Churchill Songs is still celebrated in Speech Room each year, and every five years at the Royal Albert Hall.

Sport

Football team of 1867

Cricket team of 1868

Football match at the School footer field, painted by Thomas M. Henry

Tennis courts include acrylic, hard and synthetic lawn surfaces.

The sport squash (originally called 'Squasher') was invented in Harrow out of the game rackets around 1830.^[12][13][14] It spread to other schools, eventually becoming an international sport.

An annual cricket match has taken place between Harrow and Eton College at Lord's Cricket Ground since 1805. It is considered to be the longest-running cricket fixture in the world^[15] and is the oldest fixture at Lord's (see: Eton v Harrow). Eton won the match in 2013, and Harrow in 2014 and 2015.

Harrow has its own unique style of football called Harrow Football.^[16]

Fagging

As in most boarding schools, for many years there was a system of 'fagging' whereby younger boys carried out duties for the seniors. At Harrow this was phased out in the 1970s and completely banned by 1990.^[5] In his detailed history of the school, Christopher Tyerman recorded that in 1796 fagging was compulsory for boys up to the fourth form, and that 50 out of 139 boys were then fags. In 1928, Harrow Master C. H. P. Mayo said of fagging: "Those who hope to rule must first learn to obey... to learn to obey as a fag is part of the routine that is the essence of the English Public School system... the wonder of other countries".^[5]

Directors of Music

• John Farmer, 1862–1885
• Eaton Faning, 1885–1901
• Percy C. Buck, 1901–1927
• R. S. Thatcher, 1927–1936
• Richard Drakeford, 1976–1985
• David Woodcock, 2005–present