John Roysse grammar school
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| Motto |
Misericordias domini in aeternum cantabo ("I will sing of the Lord's mercy forever") |
|---|---|
| Established | 1100 (possible foundation) 1256 (earliest reference and endowment) 1563 (re-endowment) |
| Type | Independent day and boarding school |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Headmaster | Michael Windsor |
| Founders | Benedictine monks |
| Location |
Park Road Abingdon Oxfordshire OX14 1DE England 51°40′23″N 1°17′17″W / 51.6730°N 1.2880°WCoordinates: 51°40′23″N 1°17′17″W / 51.6730°N 1.2880°W |
| DfE number | 931/6095 |
| DfE URN | 123312 Tables |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | 10 |
| Colours |
Cerise and White |
| Former pupils | Old Abingdonians |
| Boat Club |
Abingdon School Boat Club 
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| Website | www.abingdon.org.uk |
Cerise and White
Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. Abingdon is one of the best-regarded boys' boarding schools in the UK.
The precise date of Abingdon's foundation is unclear. Some believe the school to have been founded prior to the 12th century by the Benedictine monks of Abingdon Abbey, with a legal document of 1100 listing Richard the Pedagogue as the first headmaster. From its early years, the school used a room in St Nicolas' Church, which itself was built between 1121 and 1184.
The school now takes its anniversary from the earliest surviving reference to the school – 1256 – a charter of Abingdon Abbey recording an endowment by Abbot John de Blosneville for the support of thirteen poor scholars. In the past though, the school considered itself as having been founded by John Roysse in 1563. This led to the unusual circumstance whereby the school celebrated its 400th anniversary in 1963 (at which HRH Princess Margaret was guest of honour), and then its 750th in 2006. The focus on 1256 facilitated extensive anniversarial fundraising in 2006.
By the time of de Blosneville's endowment in 1256, the school had moved to a couple of rooms in Stert Street with a house for boarders at 3 Stert Street under the charge of a Dionysia Mundy. With John Roysse's re-endowment of 1563, the school moved to a site south of the Abbey gateway. Roysse was a prosperous mercer in the City of London, and through this association the school has received substantial benefactions from the Worshipful Company of Mercers. The name Roysse's School was used until the 1960s and many older Abingdon residents still use the term.
After the dissolution of Abingdon Abbey in 1538, the school passed through a difficult phase: the sixteenth century endowments by Old Abingdonians attempted to overcome the loss of monastic support. Thomas Tesdale, who had been a pupil in 1563, made provision for an Usher to teach six poor scholars from the Borough of Abingdon and offered support for thirteen Abingdon students to study at Oxford. This benefaction eventually developed into Pembroke College in 1624 by the re-foundation of Broadgates Hall.
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