Reading Blue Coat School

The school was established in 1646 at the height of the English Civil War, when a wealthy London merchant, Richard Aldworth of Stanlake Park, left the Corporation of Reading the sum of £4,000, the proceeds of which were to be devoted to "the education and upbringing of twenty poor male children, being the children of honest, religious poor men in the town of Reading." From this bequest, which in 17th century terms was quite substantial, originated the Aldworth's Hospital charity school now better known as the Reading Blue Coat School. Aldworth, who had been a governor of Christ's Hospital in London, modelled the new foundation on his former school, the boys being required to wear the…

The School was originally accommodated in an old building situated at the corner of Silver Street and London Street known as 'The Talbot' in one of the oldest parts of Reading. The house, once an old inn, was in a dilapidated condition. Owing to litigation in connection with Aldworth's will, it was not until 1660, the year of Charles II's restoration, that the first boys entered the School to be taught. Despite many difficulties at the outset, the School flourished and even received generous subventions from local benefactors such as William Malthus and John West. Malthus also left a certain sum for an annual sermon to be preached to the boys, a tradition still maintained in Reading at the…