The Grey Coat Hospital

The school was formally established at the Trustees' first meeting held on St. Andrew's Day in 1698. Eight members of the congregation of St. Margaret's, Westminster donated towards the founding of the school, initially a day school for 50 boys. Its founding trustees were Robert Maddock, John Holmes, Thomas Wisdome, Samuel Mitchell, Richard Ffyler, Charles Webbe, John Wilkins, and Simon Boult. They aimed to educate "[orphans and neglected children] in the principles of the Christian religion, teaching reading and instructing them in the Church catechism, the discipline of the Church of England as by law established, and for teaching writing and cast accounts" and "binding them apprentices…

The Grey Coat Hospital school is located on Greycoat Place in Westminster, central London. Its main building, centred on a three-storey brown brick block with a stuccoed centrepiece, dates from 1701. The building remained in use for more than 250 years before being damaged during the Second World War. In 1955, around a decade after the war, it was restored and enlarged with new wings designed by architect Laurence King. The main entrance has Doric columns, a triangular pediment, and a triglyph-decorated entablature. Above the doorway are two niches containing painted wooden figures of charity school children, a girl and a boy in school uniform, which probably date from the early 18th…

The Grey Coat Foundation itself, however, is governed by the United Westminster & Grey Coat Foundation which at the end of March 2019 formally merged. The United Westminster Schools' Foundation springs from the union in 1873 of four ancient foundations: Emanuel Hospital, founded in 1594 by Lady Dacre, St. Margaret's Hospital founded in 1633 by King Charles I; Palmer's School, founded by the Reverend James Palmer in 1650; and Hill's Grammar School, founded by Emery Hill in 1708. Originally, Emanuel Hospital pupils wore brown coats, those of St. Margaret's Hospital wore a green coats. The pupils of Palmer's School wore black, as the name of the school, the precursor to Westminster City, was…