19 January 1541

There can be few Breconians who are unaware of the importance of the ‘h’ and 1541 and their link to our Founder, Henry VIII. Less commonly known is the importance of 19 January in the story of Christ College. 

To understand the reasons, we have to go back to the original occupants of the school site - the Dominican Friary of St Nicholas. Closed on 29 August 1538 under Henry VIII's programme of Dissolution of the Monasteries, our 13th century Chapel and Dining Hall are all that remain of the original Friary. 

Once the Friars had surrendered to the Crown on that fateful August day, the site itself was without purpose and in limbo for three years - "a strange period in which the life of the friary stood still and the meadow site seemed to hold its breath" (Knight, 1978).

Then the King made a decision that would change the course of our history.

On 19 January 1541 Henry VIII granted the Friary land and buildings to William Barlow, the Bishop of St Davids, who had been petitioning the King for a school to be founded on the site "for learning as well as in grammar as other sciences and knowledge". 

Bishop Barlow acted quickly on the terms of the Grant, and a Grammar School or 'Ludus Literarius' was soon established on the banks of the Usk. Known as the "College of Christ at Brecknock", it evolved over the centuries into the Christ College we know today. 

Though the original Grant, which we tend to call the Royal Charter, is believed to have been removed in the seventeenth century and most likely destroyed, the National Archives in Kew hold a contemporary copy in their collection. It is sewn into a lengthy roll of documents, which was the system of filing at the time and the responsibility of the 'Master of the Rolls'.  

Written in ink with a quill on parchment, the tight Latin text is not easy to decipher. Fortunately, a transcription and translation is available and it is from this that the origins of the school’s foundation are more easily traced.

Thanks to a very generous donation by a descendent of Bishop Barlow and thanks to the National Archives, we hold a high quality scan of the Grant which we are permitted to display. A colour version hangs in Reception for the enjoyment of visitors, pupils and parents, and Old Breconians. 

Next time you visit Reception, take a closer look. The oddly coloured, seemingly indeceipherable document is much more important to the history of Christ College than is immeidately obvious, as is 19 January!