Christ's Hospital

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Christ's Hospital, known colloquially as the Bluecoat School, is an English co-educational independent day and boarding school located in Southwater, south of Horsham in West Sussex. It is a charity school whose fees are calculated on a means test.HistoryChrist's Hospital was established as a school in November 1552 at the instigation of King Edward VI. The king's patronage of the school was confirmed by a Royal Charter granted on 26 June 1553, eleven days before his death. The school was founded at Newgate Street, London, on the site of a Grey Friars (Franciscan) friary, with a preparatory school in Hertford, Hertfordshire which had supplementary schools at Ware and Broxbourne.In 1902 the Newgate Street and Hertford schools relocated to its present location south of Horsham in West Sussex. A new railway station adjacent to the new site was partially sponsored by the school and also opened in 1902. A girls' school was founded in Hertford after the boys' school moved to Horsham. The girls' school was incorporated into the Horsham site in 1985 when the Hertford site was closed.The trustees of the foundation are the Council of Almoners, chaired by the Treasurer of Christ's Hospital, who govern the foundation according to a Scheme of Administration granted by the Charity Commission. The historic Court of Governors survives as a formal institution consisting of over 650 benefactors but its powers have since the 19th century been largely transferred to the smaller Council of Almoners.