Eton

Just across the River Thames from Windsor, this town has grown up around Eton College, the famous public school that was founded in 1440 by Henry VI. Originally intended for 70 poor and worthy scholars, and to educate students for the newly created King’s College., at Cambridge University, the college has been added to greatly over the years. Of the original school buildings, only the College Hall and the kitchen have survived; the great gatehouse and Lupton’s Tower were added in the 16th century, and the Upper School dates from around 1690. Guided tours of the college are available.

The school has kept many ancient traditions over the years, including the black tail mourning coats that were originally worn on the death of George III in 1820 and which are still worn today. For centuries the college has educated the great and the good, among them William Pitt the Elder, Harold Macmillan, Thomas Gray (author of Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard), Henry Fielding, Shelley, George Orwell, Ian Fleming and the Princes William and Harry. Eton has also been famous in the past for its strict discipline, personified in 1832 by a master who told the pupils when they rebelled: “Boys, you must be pure of heart, for if not, I will thrash you until you are.”