Queen's College, Taunton

First known as the Wesleyan Collegiate Institute, Queen's College was established by the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1843. Originally located in the Norman Castle in the town centre, the school opened with 34 pupils on 12 July 1843.

Under the headship of Thomas Sibley the school outgrew the old school classrooms and so a new building was commissioned in 1845 in the Trull area. Due to the increasing popularity of the school, they were forced to vacate the castle premises in 1847 and move into the new building before it was finished. The current school building is a symmetrical Tudor Gothic building built by Giles and Gane in 1845 and has been designated as a Grade II* listed building.[1] The original school site consisted of the main school building and upper playing fields. Since then the buildings have expanded, with the bridge and library (now known as the Old Music Room) being added to the school in the 1920s. This addition was built in commemoration, along with the obelisk on the front lawn, for those who served in the First World War.

The college's motto is non scholae sed vitae discimus ("We educate not just for school but for life’")

Since the school moved to its current location, there has been a significant expansion of the site to meet demand. With the addition of the lower playing fields, the Prep school building and the dormitories the school now sits in approximately 35 acres (140,000 m²) of grounds.

Facilities at the school include a sports centre with gym and heated pool, dedicated chemistry, physics and biology block, DT workshop, food and nutrition classroom, IT suites, library and learning resource centre, art studios, drama studio, and theatre seating 550. Since the 1970s the school has been co-educational with both female and male boarding houses being present on the school grounds. In 2016 the school appointed their first female head teacher, Lorraine Earps, who has driven a major refurbishment project including the upgrading of the old school room (then known as the performing arts centre, now known as the Wyvern Hall) into a space for lectures, dance and music recitals as well as formal dinners and conferences. Earps was replaced by Julian Noad on the 12th August 2021 as she took up another job as a head teacher in Cheshire. Noad has made it clear that he has a strong focus on improving the school's facilities as he has already approved of multiple refurbishment and developmental projects at the College.

The school is part of the Methodist trust and this plays a significant role in the charitable and social actions of the school. This is overseen by the resident school chaplain who is responsible for the social development and responsibilities of the school and its pupils.

The school has sports teams in cricket, rugby union, hockey, swimming, athletics, netball and tennis. The school also provides other popular disciplines such as rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, canoe polo, fencing, Duke of Edinburgh Award, mountaineering, badminton and horse riding.

Queen's College teaches performing arts, including drama and music, and dance. The Quartz festival, running from the first Wednesday of October each year for ten days, attracts over 6,000 visitors annually.[2] An edition of the BBC television programme This Is Your Life was broadcast from the school hall in February 1958, when host Eamonn Andrews surprised H J ‘Dapper’ Channon, a college master, known affectionately by all at the school as ‘Mr Chips’.

The prep school is split into four day houses and one boarding house, each accepting both boys and girls. The houses are named after local hill ranges: Quantocks, Brendons, Blackdowns and Mendips. The senior school operates a 'horizontal' pastoral system with students in year groups, each with a designated year lead. Since September 2019, there have also been houses for competitions towards the Founders' Shield and these are named after four of the school's founders - Barnicott, French, Ray and Woolmer.

Former pupils are known as Old Queenians, and include:

• Ben Ackland - Irish cricketer
• John Baron - Conservative MP
• Sir Robert Bond — Prime Minister of Newfoundland 1900–1909
• Richard Browning - inventor of a "jet suit"; founder and chief test pilot of 'Gravity Industries'
• Arthur Henry Reginald Buller - mycologist and President of the Royal Society of Canada
• Matthew Clay - 2006 Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist in Swimming
• Carrie Davis - Radio 1 sports analyst
• Sir Nicholas Barton "Nick" Harvey - Liberal Democrat MP
• Sir Robert Hart — Inspector-General of China's Imperial Maritime Customs Service 1863–1907
• Arthur Henderson — Labour politician, Baron Rowley of Rowley Regis, Secretary of State for Air 1947–1951
• Peter Honess - Oscar-nominated, BAFTA award-winning Hollywood film editor (L. A. Confidential); member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• Peter Mitchell - 1978 Nobel Prize Winner (chemistry)
• James Owen - Theoretical Astrophysicist
• Martin Pipe - racehorse trainer
• Dean Ryan - England international rugby union player and head coach of Gloucester RFU Club
• Leighton Seager - 1st Baron Leighton of St Mellons, shipping magnate
• Sir George Shenton — Mayor of Perth, Western Australia 1880–1884 & 1886–1888
• Harold Arthur Watkinson — Conservative politician and businessman, 1st Viscount Watkinson of Woking, Minister of Defence 1959–1962
• John Passmore Widgery- Baron Widgery of South Molton, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales 1971–1980
• James Howard Williams (Elephant Bill) - British Army officer and author
• Ed Weeks - actor
• J. Kevin Lally - drummer and founder of the psychedelic rock band Mandrake Memorial
• Jake Lintott - Hampshire County Cricket Club
• Tom Austen - English actor, known for his television appearances portraying Jasper Frost on The Royals and Guy Hopkins on Grantchester

Headmaster Chris Alcock resigned in 2016. Lorraine Earps then became the first female head teacher of Queen's College. on 12 August 2021 Julian Noad took over from Earps as headmaster. The current head teacher of the prep school is Henry Matthews. Matthews replaced Tracey Khodabandalo in 2021.

Chris Alcock was headmaster from 1 September 2001 until 31 July 2016. He was suspended from his post on 10 May 2016, and was subsequently subject to an internal investigation and resigned as Headmaster on 23 May 2016. The school waited seven years before suspending him, despite Gill Wilson, who was Mr Alcock's deputy, saying she first blew the whistle over his relationship with Miss Crew, to the Chair of the Governors in September 2009. The Teaching Regulation Agency panel found he failed to report an alleged rape and that this amounted to serious misconduct. The panel found that the teacher’s conduct (regarding the allegation made by a pupil, that they had been raped by another pupil and then Mr Alcock’s failure to report this to any outside agency) amounted to both unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. Governors also confronted him with accusations of downloading "highly inappropriate material" on computers and a phone provided to him by the college. Governors also discovered evidence of "inappropriate adult relationships" and accused Alcock of violating the school's code of conduct.[3][4]

• School Website
• Profile on the ISC website
• Profile on the Good Schools Guide