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The London Oratory School, also informally called the Oratory, is a Catholic voluntary aided secondary school for boys aged 7–18 and girls aged 16–18 in West Brompton. Founded in…
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Investigate this subjectThe London Oratory School, also informally called the Oratory, is a Catholic voluntary aided secondary school for boys aged 7–18 and girls aged 16–18 in West Brompton. Founded in 1863 by The Fathers of The London Oratory then in Chelsea, London, it is historically linked to two fellow Oratorian institutions: the nearby Brompton Oratory and The Oratory School in Oxfordshire.
The London Oratory School, also informally called the Oratory, is a Catholic voluntary aided secondary school for boys aged 7–18 and girls aged 16–18 in West Brompton. Founded in 1863 by The Fathers of The London Oratory then in Chelsea, London, it is historically linked to two fellow Oratorian institutions: the nearby Brompton Oratory and The Oratory School in Oxfordshire. The school is known for the quality of its choral and instrumental music and is one of England's oldest Catholic schools. The London Oratory School was named in The Sunday Times as one of the 'Top 10 Comprehensive Schools in the UK' for both 2022 and 2023.
The London Oratory School admits 180 boys to the first form, as well as twenty boys who join the senior school from the Junior House. The School educates boys aged 7–16 and boys and girls aged 16–18 in the sixth form. There are around 1,350 pupils including about 350 in the sixth form. The School shares its religious and cultural identity with the Congregation of the Oratory who founded the School and are its trustees. The school's formal links with the Brompton Oratory go back to the foundation of the school by The Congregation of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri (London) and continue as the Fathers of this Congregation are the trustees of the School. The London Oratory School and The Brompton Oratory continue their close working relationship which includes the Oratory Fathers supplying chaplaincy to the School and the School supplying the Schola choir for the parish.
The Fathers of the London Oratory in Brompton, near South Kensington, opened their first school in King William Street in the City of London in 1852 and two parochial schools in Chelsea in 1856. Seven years later, in 1863, at the request of Cardinal Wiseman, who wanted to provide a wider education for Catholic children than was available at that time, the Oratory Fathers established a school for boys in Chelsea, and in 1870 a school for girls staffed by the Daughters of the Cross. These schools were fee paying and they were the forerunners of the present school.
Both schools flourished but in the early part of the last century Cardinal Vaughan asked the Oratory Fathers to inaugurate the first Central Schools for Catholic children. This they did in 1912, developing the two schools which ceased to be fee paying, into Central Schools on a site in Stewart's Grove, Chelsea.
During both World Wars, sixty six 'Old Oratorians' lost their lives fighting for their country, with some of the men having been members of the Oratory Cadet Corps. The vast majority of Oratory boys joined the Army or RAF, but a select few did join the Royal Navy. Old Oratorians were recipients of decorations, such as the Croix de Guerre, the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Cross. On the outbreak of war in 1939, the school, together with Fr Dale-Roberts of the Oratory, moved to Tonypandy in South Wales, whilst the school site in Stewart Grove was taken over by the War Office and used as a high status internment camp.
In 1959 the two central schools were amalgamated and in 1962 it was decided that the Daughters of the Cross were to be withdrawn after almost a century of devoted work. In 1963 the school was classed as a four-form entry grammar school admitting only boys since there were already many more selective places for girls than boys in the schools in the Westminster diocese. However, those girls currently at the school were, on the insistence of the newly appointed headmaster – who had applied for and been appointed head of a mixed school – allowed to remain at the school to complete their education.
The school moved to its present site in Fulham in 1970, now with six forms of entry (180) at 11+, with girls being admitted annually to the sixth form.
In September 1989 the school, formerly a voluntary-aided school, became a grant-maintained school, continuing in the trusteeship of the Fathers of the London Oratory, who own the building and grounds and appoint the majority of the governors.
The Junior House, occupying a newly built block adjacent to the Arts Centre, was opened in September 1996, to which 20 seven-year-old boys are admitted for a specialist music education, with a strong emphasis on Catholic liturgical music.
The school's houses are named after notable Catholic Tyburn Martyrs.
Twenty seven-year-old boys are admitted to the Junior House for a specialist musical education, including instrumental tuition. Some of the boys are admitted as choristers and sing in the London Oratory School Schola at from age 7. Boys admitted to the Junior House are full members of the school and are expected to continue their education at the school for the remainder of their Secondary Education. This is up until the age of sixteen.
Pupils are selected on the basis of their musical aptitude and are required to take part in musical and, in the case of choristers, choral activities arranged outside normal school hours, including weekends and holidays, and to learn at least the piano and an instrument of choice.
The Oratory in London is part of a liturgical and musical tradition which goes back to the 16th century when the first Oratory was established in Rome at the time of the Counter-Reformation. Both Pale
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Under the Academies Act 2010, the school became an Independent Academy in August 2011.
The school marked its 150th anniversary on 27 September 2013 with the celebration of Mass in Westminster Cathedral.
On 27 December 2023 at around 10 am, a blaze erupted in one of the school buildings. Emergency services were quickly on the scene and the fire was brought under control, with no casualties reported. The fire caused extensive damage, destroying the school's library and science block rendering the science labs unusable. A sixteen-year-old youth was arrested and taken into custody on suspicion of arson.
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