Episode 80. Christ’s Hospital Museum

SYNOPSIS

Housed in a former infirmary block, the Museum at Christ’s Hospital provides a comprehensive overview of the life of this self-proclaimed ‘school like no other.’ An independent boarding school that was founded by Royal Charter for the orphan children of poor Londoners, taking in its first pupils in 1552, Christ’s Hospital moved from its cramped 5-acre precincts near to St Paul’s Cathedral in London to its spacious 120-acre greenfield site outside Horsham, West Sussex in 1902. Here a new, purpose-built school had been expressly designed by the architects, Sir Aston Webb and Ingress Bell.

The interview covers some major points in the school’s historic timeline, including the establishment of the Royal Mathematical School in 1673; the education of three major Romantic poets, Charles Lamb, James Henry Leigh Hunt and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in its ‘golden age’; the development of the school’s famous marching band, founded in 1868; the creation of a series of murals in the Chapel by the artist, Frank Brangwyn between 1913 and 1923; and the evolution of the school’s unique Bluecoat uniform that explains the derivation of the term, Old Blue for its alumni.

Its Curator, Laura Kidner explains how two challenging events, a collapsing ceiling in 2019 and the Covid lockdown in 2020, were turned to positive effect as the museum was redesigned to allow new exhibits from its archives to be displayed with greater emphasis being placed upon Christ’s Hospital pioneering role in the education of girls.

GUESTS

Laura Kidner has a wealth of experience of managing sites of cultural and historical importance across West Sussex, where she resides. She is currently Curator of Museum at Christ’s Hospital school and oversaw the reorganization of the museum displays which are open to the public on selected days, by appointment or through the School’s Verrio Tours.

Arrangements for booking a tour of Christ’s Hospital Museum can be made through Christ’s Hospital website.

Simon’s interview with Laura Kidner was recorded at Christ’s Hospital Museum on 27 November 2025.