Monkton Combe School is a public school (fee-charging boarding and day school), located in the village of Monkton Combe near Bath in Somerset, England. It is a member of the Rugby Group of major independent boarding schools in the United Kingdom. Monkton Combe School was founded in 1868 by the Revd. Francis Pocock, a former curate to the Bishop of Sierra Leone in the 1850s.

Buildings and Grounds

Several of the school's buildings are listed, including the main Senior school block known as The Old Farm, and the part of the Terrace Block known as The Old Vicarage. The school has extensive grounds at both the Preparatory and Senior schools. The Senior cricket pitches (Longmead and Landham) with their thatched pavilion are described as among of the most picturesque in England, regularly featuring in the Wisden Cricket Calendar’s ‘loveliest grounds’ lists. The school maintains two boathouses, both on the River Avon. The older is situated on the edge of the Senior school grounds, sitting below the Dundas Aqueduct and is used mainly for junior rowing. In 2014 the school opened a new boathouse in the nearby village of Saltford, which benefits from a wider and straighter stretch of river, as well as more spacious land facilities. Students row as part of the Monkton Combe School Boat Club, with the racing name Monkton Bluefriars.

Houses

At the Senior school there are three boys houses: Farm, Eddystone and School; and three girls houses: Grove Grange, Clarendon and Nutfield. Each house has both day and boarding pupils. Clarendon house continues the traditions of Clarendon School for Girls, a former independent girls school which merged with Monkton in 1992, at which point the school became coeducational. The Preparatory school has four day pupil houses: Howard, Easterfield, Kearns and Jameson; in addition to Hatton house, a mixed boarding house.

Achievements & Artefacts

Olympic Medalists

The school’s has produced five Olympic rowing medalists. Each represented Great Britain and three won gold medals. In addition an OM achieved an Olympic Gold Medal representing Great Britain at men's hockey, while another captained the England Netball Team which won Gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

HMS Magpie

The school has ties to the Royal Navy ship HMS Magpie, a Black Swan-class sloop which was commanded by then Lieutenant-Commander, later Admiral of the Fleet the Duke of Edinburgh. The ties were established when the ship took the Junior school’s badge, a magpie (designed by the art mistress, Miss Bulmer), as its ship’s emblem. The ship's bell was presented to the Junior School upon its decommissioning. The link is maintained with the current HMS Magpie, a survey ship, which continues to use the magpie emblem.

Marshall Sledge

OM Lieutenant Colonel Eric Marshall, who served as surgeon during the 1907 British Antarctic Nimrod Expedition donated a sledge and flag used on the expedition to the school, where it remained on display for many years. Due to its deteriorating condition the school sold it at auction in 2018, replacing it with a replica sculpture, ‘Discovery & Endeavour’.

Head Masters

The following have served as Head Master and/or Principal of the school:

Notable Masters

Notable alumni (Old Monktonians)

19th Century

Early 20th Century

Late 20th Century

21st Century