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King’s has a fascinating past. Refounded as a Cathedral School by King Henry VIII in 1541, the School’s foundation papers and older records are housed in Worcester Cathedral Archive. Meanwhile, King’s houses its own nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first Century records.
In 1998, the King’s Worcester Archive was set up by Caroline Roslington, who gathered together and catalogued as many photographs, books and memorabilia as she could find. The Archive now has thousands of items, including photographs, books, school caps and colours, uniform, and artefacts, as well as documents of all kinds. New items are constantly accessioned and added to our database, and an in-house digitisation programme is gradually being implemented.
We are always collecting for the future, as well as the past. If you have or know of any old King’s photographs, books and items that you would like to donate, please bring them in.
Archive Aims
To conserve and catalogue the School’s collection of photographs, documents and artefacts, and to promote interest in the history of the School and its site with regular exhibitions and publications. Pupils and staff are encouraged to visit and use the Archive as much as possible.
Pupil Archivists
We have very enthusiastic teams of pupils attending the Archives Club: volunteers who meet during lunchtime to assist with the running of the Archive, including helping with enquiries, accessioning new items, and setting up displays.
Research
Amongst our main sources are:
- Copies of The Vigornian magazine from 1880 – over two hundred and fifty issues now in digital (searchable PDF) format. These can be purchased from the Foundation Development Office
- School registers from 1832
- The OV Club registers and minutes from 1904
- The recollections of W.E.Bolland, Headmaster, 1879-96 and W.H.Chappel, Headmaster, 1896-1919
- Various financial reports
- Alec Macdonald’s very readable history published in 1930
- Michael Craze’s invaluable and very detailed history, written in 1970
- The new history of the School, published in 2016 as part of the school’s 475th anniversary celebrations
- Correspondence and documents regarding King’s wartime evacuation to Criccieth, 1939-1940
The King’s School, Worcester and a History of its Site, compiled by pupils at the school as part of the school’s 450th Anniversary celebrations.
We answer queries from researchers and members of the public worldwide on all sorts of topics, but mainly receive family history enquiries from OVs or people researching particular individuals.
A member of the National Archives Initiative: ARCHON directory code 2895.
