Eton Fives court PA-53-146-2013 Eton fives is a unique form of the handball sport because of the architecture of the court. The boys did this in the space between the buttresses of College Chapel and found that the ridges and the intrusive buttress made for a distinctive game. It was so popular that in 1847... Continue Reading →
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Grace Bottomley, Archives Assistant Who are you and what do you do? Grace Bottomley, Archives Assistant. I catalogue documents from our archive, identifying the key information, dates and people involved within each record. This makes it easier for future researchers to find them on our online catalogue. I also assist researchers, answering enquiries and sourcing... Continue Reading →
Gaude rosa sine spina: Christmas carols and the Eton Choirbook
The Eton Choirbook, a rare and lovely survival of early Tudor choral music, does not, sadly, contain any Christmas carols. Carols were around in the years 1500 to 1504, when the choirbook was being made. They have their roots in the early middle ages, when Christmas music was either liturgical (the sequences of hymns assigned... Continue Reading →
Climbing heaven and gazing on the earth
Summer 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Moon landings. Earth’s only satellite has been humankind’s constant companion, and its regular phases of waxing and waning inspired some of the earliest ways of measuring time and setting calendars. Its gravitational forces combine with those of the Sun and with the rotation of the earth to... Continue Reading →
Remembering the First World War: the Libro d’oro
Eton’s chief Great War memorial was a large-scale bursary scheme for the sons of Old Etonians who had been killed, wounded or incapacitated in the war. It was decided early on that, in addition, there would also be a ‘permanent and visible record’ of the service and sacrifice of 1,157 old boys and Eton masters... Continue Reading →
