ABSTRACT
The aspirations of the Taunton Commissioners for a tripartite structure of secondary education to correspond with the gradations of middle-class society have been widely publicized: less clearly recognized is the extent to which these proposals were implemented. The nine major public schools were quick to respond to the criticisms of the Clarendon Commissioners who found, in most instances, both buildings and internal organization to be defective. The new school was designed to allow some movement by children between rooms, and to provide larger rooms for teaching combined classes. Lancing College, although originally planned as one of Woodard’s ‘middleclass’ schools, was already, after the beginning of its magnificent chapel in 1862, set fair to become a major public school in its own right. In Exeter, the intentions of the Endowed Schools Commissioners were explained at length in a letter from Bishop Frederick Temple to the mayor.
