Running Late

Arriving late for Chapel was, in the early days of the school, the subject of a number of rules now defunct. One was not late provided one could get through the doors before they were shut, and this led to what LS Milford describes as a deliberate 'scrummmage' at the door as the press of those arriving sought to hold the door open against the prefects inside.

No cloisters yet in this view

Then once the cloisters were built a boy was held to be in time if the clock had not yet struck by the time he reached their sanctuary. In order to make sure that everyone heard the clock a hand bell was rung in the cloisters to mark the time.

Milford goes on: 'For a long while after the bell was abolished the habitual sluggards, or those who are professionally nearly as late as they can be for all their engagements, or those who enjoyed a sprint, expected some earlier arrival in the Quadrangle to shout "running," and then they ran. This dangerous practice has been stopped. It is natural perhaps, to like the run, but after all it is hardly a good preparation for public worship.'


He does not make it clear whether those "running' were allowed to run over the grass.