ETON, a town of Buckinghamshire, England, on the Thames, opposite Windsor. Pop. 2,005. It is famous for its college, the largest of the ancient English public schools. The "King's Col lege of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor" was founded by Henry VI. in 1440-41 and endowed mainly from the revenues of the alien priories suppressed by Henry V. The founder followed the model established by William of Wykeham in his foundations of Win chester and New College, Oxford. The original foundation at Eton consisted of a provost, i o priests, 4 clerks, 6 choristers, a schoolmaster, 25 poor and indigent scholars, and the same num ber of poor men or bedesmen. In 1443, however, Henry increased the number of scholars to 7o. The bedesmen who soon disap peared were reduced. A connection was then established, and has been maintained since, though in a modified form, between Eton and Henry's foundation of King's College, Cambridge. One of the king's chief advisers was William of Waynflete, who had been bishop of Winchester and was appointed provost of Eton in 1443. The statutes in their final form provided for the establishment of commensales or commoners, dis tinct from the scholars ; arid these under the name of "oppi dans" now form the principal body of the boys. The college sur vived the unsettled period at the close of Henry's reign; while Edward IV. curtailed its possessions, and was only just prevented from amalgamating it with the ecclesiastical foundation of St. George, Windsor Castle. The teaching embraces classical and modern subjects; but until the first half of the 19th century the normal course of instruction remained almost wholly classical.
The present constitution of the college dates from an act of 1868. Under the statute, last modified in i 904, the foundation consists of a provost, appointed by the Crown, and a body of fellows, comprising the provost of King's college, Cambridge, a vice-provost, representatives nominated respectively by the uni versities of Oxford and Cambridge, the Royal society, the lord chief justice and the masters of the school, the remaining four being co-opted. The scholarships are open to all boys who are British subjects between 12 and 15 years of age. Twenty-four foundation scholarships at King's college, Cambridge, are re served for Etonians; and there are several scholarships and exhibitions tenable at Oxford or Cambridge, or either university.
The college buildings were founded in 1441 and occupied in part by 1443, but the whole original structure was not completed till So years later. The older buildings consist of two quadrangles. The outer quadrangle, or school-yard, is enclosed by the chapel, upper and lower schools and the original scholars' dormitory ("long chamber"), now transformed. It has in its centre a bronze statue of the royal founder. The buildings enclosing the inner or lesser quadrangle contain the residence of the officials, the library, hall and various offices. The chapel represents only the choir of the church which the founder originally intended to build ; but as this was not completed Waynflete added an ante-chapel. The chapel contains some monuments of provosts and at the west end of the ante-chapel is a fine statue of the founder, by John Bacon. A chapel on the north side commemorates Etonians who fell in the World War. A chantry contains the tomb of Roger Lupton (prov ost (1503-35), whose most notable monument is the fine tower be tween the schoolyard and the cloisters. The space enclosed by two buttresses on the north side of the chapel, at the point where steps ascend to the north door, is the model of the peculiar form of court for the game of fives which takes its name from Eton, with its "buttress" (represented by the projecting balustrade), the ledges round the walls, and the step dividing the floor into two levels. From the foundation of the college the chapel was used as the parish church until 1854, and not until 1875, after the alteration of the ancient constitution had secularized the foundation, was the parish of Eton created into a separate vicar age. The chapel does not accommodate the whole school; and a new chapel, from the designs of Sir Arthur Blomfield, is used by the lower school. This contains some admirable modern tapes tries, glass and w8odwork. The library contains many manu scripts (notably an Oriental collection) and rare books; and there is also a library for the use of the boys. The college has far outgrown its ancient buildings, and new buildings, besides the lower chapel, include the new schools, with an observatory, a chemical laboratory, science schools, and museum and boarding houses. In i9o8 King Edward VII. opened a range of buildings erected in honour of the old Etonians who served in the South African War. The buildings include a school hall with a fine organ, a domed octagonal library, and a museum of antiquities.
The principal annual celebration is held on June 4, the birth day of King George III. Speeches in Upper School, and a pro cession of boats are regular features of the day. In rowing Eton occupies a unique position among the public schools, and a large proportion of the oarsmen in the University boat-race have been alumni of the school. Another annual celebration is the contest between collegers and oppidans at a peculiar form of football known as the wall game, from the fact that it is played against a wall bordering the college playing-field. This game takes place on St. Andrew's Day, Nov. 3o. The field game of football commonly played at Eton has also peculiar rules. The leading cricket matches are those between Eton and Winchester (played alternately at the two schools) and Eton and Harrow (at Lord's ground, London). A singular custom termed the Montem, first mentioned in 1561, was observed here triennially on Whit Tuesday. The last celebration took place in 1844. It consisted of a procession of the boys in a kind of military order, with flags and music, headed by their "captain," to a mound called Salt Hill, near the Bath road, where they levied contributions or "salt" from spectators. The average number of pupils exceeds 1,ioo.