11
Recent School Development
An exciting new construction project
is well under way at King's College: the
school is building a new 300-seater
amphitheatre on the lawn outside the
existing theatre, to provide a versatile
venue for drama and music in the
warmer months.
he new facility will be bowl-shaped,
with a circular stage, surrounded by
concentric rings of seating, rising up
to ground level. he area around the
amphitheatre will be extensively relandscaped
with trees and pathways.
here will be power laid on for sound
and lighting and the seating will be
softly lit at night.
he £100k project was made possible
by the generous donation of an old boy
of the school, who wishes to remain
anonymous. he donor is delighted
with the plans and excited about seeing
the finished article in a few months'
time. he amphitheatre was designed
by Rob Mitchell of Mitchell and Taylor
Workshop Architects and is being built
by George Brothers of Taunton. he build quality is extremely high, using
Cornish granite for the stage and the
seating.
Headmaster, Richard Biggs, says
"Having started out as a slightly crazy
idea, it is wonderful to see this plan
coming to fruition and I am eternally
grateful to the alumnus who shared
my vision of a stunning piece of
performance architecture in the
middle of the school and was prepared
to make it all possible. Not only will the amphitheatre be an exciting space for
drama and music, it should also be a
useful outdoor classroom and, I hope,
a popular gathering place for our
pupils. It will be a unique and versatile
addition to our already splendid drama
facilities. I can't wait to see it up and
running."
he amphitheatre is scheduled for
completion in mid February, with a
formal opening planned in the summer.
Amphitheatre
In the middle of the 19th Century, the informal handball
and bat games played by school boys began to be officially
recognised in the construction of specialised courts at
a number of Public Schools. here were no standard
dimensions of a Fives court, but those at two of the most
famous establishments - Rugby School with four walls and
no hazards, and Eton College with three walls, a buttress
and a step were most common. he very simplicity of the
Rugby court, and the fact that it lent itself to both singles
and doubles, made it the more popular choice.
When the Rugby Fives Association was founded in the 1920s,
it established court dimensions and rules and , together
with the Jesters Club, started national competitions for
adults and schoolboys, which led to a boom in the 1930s.
After the war, and into the 60s, the game again saw a strong
revival, with a huge increase in the number of school and
club matches, regional championships and tournaments.
Today there are approximately 35 schools and 30 clubs
actively playing Rugby Fives, with almost all courts at schools
or universities, and each season the RFA organises over 40
nation-wide competitions.
Fives Court
he King's College Fives Court has recently been repainted.
he plan is to look at the possibility of bringing it up to
competition standard.
he word 'Fives' was first used to describe English handball
in the 17th Century. Some people say that the name derives
from the five fingers of the hand, others find it significant
that the scores were kept in tallies of five points and there's
an unlikely theory that early Fives involved teams of five
players. he King's Fives court was built in 1900.