Former pupil Peter Rampton had kept in contact with a number of old school friends over the years and a group of 9 met at the Nags Head, in Windsor on 9 December 2003. I was not present, but the group had a great time and they felt that they should try to contact other ex-pupils who would like to chat about old times.

Peter arranged another reunion, Nags Head June 19th 2004, 16 people attended this time and a great time was had by all. During the haze and euphoria of the evening it was suggested that there should be a Website for the school, but that was as far as it went.

Following that meeting Stuart Crane registered the domain name Royal-Free.com and the search was on for someone to create a website for the school.

As a former pupil I have always been interested in the history of the school and so I searched for information on the Internet, I could hardly find anything about the school! How could this be, I was both surprised and a little angry, so many who owe so much to such an establishment could record so little, the school is now closed – is it to be forgotten? Former pupils had spent up to 12 years of their lives being educated at the Royal Free and some Teachers had been helping pupils for even longer, but did anybody know much about its history, had the full story ever been told?

In 1955 a brief history of the school was written to coincide with its 250 years anniversary, an extract reads:

“The history of the Royal Free Schools is most interesting to the Educationalist, and one day it is hoped that the full story may be written; but it is thought that a brief sketch of how these schools have developed may be interesting, not only to the boys both past and present but to a wider public interest in local history. It seems to us that the 250th Anniversary of the foundation of the oldest part of the school is a suitable time to review the past, and the following is offered in the hope that more interest in the schools will be aroused”.

Today is 11th October 2004 I have started to put together this website detailing as much about the school as I can find, I believe this may be our last chance to record its place in history. It will be 12 months before the site has any substance just in time for the 300 year anniversary in November 2005, it will take many more years to complete the full story!

In 2005 a reunion was held to celebrate the schools 300 years.

Unfortunately by 2012 little interest was shown in the website and new contributions were almost non existent, the domain was therefore left to expire and the unfinished web site closed.

I was browsing the internet during the Coronavirus lockdown of 2021 and I came across an article on The Royal Windsor Forum hoping that the Royal Free website could be reinstated and resources shared so I thought why not!

Here we go again 6th April 2021 websites have changed, software has changed and I’m getting older but I will give it a go. New domain name RoyalFreeSchool.uk,  hopefully more input this time and a good working relationship with The Royal Windsor Forum who may be able to give the site some longevity when I am no longer around to look after it.

Royal Free Forever!

Andrew Soles – Webmaster