Christ College

Many visitors to Brecon walk to the Usk bridge from where they can photograph the Beacons. In the foreground is a group of buildings which are also worth the visitor’s attention. At the entrance to these buildings a board tells the visitor this is Christ College, founded by royal charter in 1541. That is only half the story of this site which has been occupied for over seven hundred and fifty years. The history of Christ College falls into three unequal periods. For three hundred years it was a Dominican friary; in 1541 Henry VIII established a school here and finally in 1855 the modern ‘public’ school was founded by Act of Parliament. The surviving buildings reflect each of the three periods. The Dominicans were friars who first came to Britain in 1221; they are first mentioned as being at Brecon in 1269. Given that range of dates and the evidence of the surviving medieval buildings, it is likely that the friary was founded c.1250.