Rugby School is a boys' public school founded by Laurence Sheriff, a merchant grocer of London, in 1567. The school became unfit for use in 1748 and was rebuilt on its present site consisting of a school house, quad, chapel, and a magnificent playing field. The subsequent high reputation of the school stems from the headmastership of Thomas Arnold.

A Dictionary of British History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.