Rugby was immortalised in Tom Brown’s School Days, but its headmaster, Peter Green, is brandishing another book — a Christie’s catalogue with the school’s name on it. During an attic clear-out items were discovered in an archive room and were put up for sale. They had been given to the school in around 1880 by the Old Rugbeian Matthew Holbeche Bloxam, and included Chinese ceramics and British watercolours. The highlight was a rare drawing by Dutch Old Master Lucas van Leyden, which sold for £10 million.
If the decision to sell that seems crass, it isn’t, says Green. ‘Why would we keep it? It has no intrinsic value to Rugby School. If we were able to build a massive museum, then perhaps. But to insure it we would have had to charge our parents, who are paying fees for an education, for a museum, which doesn’t seem right.’ In any case, the upshot is that the 452-year-old public school has been given a £15 million cash injection.
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