The earliest document relating to the existence of what became Abingdon School dates from 1256 when John de Blosneville, Abbot of Abingdon Abbey, left a bequest for the support of thirteen poor scholars. Just over 300 years later, in 1563, John Roysse re-endowed the School as a new foundation following the dissolution of the Abbey under Henry VIII. Roysse’s endowment included property in the City of London, the income from which helped finance the School for the next 300 years. Sold in 1868, the proceeds underpinned the funding of the present school. However, our benefactors are by no means only historic: Richard Cox (1934), Hugh Leach (1953) and Nigel Hammond (1957), have all left substantial bequests to the School in recent years. Like many others before and since, they wanted to acknowledge the benefit they received from an Abingdon education and by so doing contribute to its future.

You can read two legators’ stories, or for more information on leaving a legacy, download our Legacy Brochure.

To pledge a legacy, please download and complete this form.

Watch our Will writing webinar hosted by Paul Batchelor (OA 2000) and his colleague Erica Burt-Moore from Knights plc who gave us a whistlestop guide to everything you need to know about Wills. As former Headmaster of Abingdon School, James Cobban, said “The greatest and last social blunder is for anyone over the age of 21 to die without making a Will”.