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Currently a co-eductional public school (UK), the College has approximately 800 pupils of the ages between 13–18. Famously, pupils are at Wellington to "learn how to live" and correspondingly the College excels at both academic and leisure activities. Historically, pupils at the school have excelled at Rugby Football, Field Hockey and Cricket.
It is located in a 400 acre (1.6 km˛) estate in South East England, in the county of Berkshire, approximately 30 miles (50 km) from Heathrow Airport and close to the railway town of Reading, England. The grounds of the college are notable in that they contain many unusual antCompared to much of the rest of Europe, the UK is not a 'hot spot' for ants . The size and diversity of ant species in any area is largely determined for the highest summer soil temperature, and this being so, it is not surprising that the greatest concen species, and were frequented by the entomologist Horace DonisthorpeDonisthorpe in front of the "Watch oak" in Great Windsor park surrounded by a group of Crown Estate Officers''September 15th, 1928 Horace St. John Kelly Donisthorpe F. March 17, 1870 April 22, 1951) was an eccentric British myrmecologist and coleopterist,, who collected extensively there. The main buildings were designed by Gilbert Scott and the chapel was designed by John ShawJohn Shaw ( 1773 17 September 1823) was a Captain in the early years of the United States Navy. He was born at Mt. Mellick, Queens County, Ireland in 1773, and moved to the United States in 1790, where he settled in Philadelphia, and entered the merchant.
Famous former pupils of the school include the actor Christopher LeeCount Dooku in Attack of the Clones Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (born May 27, 1922 in London) is a prolific British actor known for his versality and film longevity. He should not be confused with Christopher Lee, historian. Lee became famous for his, the motor racing driver James HuntFor the United States politician, see Jim Hunt. James Hunt ( August 29, 1947 June 15, 1993) was a British Formula One race car driver, the 1976 World Champion. Hunt, born in Belmont, debuted in Formula One with the colourful Hesketh team in 1973, scoring and the UK Pop IdolFor an article about general popular culture icons, see Pop icon Pop Idol Finalists with dates of elimination Season 1 ( 2002) Will Young''winner Gareth Gates 10 February Darius Danesh 3 February Zoe Birkett 27 January Hayley Evetts 20 January Rosie Ribbo winner Will Young. It has been claimed that Jeffrey Archer, who was actually educated at the less prestigious Wellington School, a minor public school in the Somerset town of Wellington, falsely claimed in his youth that he had been to Wellington College.
Common to other public schools including Eton College, Wellington has its own peculiar slang and naming system. This includes ""Grubbies"" for the school shop, ""Tish"" for partition walls between pupil's rooms and ""Bigside"" and ""Turf"" for playing fields.
Tenuous relations exist with the Wellington College in Wellington, New Zealand. Possibly the most famous example was during World War II when Wellington College NZ converted its playing fields into a small farm and sent food over to Wellington College, Berkshire.