Christ’s Hospital School: The Blue Coat Boys

Christ’s Hospital was founded in 1552 by the boy-king Edward VI to provide education and care for London’s orphans and poor children. The school’s distinctive uniform—a long blue coat based on Tudor dress, yellow stockings, and white neck bands—has remained essentially unchanged for 470 years. The school moved from London to its current Horsham campus in 1902, but the ghosts came too. Generations of Blue Coat boys and girls (the school became co-educational in 1985) haunt both the old London sites and the newer Sussex campus.

The school’s history is marked by both charity and tragedy. While many children received education and opportunity they would never have had otherwise, many also died young of disease, malnutrition, and the harsh conditions of institutional care in earlier centuries. These children, dressed in their distinctive blue coats, still walk the corridors of Christ’s Hospital, perhaps seeking the comfort they never received in life.

The Hauntings

The Blue Coat Children

The school’s most frequent apparitions:

• Children aged 7-18 in the traditional uniform
• The long blue coat, yellow stockings, and white bands are unmistakable
• Seen walking the corridors, especially at night
• Some appear to be lost or crying
• They vanish when approached
• Most date from the 18th and 19th centuries when mortality was high
• Both boys and girls appear (though the school only admitted girls from 1985, orphaned girls were housed separately in earlier eras)

The Dormitory Ghosts

The boarding houses are particularly active:

• The sound of children crying at night
• Small figures sitting on the edge of beds
• The atmosphere of homesickness and fear
• Before modern medicine, many children died in these dormitories
• Illness spread quickly in crowded conditions
• Matrons report tucking in children who aren’t there

The Chapel

Built in Victorian Gothic style:

• The ghost of a chaplain who served for 40 years
• Children in blue coats attending services that aren’t happening
• The sound of hymn-singing when the chapel is empty
• The organ playing by itself
• Funeral services for children were frequent in earlier centuries—some say they continue

The Plague Children

From the Great Plague of 1665:

• Christ’s Hospital housed plague orphans in London
• Many died and were buried on the grounds
• When the school moved to Horsham, their ghosts came too
• Figures with plague sores and lesions
• The smell of sickness precedes their appearances
• They appear terrified and desperate

The Writing School

Where students learned penmanship:

• The sound of scratching quills and pen nibs
• Children bent over invisible desks
• A strict master who caned students still patrols
• The phantom sound of caning and crying
• Education was harsh in earlier centuries—the trauma remains

Edward VI

The royal founder:

• A boy in Tudor royal dress
• Edward VI died at age 15 in 1553, just a year after founding the school
• His ghost appears in the Great Hall
• He seems to be inspecting his foundation
• A frail, sickly presence (Edward was consumptive)
• Most commonly seen on 6 July, the anniversary of his death

The Greyfriars Site

The original London location (now gone):

• Built on the grounds of a medieval friary
• Monks from Greyfriars Monastery still appeared there
• After the school moved to Horsham, these sightings ceased
• But the Blue Coat children came to Sussex
• The ghosts followed the institution, not the place

The Sanatorium

Where sick children were isolated:

• Particularly haunted due to centuries of suffering
• The figure of a Victorian nurse
• Children coughing and crying
• Before antibiotics, minor illnesses became fatal
• Scarlet fever, tuberculosis, influenza—all claimed young lives
• The building is no longer used but remains active

Modern Activity

Christ’s Hospital maintains its traditions and acknowledges its ghosts:

• Students report regular sightings, especially in older buildings
• The Blue Coat uniform makes the ghosts immediately identifiable
• Staff acknowledge the phenomena, particularly in the boarding houses
• The school’s long history of caring for vulnerable children creates powerful emotions
• The combination of centuries of child suffering and institutional memory
• New students are warned about certain corridors and rooms
• The ghosts are seen as part of the school’s heritage—a reminder of its charitable mission

The Uniform Connection

The distinctive Blue Coat:

• Unchanged for 470 years
• Makes the ghosts unmistakable
• Living students still wear the same uniform as the dead
• This continuity may strengthen the hauntings
• The uniform symbolizes both charity and loss

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Christ’s Hospital has cared for vulnerable children for over 470 years. Not all of them survived to adulthood. The Blue Coat boys and girls—orphans, plague victims, and the desperately poor—still walk the halls in their distinctive Tudor uniforms, forever seeking the care and comfort that came too late. In their ancient blue coats, they are instantly recognizable, a haunting reminder of childhood cut short.