Eton
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| Eton
College,
in which Shelley
enrolled
in 1804, was
of course
easy to find,
and most
of the exteriors
we photographed
would have
been familiar
to him. Henry
V still maintains
his post
in the central
quadrangle,
and cloistered
areas still
are used
by Eton tutors. |
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| The room in which Shelley attended classes is also much
the same, although there would have been far fewer busts
along the walls. One can still see Shelley’s autograph carved
into the woodwork. |
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| Outside the quadrangles lie the famed playing fields of
Eton, and two sites that would have been especially important
to Shelley. In the area where the "Wall Game" (a sort of
penny-pitch using a small ball) was played, two sections
of the wall come together on a high rise of lawn that forms
a natural amphitheater. This is where Eton students used
to engage in a sort of trial by combat, working out their
differences through fisticuffs (so rough that at least one
child, a Shaftsbury heir, later died). |
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Shelley,
a strange-looking
child who
had arrived
in Eton
at mid-term
and who
refused
to participate
in such
traditional
activities
as serving
older boys,
had been
singled
out for
abuse from
the time
he arrived.
Today the
wall is
much as
Shelley
would have
remembered
it, with
the exception
of the
added gate
closest
to the
corner.
Further afield, the Eton woods afforded the boy more
freedom than he had known since leaving Field Place.
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| Today
the grounds
are carefully
manicured
into a park,
but in Shelley’s
day they
would have
been far
wilder and
more Romantic.
The young
poet spent
hours rambling
here, sometimes
walking
and talking
with friends,
and pausing
to rest
on a bench—a
copy of
which still
stands—that
afforded
a lovely
view of
the Thames. |
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| For
those wishing
to do Shelley
research
at Eton College,
a wonderful
contact is
the College
Librarian,
Michael Meredith.
He can be
reached through
his Administrative
Assistant,
Nick Baker
at 01753
671221 (fax:
01753 801507,
email: collections@etoncollege.org.uk).
The College
has a wonderful
collection
of Shelleyana,
including
personal
memorabilia,
autograph
copies of
his textbooks,
biographies,
and prints. |
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