Eton College Eton College Eton College () is an English independent boarding school for boys in Eton, Berkshire, near Windsor. It educates more than 1,300 pupils, aged 13 to 18 years. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as 'The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor', making it the 18th-oldest Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) school. Eton is one of the original nine public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. The others were Harrow, Charterhouse, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Westminster, Winchester, Merchant Taylors' and St Paul's. Following the public school tradition, Eton is a full boarding
Eton, Berkshire immediately around the hamlet was granted to the college, which stopped further growth. The new college chapel made the village a pilgrimage point, and inns were set up along the high street. Henry VI gave the college the right to hold fairs on its grounds. During the English Civil War, after Windsor Castle was captured by parliamentarian forces, the Royalist army moved into Eton and attempted to retake the town, occupying the college. Efforts to retake Windsor were unsuccessful and the royalists eventually fled. The college sometimes leased small plots of land to the village as an act of charity,