Eton Montem Eton Montem Eton Montem (or "ad Montem" – literally "to the Mountain") was a custom observed by Eton College from at least 1561 until it was finally suppressed in 1847, at the Montem Mound (or Salt Hill) in Chalvey, Slough, Buckinghamshire (later Berkshire). The mound is situated some 2 miles from the college near the London to Bath coach road, now the A4. Montem is first reported in William Malim's "consuetudinarium" (book of customs) of 1561, when it seems to have been an initiation ceremony for new boys, who were scattered with salt (which can mean 'wit' as well as
Eton College was first worn as mourning for the death of George III in 1820 is unfounded. In 1862, headmaster Edward Balston, in an interview with the Clarendon Commission, noted little in the way of uniform. Lord Clarendon: One more question, which bears in some degree upon other schools, namely with regard to the dress. The boys do not wear any particular dress at Eton ? Edward Balston: No, with the exception that they are obliged to wear a white neckcloth. Lord Clarendon: Is the colour of their clothes much restricted? Edward Balston: We would not let them wear for instance a