one of the oldest of the great public schools of England, in Winchester, Hampshire. Its formal name, St. Mary College of Winchester near Winchester, dates from 1382, when it was founded by Bishop William of Wykeham (Wykeham, William of) (q.v.) to prepare boys for his New College, Oxford, known as St. Mary College of Winchester in Oxford. The organization of the school, established as a self-governing and sovereign body, was the pattern for Henry VI's foundation at Eton College and, more generally, the pattern for other English public schools.