1920s – City of Oxford School Association

25 November 20254 August 2026

The Old Bastion

This article dates from a school magazine in the 1920s and complements another one which speaks of the city wall

One would think that every Oxford High School boy knew the old bastion which still rears its somewhat stained shattered form on the south side of the school playground; yet, strange to say, we found that, when the fact that we were making enquiries about the bastion became generally known, the most frequent question that we were asked was , “What and where is the Bastion?”

20 November 20253 August 2026

Cigarette Cards

Writer unknown:

I was fascinated by Nigel Molden’s story of the cigarette card with the COS insignia. I would guess that it dates from the time before the word “High” was added to the title, which I would place some time in the 1920s or early 30s.

20 November 20253 August 2026

Who did what?

Earlier in this century, Mike Chew tried to construct a list of Old Boys still alive, in association with Malcolm Williams, that could serve as a base for the reconstitution of the school register for 1929-1966. He constructed two lists: a short one with just names and perhaps a job title, and a second which carried quite a bit more detail on Old Boys who were still alive at the time.

We reproduce his work here:

21 October 20253 August 2026

The School Roll of Service 1914-18

The transcript below is of a talk was given by Professor Adrian Gregory, the guest speaker at the COSA Annual Luncheon of 2017. It is a comprehensive review of the participation of Old Boys and Staff in the First World War.