Repton

Repton, a village of Derbyshire, 6½ miles SSW. of Derby and 4½ NE. of Burton-upon-Trent. Here was founded the first Christian church in Mercia, of which Repton for a while was the royal and episcopal capital. It was the seat from before 660 till its destruction by the Danes in 874 of a celebrated nunnery, as afterwards of an Austin priory from 1172 till the Dissolution. Remains of this priory are incorporated in the buildings of the free grammar-school, which, founded in 1556 by Sir John Porte, has risen to be one of the great English public schools, with an endowment of £2000, eight scholarships and several entrance exhibitions, some 20 masters, and 275 boarders. Among former pupils have been Justice Denman, Bishop Piers Cloughton, Professor Sanday, and J. E. Sandys, the public orator at Cambridge. The parish church has a graceful spire and a very interesting Saxon crypt, 17 feet square. Pop. of parish, 2060. See Bigsby's History of Repton (1854).