Repton

Repton, a village in the S. parliamentary division of Derbyshire, England, 8 m. S. W. of Derby, on the Midland railway. Pop. (1901) 1695. It is famous for its school, founded in 1557 by Sir John Port, of the neighbouring village of Etwall, which has valuable entrance scholarships, and two leaving exhibitions to the universities annually. The number of boys is about 300. The school buildings are modern, but incorporate considerable portions of an Augustinian priory established in 1172. There was an ecclesiastical establishment on this site in the 7th century, the first bishop of Mercia being established here. This was destroyed by the Danes in 874. In the second half of the 10th century, during the reign of Edgar, another church was founded. The existing parish church of St Wystan retains pre-Conquest work in the chancel, beneath which is a remarkably fine vaulted crypt, probably dating from the reign of Edgar, its roof supported on fluted columns. The monastery was dissolved by Henry VIII.