Tewkesbury Grammar School’s origins date back to the middle of the 16th century, when a free grammar school was founded.
For two and a half centuries, until 1862, it met in a chapel on the north side of Tewkesbury Abbey.
The school was quite small. Its scholars were probably the sons of middle-class townspeople.
In 1609, Sir Dudley Digges, one of Tewkesbury’s two MPs, gave £160 to buy land to give the school an income.
Then, in 1625, Mr William Ferrers, a London dealer, whose father lived on an estate at Fiddington, Ashchurch, near Tewkesbury, gave £20 in his will for the maintenance of a schoolmaster. He later became known as the school’s founder.
Instructions left by Mr Ferrers in annuities stated that the schoolmaster should teach poor men’s sons from Tewkesbury – and four from Ashchurch.
In the same year, Mr William Alye gave £70. These gifts enabled the school to progress, governed by two bailiffs, the justices, borough chamberlain and town clerk.
The school master was paid the princely salary of £40.
The school was mentioned in several Charters. One stipulated that the Master should be “learning and fearing God” and that he should be assisted by “a discreet and fit person” as an usher.
A book published in 1712 refers to a Minister who visited the school three times a week, to give extracts from the Scriptures for the boys to learn by heart.
In 1810, the school’s total income was £52.
In 1851, a new scheme was drawn up under which boys “on the foundation” were limited to 12 from Tewkesbury, to be elected by the governors, and four from Ashchurch, to be elected by the Vicar and churchwardens.
Beautifully-kept minutes record the names of the boys who were elected over the years.
The boys might stay from eight to fifteen and learn Latin, Greek and English, with reading, writing, geography and arithmetic.
A turning point came when Mr Joseph Priestley was appointed Master in 1853.
He was faced with an unruly set of pupils and was refused a free hand by the governing body in what he felt to be necessary reform.
So he resigned, bought a house next to the Bell Hotel and opened the Abbey House School in 1858.
This boarding school prospered and expanded. There were 66 boarders and 20 day boys on the roll when Mr Priestley died in 1876.
Shortly afterwards, however, the number of boarders declined, as secondary education throughout the country progressed.
Meanwhile, the Grammar School continued to meet in the former Chapter House of the Abbey until 1862.
Then it moved to the home of the Master, Mr John Morgan, who had been appointed four years earlier.
In 1862, the school consisted of 32 boys – 16 free boys, 9 day boys paying four guineas a year and 7 boarders.
Towards the end of the century, the grammar school got into financial difficulties, and in 1899 it was forced to combine with the Abbey House School.
New premises – a two-storey building of red brick and stone – were built opposite the Abbey in 1906 and a new constitution was adopted in 1910 which gave the same board of governors control over both the Grammar School and the High School for Girls.
The premises were originally designed for about 50 students, but the school grew steadily in size until, by 1952, there were more than 150 pupils on the roll.
With no room for expansion, the school transferred in October that year to Southwick Park, in a rural setting on the south side of the town.
The old school building became the local branch library and registrar’s office.
At Southwick Park, the school enjoyed idyllic surroundings, if not perfect buildings in its evening years until it closed in 1972, when comprehensive education was introduced in the town.
Nearly 400 years’ history had come to an end – but would not be forgotten!
By kind permission of Paul Fluck, author of Tewkesbury Grammar School 1576 – 1972 Grenfell Publications 1987