St. Bees School - History

History

The school was founded in 1583 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edmund Grindal, who was born in the village of St Bees. Having fallen out with Queen Elizabeth I, and although ill and blind, he refused to resign his position until the Queen signed the letters patent which would create the Free Grammar School at St Bees. The school was founded in 1583; a few years after Grindal's death. Thanks to his making an agreement with The Queen's College, Oxford and his purchase of local tithes, the school was both financially and academically able to prosper.

Although specifically incorporated for the education of boys from Cumberland and Westmorland, as early as 1604 people from outside Cumbria were being educated at St. Bees in the original schoolroom (now one of the school dining rooms) near the Priory Church. The school slowly expanded, despite one Headmaster who worked his pupils like labourers. The school had enjoyed some financial security for many years, lessened in 1742 when the school sold Sir James Lowther an eight hundred and sixty-seven year mineral lease for much less than market value. In the nineteenth century the school started to look like it is now. Thanks to a resolution of the mineral rights issue being obtained through the Court of Chancery in 1842, the school was able to physically expand, with what is now the "Quadrangle" being built, Grindal House (formerly a hotel) purchased and the Headmaster's Residence being constructed. At the turn of the twentieth century the School Chapel was built, along with what is now the Art Department and the School Library, and the swimming baths. By the outbreak of the First World War the school had reached a peak of three hundred pupils, a figure which would not be seen again for some years.

During the Great War three old boys of the school were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for military gallantry in Britain and many of the British Commonwealth countries (see St. Bees V.C. winners for more details. Old boy Alfred Critchley became one of the youngest Brigadier-Generals in the British Empire at the age of twenty-seven for his heroic conduct (he was older than Roland Boys Bradford, V.C. but younger than Bernard Freyberg, V.C.). One hundred and eighty old boys gave their lives during the war, and a special memorial was built overlooking the sports fields where so many had previously played.

After the war the number of students remained high, but in common with many other schools the numbers decreased and then went into free-fall during the 1930s. The situation became so critical that the Governors of the School attempted to have the school nationalised. In the end, the old boys put together a rescue package and the school remained independent, it being the only one of its kind at the time in Cumberland and Westmorland.

In 1938, during the final stages of recovery from the Great Depression, the school's headmaster of the day, George Mallaby, made an unusual career move by becoming District Commissioner for the special area of west Cumberland, with the task of alleviating the problems of unemployment.

During the Second World War the school had Mill Hill School join it in St. Bees after the latter's buildings in London were occupied by the government. The two schools remained independently run, however, sports teams from each school would frequently play each other. The cadet corps of the two schools combined to help form the St. Bees Home Guard, resulting in the group being better equipped than many other Home Guard groups, given that the cadets already had the necessary equipment.

Seventy-two old boys gave their lives during the conflict, and after the victory a Memorial Hall was erected in their honour. During the 1950s a new science block was built, and in 1970 the school became coeducational. New boarding houses were purchased for both girls and boys, Bega and Abbot's Court respectively, and to celebrate the school's quatercentenary in 1983 an appeal was launched which would give the school a new sports hall, opened in 1988.

The 1990s saw the opening by Prince Charles of the Whitelaw Building, a multi-function business centre and teaching area which was named after the-then Chairman of the Board of Governors, William Whitelaw. In 2000, Barony, the music centre was entirely refurbished and reopened and renamed the Fox Music Centre in memory of old boy Bill Fox. To mark the millennium, a time capsule was buried in the North-East corner of the Quadrangle.

In September 2008, a Preparatory Department was launched, catering for pupils from the age of 8 until they joined the main school. At this time, a nearby independent school with a prep department, Harecroft Hall, had just closed. The school again expanded in September 2010 to include pupils from age 4.