Colyton Grammar School - History

History

The school was founded in 1546, by a group of twenty yeomen and merchants who bought some land from the crown "for the benefit of Colyton". Their first act was to endow a Grammar School "for the goodly and virtuous education of children in Colyton for ever".

The school was first situated in a single room over the porch of the parish church until the Feoffees hired a room in the town and the school was moved. In 1612, the school moved to the Church House, which had been enlarged by having another storey built on to it.

The first headmaster on record was William Hull, who joined the school in 1603, for a salary of £5 a year. The first headmistress - Mrs. Susanah Stokes - was appointed in 1792. It was only in 1875 that the school was established as a day and boarding school with its current name - Colyton Grammar School.

On June 20, 1876, school population reached record low of just one pupil. Numbers steadily increased again and by August 1884, there were 33 pupils. School was closed in 1900, due to a lack of pupils. It remained closed for 5 years until 1905, when it was re-opened with a new headmaster.

In 1913, a change in the school's constitution allows girls to be admitted for the first time and the school officially becomes a co-educational grammar school. A Board of Governors - 15 people - was instituted in 1914. In 1929, the school moved to its present site in Colyford.

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