Grammar schools

Grammar schools

After the Reformation many cathedral and monastic schools were re-founded as grammar schools, while others were established by the local gentry.

Several boarding and day grammar schools had been set up in Norfolk by the 1600s.

School endowments often enabled them to provide free or partially free education.

Most focused on teaching classical subjects at first, as required by their school statutes and endowments.

However, many began to teach new subjects such as science during the 19th century.

This culminated in the Grammar Schools Act 1840, which allowed the schools to teach subjects not specified in their founding statute.

The Norfolk Record Office (NRO) holds some records relating to grammar schools which are detailed in the following chapters.

If the document reference begins ACC, advanced notice is required to view. Contact us if you wish to see these records.

The majority of these schools retain their own records, so the schools should be contacted directly to inquire about what records they hold and what the access arrangements are.

Independent schools

Many independent schools in Norfolk began as grammar schools, particularly those with boarding pupils.

They were often called public schools, since they attracted pupils from beyond the local area.

The Public Schools Act 1868 stated that these schools had to have a constitution and set out regulations for appointing school governors.

Although there are records of a few independent schools in Norfolk held at the NRO, the majority retain their own records.

Great Yarmouth Grammar School was founded in 1551 and occupied part of the site of St Mary's Hospital, on the east side of the Market Place.

The school was based in temporary buildings on Nelson Road until it moved to its permanent site on Trafalgar Road in 1872.

It was officially opened on 6 June 1872 by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII.

Later renamed Great Yarmouth High School, it became coeducational in 1970 and a technology college in 1997.

It is now the Great Yarmouth Charter Academy (opens new window).

• For a history of the school, see J B Whitehead, A History of the Great Yarmouth Grammar School, 1551-1951 (Great Yarmouth, 1951). There is a copy with the records of Great Yarmouth High School, see D/ED 9/66, 596X7.
• A copy of the School's anniversary order of service, Celebrating 450 Years in the Life of Great Yarmouth High School (2001) is at the front of the D/ED list in our searchroom.
• For records of Great Yarmouth Grammar School and of the Grammar School foundation, see lists D/ED 9 and Y/ED 163-268.#
• There is a series of admission registers, 1863-1959, see D/ED 9/1-10.
• For this school, we do hold pupils files, including reports, records cards and references (1948-87) - see D/ED 494/1-86 and D/ED 495/1-13. Please note that these files contain personal and sensitive information and they are usually closed to general public access for 75 years.

A grammar school was founded in Holt by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1554.

It is now an independent, coeducational boarding school.

Gresham's (opens new window) has an archive and maintains its own records. For histories of the school see:

• C L S Linnell, Gresham's School History and Register, 1555-1954 (Holt, 1955)
• S Benson, I Will Plant Me a Tree: an illustrated history of Gresham's School (London, 2002)

The King's Lynn Grammar School is believed to have originated from a deed of gift of land in Gaywood, made by Thomas Thorysby in 1543 to the Mayor and burgesses.

The gift was established to fund the appointment of a priest, as Master of the charnel-house chapel at St Margaret's, to teach grammar and song to six boys.

The school is now known as the King Edward VII Academy (opens new window).

• For deeds and papers relating to the King's Lynn Grammar School and related charities, 1408-1921, see list KL/C 58/1-45. These records are held at King's Lynn Borough Archives and this collection does not include records of pupils or admissions.
• For a history of the King's Lynn Grammar School, see M Walker, King Edward VII School: a Centenary Celebration (Brighton, 2005).
• A Avis, A Reminiscence of King Edward VII Grammar School, King's Lynn (privately published, 1991) is available on the searchroom shelves at the NRO.

King Edward VI's Grammar School (Norwich School (opens new window)) was established by a charter of King Edward VI in 1547.

It moved to its present location in Cathedral Close shortly after its foundation.

We hold some administrative papers of the King Edward VI Charity Foundation (see list MC 2668), but no records of pupils.

The King Edward VI School established a separate commercial school in 1862, later known as the King Edward VI Middle School, in St George's Street.

• Names of pupils admitted to this school and the grammar school are given in the governors' minutes, reference ACC 2001/273. For the grammar school, names of pupils are given from 1858-76 and for the commercial school from 1862-80. Thereafter, names of individual pupils admitted are not given in the minutes but, from 1911-46, copies of headmaster's reports to the governors are included.
• Published histories of the school, copies of which are available in our searchroom, are by: 
  • R Harries, P Cattermole and P Mackintosh, A History of Norwich School, King Edward VI's Grammar School at Norwich (Norwich, 1991)
  • H W Saunders, A History of the Norwich Grammar School (Norwich, 1932)

Norwich High School for Girls (opens new window) was founded in 1875.

It is one of 29 schools of the Girls' Day School Trust, which educates girls aged three to 18.

The school maintains its own records. For more about the school, see the following items, copies of which are available in our searchroom:

• A Brodie, Memories, Milestones and Miscellanies: 125 Years of Norwich High School for Girls (Norwich, c2000)
• The Girls' Public Day School Trust, Norwich High School, 1875-1950 (Norwich, 1950)

A free grammar school, founded by Sir William Paston, opened at North Walsham in 1605.

Although its last Paston family connection died out following the Civil War, the school continued to grow and a new schoolhouse was built in 1765.

Horatio Nelson and his brother William were admitted to the school as pupils in 1769.

For a history of the Paston School, see C R  Forder, A History of the Paston Grammar School (North Walsham, 1934). A copy is available on our searchroom shelves.

The school is now part of a sixth form college for the local area, formed by its merger with North Walsham High School for Girls in 1984.

Paston College (opens new window) maintains its own records. There are some records relating to the Paston Grammar School at the NRO, but these do not include records of individual pupils.

• For records of the Paston Grammar School, see MC 20/1-47. These include: 
  • Governors' order books and minutes, 1606-1975 (MC 20/1-5)
  • Title deeds and related documents, 1606-1902 (MC 20/5-12)
  • Treasurers' accounts, 1746-1908 (MC 20/13-14)
• For records of the Paston Grammar School and North Walsham High School, see MC 8 (see WD 1-132). These include: 
  • Governors' minutes, 1873-1936 (WD 1-3)
  • Deeds relating to the school, including copies of the deed of grant by Sir Willliam Paston to establish the school, 1606 (WD 4)
  • Various accounts, including school fees, 17th to 20th centuries (WD 19-32)
  • There are also governors' minutes, 1920-65, for North Walsham High School for Girls (WD 44-45)
• For Paston School cash accounts, 1909-17, fee accounts, 1911-22 and 1933-39 and fee receipt accounts, 1916-25, see ACC 19/1/1979
• For a drawing of the Paston School, 1781, by landscape gardener Humphry Repton, see FOS 437/1
• For correspondence concerning the re-endowment scheme of the Paston School, 1948, see MC 201/53, 666X7

There was a monastic school in Thetford by the 14th century.

At the Reformation, Sir Richard Fulmerston left £160 and property in his will for the provision of a free school for 30 boys.

Land in Holy Trinity churchyard and the former Blackfriars' church was allocated for the school.

In 1610, the re-foundation was confirmed when Fulmerston's will was ratified by a private Act of Parliament, which also made the Thetford Corporation trustees in perpetuity of the school.

Former pupils of the grammar school include the lawyer, writer and politician Roger North and the radical author Thomas Paine.

The Thetford Girls' Grammar School was built in 1888 with money left by Sir Joseph Williamson, Secretary of State to Charles II and a former MP for Thetford.

In 1944, the schools obtained voluntary controlled status and from 1975 they formed a single coeducational establishment. The school reverted to independent status in 1981.

The school (opens new window) maintains its own records. There are some records however, relating to the foundation of Thetford Grammar School and Fulmerston's charitable lands, in the Thetford Borough archive which held by us. These do not include records of individual pupils.

• For a petition concerning Fulmerston's charitable bequests, 1608, see T/C1/6.
• For 17th century copies of deeds and documents concerning Fulmerston's estates, see T/C 1/10.
• For an 18th century copy of the founding act of the grammar school, see T/C 1/12.
• TC 1/14 includes a copy of part of Sir Richard Fulmerston's will, late 18th century, and T/NS/1-16 includes a probate copy of his will, January 1567/8.
• Sir Richard Fulmerston's will was proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 12 November 1567. The registered copy of his will is held at The National Archives (TNA) (opens new window) and a copy can be downloaded for a small fee from their website. It can also be viewed at Ancestry (opens new window), which is a subscription website, but can be accessed free of charge from the NRO, Norfolk Heritage Centre or King's Lynn Borough Archives.
• For proceedings of a committee to consider the school's regulations, 1818, see T/MC 2/1 and for draft Charity Commission schemes, c1874 and 1905, see T/MC 2/2-3.
• For a photograph of staff and pupils of Thetford Grammar School in 1937, see MC 2621/1.
• For photographs, magazines and other records relating to Thetford Girls' Grammar School, 1903-95, see ACC 2008/270.
• For further information on the history of Thetford Grammar School see A Crosby, A History of Thetford (Chichester, 1986) and David Seymour, Thetford Grammar School: fourteen centuries of education (Oxford, Shire Books, 2015).

We also hold a few documents relating to grammar schools outside Norfolk:

• For articles of King Edward VI's School, Bury St Edmunds, approved by the Bishop of Norwich in 1538, see DN/MSC 1/13
• For Letters Patent: Royal Grant of a Grammar School to be called the Free Grammar School of Sir Nicholas Bacon at Redgrave Hall, Suffolk, in 1564, see NRS 21141, 45A1