Hele's School was a boys'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

, and latterly a comprehensive school, in the city of

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England.

Elize Hele’s bequest

Elize Hele was born in 1560 at Winston Manor near

Plympton Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient Stannary, stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down riv ...

. He was a lawyer of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, had been treasurer to

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

and was a major property owner in South and West

. Following the death of his only child, Walter, at the age of 11, Hele decided to bequeath a number of his estates for "some godly purposes and charitable uses".Kellys Directory of Devonshire 1923 He died in 1635 and was buried in

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The presen ...

. In 1656 his trustees, Sir John Maynard and Elize Stert apportioned money for the foundation of the Blue Maid's Hospital (later renamed The Maynard School) and, in 1658 for the establishment of Hele's School in Plympton. For nearly 200 years, the immediate descendants of Sir J. Maynard received the remaining income from the bequest and distributed it to private charities as they thought fit Legal proceedings resulted in depriving the descendant of Sir J. Maynard (the surviving trustee) of all control over the funds, which were thereupon vested in the Crown.

The first school

The Government made to the inhabitants of

a grant of £1500 for the building of a boys' school, with a further £300 a year for its continual maintenance. Hele's Endowed School opened on 15 January 1850 in Hele Road, St David's Exeter with a capacity for 88 boys who received instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic, mathematics, English grammar and history. Those under 10 years old paid 21s, and those over paid 42s per year. The school buildings were extended in 1909 and in 1921 it came under the control of Exeter City Council. In 1931, further new buildings were added, designed by the City Architect. In 1938 plans were mooted to relocate the school to Quarry Lane in

Heavitree Heavitree is a historic village and former civil parish situated formerly outside the walls of the City of Exeter in Devon, England, and is today an eastern district of that city. It was formerly the first significant village outside the city o ...

, but these were put in abeyance due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. On 1 November 1938 the first School Squadron of the Air Cadet Defence Corps in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

was founded at Hele's School as No.13 Squadron of the Air League. The squadron evolved into the school's combined cadet force. In 1959, the school moved to a new site at Southam Farm, next to Quarry Lane, and the Hele Road site was taken over by Exeter College. During the summer of 2005, many of the old Hele's Buildings at Exeter College were demolished to make way for new facilities, although some of the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

buildings from the 1850s remain.

The second school

Work commenced on a new school building, designed by William (Bill) Chapple under the direction of Vinton Hall the city architect, in Quarry Lane in 1958 and the new school opened its doors on 1 September 1959. The school also took over the old army camp site used by Exeter Technical SchoolThe Old Heleans' Society
. Retrieved on 2008-02-20. on the other side of the Exeter by-pass. This became known as "The Annex" – a concrete footbridge over the by-pass (still standing) connected the two sites. The school was now Exeter's boys’ grammar school, entrance to which was by the

Eleven plus exam The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardised examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academ ...

. Bishop Blackall School was Exeter's girls’ grammar school. The school war memorial, 13 feet wide and made of English oak designed by Harry Hems & Co., was relocated to the entrance of the main school hall.

Comprehensive

In 1973 control of the school passed from

Exeter City Council Exeter City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the city of Exeter in Devon, England. Exeter has had a city council since medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 it has been a non-met ...

Devon County Council Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. The council is based at Devon County Hall in the city of Exeter. The area administered by the county council is termed the non-metropolitan county, which is ...

under local government reorganisation and Hele's School lost its status as a grammar school becoming a Comprehensive. The school's sixth form was also abolished, with pupils moving to Exeter College on completion of GCE O Levels.

Merger

In 1983 Hele's was merged with Bishop Blackall school on the Quarry Lane site and was renamed St Peter's (called

St Peter's Church of England Aided School St Peter's Church of England Aided School is one of Exeter's five state sector high schools. The school was awarded language college status in 2002. The current headteacher of the school is Phil Randall. The old school building was knocked dow ...

). Considerable remodelling of the school building took place and the Annex was abandoned and later demolished to make way for a housing development. The main school buildings were demolished in 2005 to make way for a brand new St Peter's School building. The War Memorial was relocated to the balcony of the new school hall, along with a series of portraits of previous headmasters. As a result of the rebuilding five oval solid oak library tables, which were made by the Harry Hems company in 1930 and presented to Hele's School in memory of its late Headmaster Mr F G Snowball, and funded by private subscription, were removed to Exeter School in 2006.

Notable former pupils

* Michael Addison, 3rd Viscount Addison * Donald Barber (1936-2000) – Astronomer * Prof Anthony Barrett, FRS, FMedSci * Sir Anthony Battishill, chairman of the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...

from 1986 to 1997, and of the

Student Loans Company Student Loans Company Limited (SLC) is an executive non-departmental public body company in the United Kingdom that provides student loans. It is owned by the UK Government's Department for Education (85%), the Scottish Government (5%), the We ...

from 1998 to 2001 * Sir Edwin Chapman-Andrews CMG OBE, Ambassador to Sudan from 1956 to 1961 and to

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

from 1952 to 1956 * Frank Horne CBE, president from 1957 to 1958 of the

British Grassland Society British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

* Prof W. G. Hoskins CBE (1908–92), president from 1972 to 1974 of the

British Agricultural History Society British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

* Prof John Ingram, Professor of Dermatology from 1958 to 1963 at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

, president from 1947 to 1948 of the British Association of Dermatologists * Sir Derek Jakeway CMG OBE,

Governor of Fiji Fiji was a British Crown colony from 1874 to 1970, and an independent dominion in the Commonwealth from 1970 to 1987. During this period, the head of state was the British monarch, but in practice the functions of the crown were normally exercis ...

from 1964 to 1968 * Rev Cecil Northcott, editor from 1945 to 1970 of ''

The Christian Century ''The Christian Century'' is a Christian magazine based in Chicago, Illinois. Considered the flagship magazine of US mainline Protestantism, the monthly reports on religious news; comments on theological, moral, and cultural issues; and reviews ...

'' * Louis Osman, architect, artist, goldsmith. Designer of the crown for the investiture of

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

* William Palfrey CBE, Chief Constable of

Lancashire Constabulary Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Lancashire in North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, Lancashire, Hutton, near the cit ...

from 1969 to 1972 * Prof John Raymont OBE, Professor of Zoology from 1946 to 1978 at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

* Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Ridgway (1950- ),

Lieutenant Governor of Jersey The lieutenant governor of Jersey (Jèrriais:, "Governor of Jersey"), properly styled the lieutenant-governor of Jersey (), is the representative of the British monarch in the Bailiwick of Jersey, a dependency of the British Crown. Presentl ...

2006-2011 *

Air Vice-Marshal Air vice-marshal (Air Vce Mshl or AVM) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometime ...

Harold Satterley CB CBE * John Scott, England rugby international 1978-84 *

Brian Sedgemore Brian Charles John Sedgemore (17 March 1937 – 29 April 2015) was a British politician who served as a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 1979, and again from 1983 to 2005. He defected to the Liberal Democrats shortly after stand ...

, Labour MP for

Hackney South and Shoreditch Hackney South and Shoreditch is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Meg Hillier of Labour Co-op. History ...

from 1983 to 2005 * Sir Robert Taylor CBE, chairman of

Thomas Tilling The Tilling Group was one of two conglomerates that controlled almost all of the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between World Wars I and II and until nationalisation in 1948. Tilling, together with the other conglomerate, British E ...

from 1976 to 1983 * Sir Hugh Tett (1907–2001) – chairman of

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...

Petroleum from 1959 to 1967 * Derek Thomas CBE, chief executive of Surrey County Council from 1988 to 1995 * Prof Andrew Williams, D.Phil. MA MRSC (1937–2007) – University of Kent

Old Heleans' Society

The Old Heleans' Society was founded in 1896 in London. It presently has a membership of over 500 and holds an annual dinner in Exeter in May and in London in October. An annual magazine is published in April, containing news, views, events etc.

References

External links

Exeter - Hele's School War Memorial - Part 1 - 1914 - 1918

The Old Heleans' Society
{{authority control Educational institutions disestablished in 1983 Educational institutions established in 1850 Schools in Exeter Defunct schools in Devon Defunct grammar schools in England 1850 establishments in England 1983 disestablishments in England