Sudbury Grammar 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 ...

in Sudbury,

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

. The school was founded in 1491. In 1972, the school was amalgamated with other local schools to form Sudbury Upper School.

History

The school was founded in 1491 by a bequest of by the Warden of Sudbury College, the reverend William Wood, donating a building previously used as a farmhouse for the purpose and providing an income for a "good and honest man" to be the schoolmaster. In the early 19th century, the school's patron Sir Lachlan Maclean, appropriated the traditional income for the school and had the medieval farmhouse rebuilt at a cost of £700 so that it could be rented out as a private school. The townspeople brought a lawsuit against Maclean which resulted in the closure of the school in 1841 and finally brought about the establishment of a modern

in 1858. A new schoolroom and master's house were built to the design of Robert Philip Pope at a cost of £2,500, the Reverend John Cooke being the only staff member. By 1895 there were 38 day boys and 24 boarders. In 1909, control of the school passed from an independent trust to West Suffolk County Council. In 1923, the secondary school at Hadleigh closed and the boys travelled by bus to Sudbury; extra classroom accommodation was provided in the form of an old army hut which the boys had to assemble themselves. In 1929, a playing field was acquired in Acton Lane and in 1939 a new building was started in the school playground, but was not completed until after the war. The analogous school for girls was Sudbury High School, which later became a bi-lateral school. There was flexible transfer from the Sudbury Secondary Modern School, a boys' school - upwards and downwards. In December 1966, seven sixth form boys made a formal protest about the admission of Prince Charles to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, who they claimed had entered by a ''backdoor entry method''. Following the decision by the county council in 1966 to adopt the Comprehensive system, a new school was constructed in Tudor Road and Sudbury Grammar School finally closed in 1972. The school building was then used by All Saints Middle School until 1987, when it was acquired by Babergh District Council as sheltered accommodation, restoring the 1857 building, now known as William Wood House after the founder, and replacing the 1940s buildings with a sympathetic apartment block. The school hall, cloister and headmaster's house are Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Former teachers

* Captain Robert Stewart Smylie, headmaster c.1911-1914; commissioned into the Royal Scots Fusiliers, killed in action during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

on 14 July 1916 while serving as

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

commander to C Company, 1st Battalion. * Claude Abbott, Professor of English Language and Literature from 1932-54 at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

Former pupils

* William Holman Bentley (1855–1905), Baptist Missionary Society missionary in the Congo *

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists o ...

, painter, two years below Robert Andrews, who he painted in his famous '' Mr and Mrs Andrews'' (c. 1750) * Michael Goodman, Child Support Commissioner from 1993-8, Social Security Commissioner from 1979–98, and Professor of Law from 1971-6 at

* Sir

Leander Starr Jameson Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 1st Baronet, (9 February 1853 – 26 November 1917), also known as Starr Jameson, was a British colonial politician, who was best known for his involvement in the ill-fated Jameson Raid. Early life and family He w ...

, Prime Minister from 1904-8 of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

, and the inspiration for

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

's famous 1895 poem '' If—'' * Sir George Murray Humphry (1820–1896), professor of physiology and anatomy at Cambridge, surgeon, gerontologist and medical writer * John Eric Loverseed, military pilot and politician * Prof Keith Morton, Professor of Numerical Analysis from 1983-97 at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, Professor of Applied Maths from 1972-83 at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

, and Winner in 2002 of the IMA Gold Medal * Venerable Roy Southwell,

Archdeacon of Northolt The Archdeacon of Northolt is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of London. As such, they are responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within its four Rural Dean, area deaneries: London Borough of Brent, Brent, Hi ...

, 1970 - 1980 *

Wickham Steed Henry Wickham Steed (10 October 1871 – 13 January 1956) was an English journalist and historian. He was editor of ''The Times'' from 1919 to 1922. Early life Born in Long Melford, England, Steed was educated at Sudbury Grammar School ...

, Editor from February 1919 - November 1922 of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' newspaper * Sir Roger Walters CBE, architect, commissioned the Thames Barrier * Andy 'Dog' Johnson, artist and illustrator * Prof Paul Senior, Director of Hallam Centre for Community Justice and latterly Emeritus Professor of Probation Studies at Sheffield Hallam University (1964–1970)

References

External links

* {{Schools in Suffolk 1491 establishments in England Educational institutions established in the 15th century Educational institutions disestablished in 1972 Grade II listed buildings in Suffolk Grade II listed educational buildings Defunct grammar schools in England Boys' schools in Suffolk * Defunct schools in Suffolk 1972 disestablishments in England Sudbury, Suffolk