The History of Colchester Royal Grammar School

Front matter

THE COLCESTRIAN. No. 131 (New Series), March, 1947

THE HISTORY OF COLCHESTER ROYAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL

BY

Appendix 1

APPENDIX I EARLY SOURCES

A. Translation of the Section of Domesday Book referred to in text,

p. 5.

In Colchester the Bishop has 14 houses, and four acres, not rendering the customary taxes other than the local rate, save to the Bishop. (This means that the Bishop, as owner, had the usual right to impose tributes on his own tenants.) In the same town Hugo holds of the Bishop 241 acres, and he does render the customary taxes.

B. Fine of 1206. The original. In medieval Latin, is quoted by Morant (Appendix I, iiia) from the Exchequer Treasury Receipts for the reign of King John. The following is a literal translation.

Holding (for) one Soke with its appurtenances in Colchester Which extends from the lane of St. Mary as far as to the lane hard by Head Gate (Havedgate) and as far as to the Wall of Colchester towards the West and as far as to Head Street (Havedstrett) towards the East: concerning which in a great assize (then) held there was a recognition between them in the aforesaid Court. To wit that the said William son of Benedict recognized the whole of that Soke with all its appurtenances to wit with the School (Scolis) of the same town (ville) of Colchester and with the advowson of the Church of the Blessed Mary of the Wall, and with the Chapel of St. Andrew, and with the Capital Messuage which belongs to that Soke. To be the right (esse jus-i.e. to be in the jurisdiction) of the said Bishop, and to belong to the Barony of the Bishopric of London. And in return for this Recognition and fine and agreement the same Bishop granted to the same William son of Benedict the Whole of the said Soke with its appurtenances and with the School of the same town of Colchester save in favour of the said Bishop the Advowsons of the Church of St. Mary of the Wall and the Chapel of St. Andrew which shall remain his and his successors without interference from the said William and his heirs in perpetuity. To be had and held (i.e. The soke and appurtenances) by the said William and his heirs from the same Bishop and his successors in perpetuity for a quit·rent of Five shillings per annum payable on the feast of St. Michael. And be it known that neither the said William son of Benedict nor his heirs shall be able to give sell or mortgage or in any way dispose of any part of the said Soke with its appurtenances without the Leave and agreement of the said Bishop or his successors.

C. References to the Early School in the Borough Records. (From the

Court Rolls of the Borough of Colchester, translated and epitomised by I. H. Jeayes, with an introduction by Sir W. Gurney Benham, and published by Benham, Colchester.

Items 1 and 2 are from Vol. II, 1353-1367.

Items 3, 4, 5 are from the MS., as yet unpublished.)

1. Hundred. Monday after All Saints Day (November 4th). 1353, p. 9.

The Will of Warin Parker of Colchester, recorded. He bequeaths lands to Christina his wife and, among others, seven acres opposite the "great school," and lands at Bradeston, Portespyghtel, Eststokewellstrat. On his wife's death lands go to Elicia and Joan, his daughters. Executors : the sald Christina, and Wm. Hadlegh. Dated Tuesday afternoon, Feast of S.S. Simon and Jude, 1352 (29th October).

2. Hundred. Monday before Feast of St. Benedict (20th March). 1357, p. 57.

Essoigns. Alice, maid of the Schoolmaster (magistri scolarum), v John Lokier. John Lokier v said Alice.

"Thomas Chytewood, master of the scholars " is mentioned in the Court Rolls, June 15th, 1383.

3. June 4th, 1425.

That the Master of the scholars of the Town of Colchester on the Feast of St. Nicholas the Bishop, I Henry VI (i.e. Dec. 6, 1422) at Colchester. In the parish of St. Nicholas, made an assault on the son of Roger Sebryght, then Bishop in the said church, with force and arms, and violently pulled him from the highway into the mud, making him dirty and treating him shamefully; and that he committed other enormities, etc.

Also that the same Master is in the habit of demanding from his scholars unreasonable fines and customs namely from the son of Nicholas Ferrour, on the ground that they were Crossbearers of the Bishops, namely 2d. each.

4. 1460-1. (1460-1. Roll 72.)

The Master of the Schools is in the common habit of digging turves under the stone wall at Colkyngescastel (i.e. Balkerne Gate).

5. Lawehundred held on Monday after Hokeday (16 April). 4 Edward IV (1464).

That the Master of the schools is in the common habit of casting the dung of his school over and beyond the stone wall of the town at le Posterne and there making a dunghill, in mercy 4d.

That William Beeche and John Foster act similarly with the slops of St. Mary's Church, in mercy 4d. each.

John Cratoun has made a dunghill at le Posterne in mercy.

Appendix 2

APPENDIX 2

THE SCHOOL PROPERTIES

(See also , and , Fig. 1)

Today these consist of the main buildings erected in 1853, 1909 and later, together with several adjacent houses that have been purchased, and some 20 acres of playing—fields. Like the Westons school-house of 1584 these various properties have been acquired for use and not as sources of income; and none of them has been in the possession of the School for longer than a century. In both these respects the modern properties differ essentially from the ancient endowments derived from the Elianore Chantry. They are listed in Table 1 below.

In Table 2 will be found references to Westons, including a plan of the Culver Street area in the 18th century showing the School-house there.

Table 3 is devoted to the old chantry-properties, those portions of Joseph Elianore's endowment that were assigned to the School in 1585. As the last of these properties was not disposed of until quite recently (1944), and as Morant has preserved the terms of Elianore's foundation-deed (1348), we are enabled

to trace their history, and to identify at least some of them in their modern boundaries. There are four main sources of information : the Elianore Grant of 1348; the Foundation-Deed of the School in 1585; the indentures conveying the School Property to new Trustees in 1833; and the Scheme for the Administration of the School, dated 1910. The relevant passages from these four documents are here arranged in tabular form (Table 3), to facilitate comparison of the various descriptions.

The general importance of such identification (as is possible) greatly exceeds even the interest which arises from its connection with the School, for the determination of property-boundaries is an indispensable part of the study of the Town's history, and it is extremely fortunate that in this case we have a number of independent checks fairly evenly spaced over a wide period of time, six centuries. Table 1

Table 1. THE MODERN PROPERTY

Buildings. (For ancillary buildings, such as cricket-school, see .) 1. The main School Buildings erected in and since 1853. 2. Gilberd House, No. 16, Beverley Road, the garden of which has been opened into the Close. (Acquired 1903; previously "Mansfield House"). 3. Elyanore House, on the east side of Beverley Road at its junction with Lexden Road. (Acquired 1920; previously " Playford House.") 4. Gurney Benham House, immediately west of the main buildings. (Acquired 1934; previously " Beverley Lodge.") 5. Lessenden, No. 8, Lexden Road, next west of the School and flanking the drive into Gurney Benham House. Now leased. Playing-fields. Alongside footpath running south from Park Road. Field 1266. 11 acres 1 rood, (Acquired 1908.) Field 1132a. 1 1/2 roods. Occupied by allotments. (Acquired 1908.) Field 1266a. 5 acres 2 3/4 roods. (Acquired 1938.) Field 1266c. 2 acres 3/4 rood. (Acquired 1938; this field lies west of the footpath, and will not be incorporated into the playing-fields until the right-of-way provided by the footpath is replaced by the projected by-pass road from Lexden around the south of the town.)

Table 2

Table 2. WESTONS

Date unspecified

The Crouched Friars "received several rents of assise, or Quit-rents. to the amount of 17s. 4 1/2d. per annum, out of the following tenements.... " A mention of 27 tenements follows, among them " John Weston's in All-Saints." (Morant, ii, 43.)

1357

" Monday following Feast of St. Andrew." (l0th April.) " Will of John Weston, made 12th January, l357, by which he bequeaths his tenement in All Saints' Parish, and his tenement called Nicodemus in the same parish, for his executors to sell."

(Transcript in Rolls of the Borough of Colchester (Benham), II, 59.)

1584

" It ys concluded . . . . that the house called Westons, whish hathe byn used to be a Grammer Schole-house, in the parishe of All Saints, shall be purchased of John Christmas Gent, and that the said John Christmas shall have for his right in the said house, of the Bayliffs and Commonalty of the said Town, 20l. of lawful money of Ingland."

(Assembly Order, l8th Aug., 26 Eliz. (1584). Morant, iii, II.)

1794

" Leaving Mrs. Hawes Garden (at 10) we turn again to the west, and passing a part of Mr. Keymer's and some other gardens, we go on, by the direction of

Table 3 Table 3. THE OLD ENDOWMENTS

1348 | 1585 | 1833 | 1910

One of which said messuages is situated in the town of Colchester in the parish of the church of the Blessed Mary aforementioned, to wit between the tenement of Edward the Pelterer (Edi' P'ellipar) on the south and the tenement of John Taverner, chaplain (Johannis Tav'ner, capellani) on the north. | All that capital Messuage or Tenement, with the backside and Rentarie thereto adjoining, situate, lying, and being in the parish of St. Mary at the Wall in the said town of Colchester, between the Tenement late of Robert Leach Alderman, and now of Robert Brown Gent. on the North part, and the Tenement late of John Wells Baker, and now of John Talcot in part, and the Lands pertaining to the Parson of St. Maries aforesaid in part, on the South part, one head thereof abutteth on the Queen's high-way there, leading to Head-gate, towards the East; the other head thereof abutteth upon the Walls of the said Town of Colchester towards the West. | and also all that messuage or tenement theretofore parcel of the capital messuage, formerly called the Old Three Crowns Inn in Colchester, theretofore divided into several tenements, but then consisting of two messuages or tenements, and a large shop to each, with the work-shops, yards, and gardens, being Nos. 18 and 19 in Head-street, in the parishes of St. Mary-at-the-Walls and St. Peter, or one of them, or in some adjoining parish, abutting on Head-street towards the east, and in part on a messuage and premises, formerly part of the possessions of the school, but lately conveyed to James William Coleman in exchange, together with a free right of way, at all times thereafter, to and for the trustees of the said Free Grammar School, their heirs and assigns, and their respective tenants for the time being, through the gate-way and yard belonging to the said James William Coleman, from the said Head-street to any part of the yards and premises lying behind the said messuage No. 19, and also from the said premises into the said street, without paying or allowing anything for the same; | Three shops in Head Street, Colchester. Gross yearly income £275.

And two acres of land lie between a certain place called Walditch on the east and the land of the said John Fitz-Walter on the west. | And two acres of land, more or less, lying in the said parish of St. Marie at the Wall, between a certain place of old called Wall ditch, and now the Postern Ditch on the East part, and the Land once of John Fitzwauter and late of the Earl of Sussex on the West part. | and also all those several tenements and all the ground thereto belonging, then occupied as garden ground, situate in the parish of St. Mary-at-the-Walls, as the same then consisted of a newly erected dwelling-house standing near the north-west corner of the said piece of ground, and seven small cottages standing at or near the lower or south end of the same (three of which had been lately rebuilt with brick), which premises abutted on the south on a passage way leading from Balkerne Hill to the back part of the King's Arms Inn; | and also all that field, containing one acre and a half, called Wall Ditch Land situate on the west side of Balkerne Hill, in the parish of St. Mary-at-the-Walls, and abutting upon a lane or drift-way towards the north; | Six Cottages in Manor Road. Gross yearly income £62 8s. | One tenement in rear of above. Gross yearly income £20. | Garden in Manor Road. Gross yearly income £3.

And four acres of land called Godyeresland lie between the land of the Abbot and Convent of St. Osyth on the west and a certain way (vicus) leading to Miland on the east. | And four acres of land lie between the land of the said Abbot and Convent on the west and a certain grove (grova) of Richard le Gros (Rici le Gros) on the east. | And two Crofts of Land containing Eight acres more or less, lying by Green Tye in the hamlet of Mile-end, alias Myle-end, within the Liberties of the said town of Colchester, sometimes called Green-Tye-field, and Tyle-kiln-field. Whereof one croft, containing four acres of land, of old called Godyeresland, lyeth in Myle-end aforesaid, between the lands late of the Abbot and Convent of St. Osyth, and now of Tho. Lucas Kt, on the West part; and certain lane or way leading towards Mile-end aforesaid on the East part: | And the other Croft, containing four acres of land, lyeth in Myle-end aforesaid, between the land late of the said Abbot and Convent on the West part, and a certain grove, wood, or pasture once of Nicholas le Grosse on the East part. | and also all that piece of land, situate in the parish of St. Michael, Mile-end, formerly called the Queen's Head Field, and containing 3a. 3r. 5p., abutting on a lane leading from the east side of the highway, near Mile-end Church, to the high woods towards the south, and on the same lane towards the east or south-east; | and also all that piece or parcel of land, situate in the said parish of St. Michael, Mile-end, opposite the last-mentioned field, and formerly called Twisted Field, and containing 4a. 2r. l2p., and abutting on the said lane towards the north. . . . . | (Here follows a description of the land at Layer Breton, obtained in 1825). | Two fields in Clay Lane, leading off the Myland Road, which adjoins the Bergholt Road, Colchester. Extent or amount, 8a. 2r. Gross yearly income, £8.

And four acres of land lie between the way leading towards Bergholt on the east and the park of John Fitz-Walter (Johis Fitz Wauter) on the west. | And also all that Croft of Land, containing Four acres of Land, more or less, lying in the hamlet of Lexden, within the Liberties of the said Town of Colchester, between the lands and ground called Lexden-park, once John Fitz-wauter's, on the West part, and the way leading from Colchester to West Bergholt on the East part, and the field or meadow late Tho. Audley Gent. and after Edmond Markham Gent. on the South part. All which premisses, with their appurtenances, late were let to ferme to Robert Roger, and afterwards to Nich Clere the elder, and now be in the tenure or occupation of Robert Stansted or his assigns, and be all together of the clear yearly value of Twenty Markes of good and lawful money of England, and above: To and for the maintenance of the said Free-school, and the School-master thereof for the time being, for ever. In witness whereof. . . . . . . | and also all that field or parcel of land, formerly called the Three Crowns Field, in the parish of Lexden, adjoining the highway leading from Colchester to Bures, containing 3a. 3r. 15p., coming to a point towards the north, and abutting on the said highway towards the north-east.

Italics are of course not in the originals

the Wall, about 2'20 (i.e. 2 chains 20 feet), to the south-west angle of the Garden belonging to the Grammar School (at 11). Here we leave the Parish of St, Botolph, and join that of St. Nicholas. We now turn again to the right and proceed in a northerly direction and in a right line, about 1'50 (i.e. 1 chain 50 feet), to Culver Lane (at 12) taking in the whole of the premises belonging to the Grammar School.

From the north-west angle of the School (at 12) we cross the Lane, and the Wall into the Yard belonging to the Sea Horse Public House, and leaving the Stable and Brewhouse to the right, and another building to the left, we pass on in a strait line to the House ..... "

(William Cole's Survey of All Saints' Parish, 1794.) `

Fig. 3. WESTONS IN 1794

Westons (with garden to south) shown black. The numbers 7-14 indicate stations in the perambulation.

(From the original in the possession of Colchester and Essex Museum. By permission.)

1833

" All that capital messuage or tenement, then and for many years past called Weston's, situate in the parish of All Saints, in Colchester, in Culver Street, and abutting on that street towards the north, on certain messuages or tenements, and gardens belonging to the Blue School Charity towards the east, and on a messuage, called the Cross Keys, towards the west, as the said capital messuage had, ever since the foundation of the said Free Grammar-School, been used as the school-house of the said school, and the residence of the master thereof."

(Indentures of lease and release, 10 and ll November, 1833.)

1853

" COLCHESTER. Sale of the old Grammar School. On Wednesday the old Grammar School-house and premises, in Culver Street, with a frontage of 79 feet, were offered to public competition by Messrs. Cook, at the Cups Hotel, when, after a spirited bidding by the company present, the property (freehold) was knocked down to J. S. Barnes, Esq., at £540, for Mr. William Sherman, coach builder of East Street, who, we understand, intends converting the premises into a carriage manufactory."

(Essex Standard, 6 May, 1853.)

Appendix 3

APPENDIX 3 SCHOLARSHIPS FOUNDED AT CAMBRIDGE FOR THE COLCHESTER SCHOOL

There have been three Scholarships at Cambridge for Colchester scholars, of which only one, the latest, is now available. Two of them were founded in the seventeenth century, at St. John's College, while the third, the Hewitt Exhibition, was founded in 1907 and is tenable at Corpus Christi.

Robert Lewis, Fellow of St. John's College, "sometime Preacher of St. Peter's in the town," gives his name to the Lewis Foundation. His wife, Mary, by her will dated October 12th, 1620, bequeathed £100 to the use of the College, and it was agreed between the Executors and the Master and Fellows to found a perpetual Scholarship with this money. Then, in the interests of their own Free School, the Bailiffs and Commonalty of Colchester granted an annuity of £7 to the Master and Fellows, for their use and to maintain a scholar, and thus secured the Scholarship for Colcestrians. The annuity consisted of rents "issuing out of all their Messuage or Tenement, and all the houses, barns, stables, yards, orchards, lands and pastures, containing Eleven acres, one rood and half a rood, and one grove of wood containing nine acres . . . called Marks; lying and being in the Hamlett of Mile-End, within the Liberties of this town, then in the tenure and occupation of John Brinckley." These rents were to be paid twice every year, upon the Feasts of the Archangel Michael and the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A fine of 20 shillings was to be paid by the Town to the Master and Fellows for 40 days' default of payment, and in the event of a further 20 days' delay the College could take possession of the property. The holder of the Scholarship was to be an ex-scholar of the Colchester School and the son of a free burgess ; and if no such candidate were already in residence at the College the Bailiffs, General Preacher and Schoolmaster of Colchester, or any three of them, were to nominate a suitable candidate. This was settled by an indenture (September 13th, 1622) between the Bailiffs and Commonalty and Owen Gwyn, D.D., Master of St. John's.

In the other foundation at St. John's the School had a part interest only. Ambrose Gilbert by his will of May 6th, 1642 (proven June 14th, 1649) bequeathed " Marsh House in St Osith in Essex, with all the lands and Woods belonging thereunto, to the founding of a Fellowship and a Scholarship in St John's College in Cambridge; and do appoint to be capable of these places, first the Gilberts, then the Torkingtons, then Colchester School, lastly Orset, Essex" (Morant, iii, §, 3) .

Into the circumstances in which these two Scholarships at St. John's College fell into disuse, long before the nineteenth century, there not space to enter here. (See Charity Commissioners' Report, 1838.)

For the James Hewitt Memorial Exhibition, founded in 1907, the School is indebted to two benefactors, James and William Hewitt, whose portraits hang on the south wall of Big School. After many years devoted to the profession of teaching, these brothers settled at Lower Park, Dedham, where they continued to interest themselves actively in local education, and especially in the affairs of the Colchester Royal Grammar School. After the death of James Hewitt, William determined to endow a Scholarship at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, of which both brothers had formerly been members, and to nominate the Colchester School in perpetuity as beneficiary. A sum of £2,450 was conveyed to Corpus Christi College for the establishment of an Exhibition, preference in which was always to be given to a candidate from Colchester Royal Grammar School nominated by the Headmaster and Governors, the Exhibition being tenable from the candidate's entrance to the College to the time when he stood for the degree of Bachelor. If there were no suitable candidate, the College was to settle the grant upon a student of their own choice, subject to certain restrictions, until it could be conferred once more upon a candidate " duly nominated and qualified . . . from the Royal Grammar School, Colchester."

In addition to the James Hewitt Memorial Exhibition at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, the endowments and endowed annual prizes listed below are available for boys of the Royal Grammar School, as well as the considerable "Foundation income" from the funded purchase-moneys derived from the sale of ancient Elianore properties.

The Horace Egerton Green Memorial Scholarship;

The Round Scholarship;

The Town Scholarship;

Dr. Young's Bequest;

The Harris Prize;

The Lister Godlee Prize;

The Livingstone Prize.

The School also possesses the right to nominate candidates for the "Essex Scholarships" at Hertford College, Oxford, and for the "Old British Schools Foundation Scholarships."

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

There is a stone tablet over the entrance to the main school building that must have caught the eye of all Colcestrians, with its inscription, VITÆ CORONA FIDES, 1539—1909. The second date marks the completion of the building, while the first is that officially accepted as the beginning of the School's history, being the year when King Henry VIII granted to the "Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Commonalty" of Colchester the income of two Chantries in the town "to found and maintain within the said town a free School" (ad erigendum et stabillendum infra dictam villam unam liberum Scholam).

Forty-five years later, in 1584, the Letters Patent containing this decree were cancelled as certain conditions therein had not been fulfilled, and a new decree for the foundation of a "free Grammar School" was issued by Queen Elizabeth. To the Colchester School, therefore, falls the rare distinction of owing its foundation, as we hear in the School Prayer, both to Henry VIII and to Queen Elizabeth. Officially, then, the School completed its fourth century in the year 1939, the opening year of the Second World War.

Except perhaps for its doubly royal foundation here is a typical English grammar school, founded in the Tudor period; but there is a current belief to be considered that what was effected in 1539 was not the creation of a new school so much as the refounding of an old one which had already been in existence for more than three centuries, as well as a somewhat vague theory that this earlier school is the oldest English grammar school on record.

The truth of the matter is briefly this: There was an earlier school. It is probably the lineal antecedent of the modern school, though this is open to debate. And, lastly, its claim to be the oldest grammar school could be true only in one special sense. The remainder of this chapter is devoted to these three issues, but the reader is to be warned that they are extremely complex. At the end of the chapter, however, a simplified summary will be found, to which those who wish may pass on forthwith.

It will be best to dispose first of the theory that the Colchester school is perhaps the oldest English grammar school on record-the record in question belonging to the year 1206. This is a respectably early date, but since there are schools, as for instance King’s School at Canterbury or St. Peter’s at York, tracing a continuous history from before the Norman Conquest, a claim to priority based on a document of 1206 would be patently absurd. How, then, has this claim arisen? The argument would seem to have been something like this:

"In the document of 1206 the school is described as a town school (scolae ejusdem ville Colcestr). Presumably this is (by far) the oldest record of a town school. Grammar schools of today are essentially town schools. Therefore the Colchester school is the oldest English grammar school on record."

It will be seen that the validity of this argument depends on whether there is justification for equating grammar with town school. For the grammar school of today the parallel is undoubtedly just, but the medieval grammar school was altogether different, both in curriculum and status; and since the argument covers both periods, medieval and modern, there is bound to be ambiguity. To avoid this the term "grammar school" should be avoided, and the claim should be simply that the Colchester school is the oldest town school on record. Yet even thus limited the claim is of considerable importance historically. It would need to be judged on the strength of the contemporary evidence on which it is based, and this is quoted verbatim in . It is a matter for the specialist in medieval "diplomatics," and a discussion of the problem would be clearly out of place here. The claim, however, is really something more substantial than merely a verbal quibble. This can be seen if it is considered in its historical setting. Originally all English schools except the purely primary (infant school, etc.) were "grammar schools" in the sense that they all taught "grammar" (the principles of Latin composition, and cognate subjects), which was the curriculum then universally accepted as the basis of all true learning. Accordingly in its original form every really ancient school will necessarily have been a grammar school. In an account of these schools Mr. R. P. Hepple (Historical Association Pamphlet, No. 90, 1932) lists as many as seven types, of which six, including all the earliest examples. were ecclesiastical (cloister, cathedral, chantry school, etc.), the Church then being recognised as the natural protector, patron, and provider of education. But Mr. Hepple's seventh type, which he designates "Town school," was exceptional in being secular. It was also a late type, originating in the fifteenth century, or at earliest little before the year 1400. It is nevertheless this exceptional secular type of town school that is the original of the grammar school of to-day, for at the Reformation the ecclesiastical schools largely died out, leaving it a clear field. From Tudor times onwards these secular schools multiplied rapidly, being founded in town after town for the sons of the burgesses, sometimes by royalty, but more often by some wealthy local merchant. Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and later these schools carried forward the tradition and even the curriculum of the medieval grammar school, but in the eighteenth century, owing to the increase in population and to changing conditions, private "academies" began to appear, offering a wider syllabus of studies; and in turn the grammar schools followed suit, substituting (for better or for worse) instruction in many subjects for training in a few. The name given to this modern curriculum is "secondary," first applied to schools in 1861. Until yesterday (Education Act of 1944) the curriculum, if we except technical schools, was approximately the same in all secondary schools, and the grammar school differed from the rest only by reason of its semi-official status of town school. Thus what has been carried down from medieval into modern times is not the curriculum of the grammar school, but its (originally exceptional) status of town school; and in this sense there is nothing extravagant in claiming that the Colchester school is the oldest English grammar school, but we must bear in mind that we are using the term in its modern specialised sense rather than in its true original meaning.