St Bees School

St. Bees School, Cumbria, the Foundation block seen from the church tower. The original Elizabethan school is the range on the left of the quad.

The school was founded by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Edmund Grindal. He had been born in the village of St Bees, at the still-standing Cross Hill House.[14][15] Having fallen out of favour with Queen Elizabeth I, and though ill and blind, Grindal refused to resign his position until the Queen signed the letters patent which would create the Free Grammar School at St Bees. The school was founded in 1583, the year of his death. Thanks to having agreed with Queen's College, and his purchase of local tithes, the school prospered both financially and academically.

Although specifically incorporated for the education of boys from Cumberland and Westmorland, as early as 1604, people from outside Cumbria were being educated at St Bees in the original school room (now one of the school dining rooms) near the Priory Church. The school slowly expanded, despite one Headmaster who made his few pupils work on the land and act as servants. The school had enjoyed some financial security for many years, lessened in 1742 when the school sold Sir James Lowther an 867-year mineral lease for much less than the market value.

Resulting from an 1842 mineral rights issue obtained through the Court of Chancery the school building expanded physically. A quadrangle was built, Grindal House (formerly a hotel) purchased and the headmaster's residence was constructed. At the turn of the twentieth century, the school's chapel, library, swimming baths, and what is now the art department was built. By the outbreak of the First World War the school had reached a peak of three hundred pupils, a figure which would not be seen again for some years.

The VC memorial in the school chapel.

During the First World War old boys of the school were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for military gallantry in Britain and many of the British Commonwealth countries (see St. Bees V.C. winners for more details. Old boy Alfred Critchley became one of the youngest Brigadier-Generals in the British Empire at the age of twenty-seven for his heroic conduct (he was older than Roland Boys Bradford, V.C. but younger than Bernard Freyberg, V.C.). One hundred and eighty old boys died during the war, and a special memorial was built overlooking the sports fields where so many had previously played.[16]

After the war, the number of students remained high, but, in common with many other schools, the numbers decreased and then went into free-fall during the 1930s. The situation became so critical that the Governors of the School attempted to have the school nationalized. In the end, the old boys put together a rescue package and the school remained independent.[17]

The refurbished Fox Music Centre.

St. Bees School, Cumbria, seen from the edge of the "Firsts" in winter

In 1938, during the final stages of recovery from the Great Depression, the school's headmaster of the day, George Mallaby, made an unusual career move by becoming District Commissioner for the special area of West Cumberland, with the task of alleviating the problems of unemployment.[18]

During the Second World War, Mill Hill School was evacuated to St Bees after the latter's buildings in London were occupied by the government. The two schools remained independently run, and sports teams from each school would frequently play each other.[19] The cadet corps of the two schools combined with village volunteers to form the St Bees Home Guard, resulting in the group being much earlier equipped than many other Home Guard groups, as the cadets from both schools already had the necessary equipment.[20]

Seventy-two old boys died during the Second World War, and the Memorial Hall was erected in their memory. During the 1950s a new science block was built, formally opened by Barnes Wallis in 1959,[21] and in the 1970s the school became co-educational. New boarding houses were purchased for both girls and boys, Bega House and Abbot's Court respectively, and to celebrate the school's quatercentenary in 1983 an appeal was launched which would give the school a new sports hall, opened in 1988. The 1990s saw the opening by Prince Charles of the Whitelaw Building, a multi-function business centre and teaching area which was named after the then chairman of the board of Governors, William Whitelaw. In 2000, Barony House was entirely refurbished and renamed the Fox Music Center in memory of old St Behgian Bill Fox. To mark the millennium, a time capsule was buried in the north-east corner of the Quadrangle. In September 2008, a Preparatory Department was launched, catering for pupils from the age of 8 until they joined the main school. At this time, a nearby independent school with a prep department, Harecroft Hall, had just closed.[22] The school again expanded in September 2010 to include pupils from age four.

On Friday 13 March 2015 it was announced by the School Governors that due to falling pupil numbers and the cost of their school fees, the school would temporarily close in Summer 2015. In response a four-point rescue plan was proposed on 23 March by a "rescue team" made up of interested stakeholders.[23]

The plan was to:

1. Work on a legal mechanism to take control from the current board of governors
2. Rescind the current closure notice and replace with a preliminary closure notice to the Summer Term of 2016.
3. Use the next nine months to raise funds and to develop a supported and sustainable business plan for the school
4. Throughout this period post frequent updates on progress on the website and issue a substantive interim report of progress before the end of the Summer Term. Then by Christmas term 2015 formally confirm or withdraw the preliminary closure notice based on the success of the rescue business plan.[24]

Fees are currently £12,975 pa for Year 7-day pupils. The school offers financial support to a limited number of pupils.[30][31]