Appleby Grammar School

History

The origins of Appleby Grammar lie in the three chantries established in the town's two medieval churches; those of the Blessed Virgin Mary (founded c.1260 by William de Goldyngton, Mayor of Appleby) and of St Nicholas (founded in 1334 by Robert de Threlkeld), both in the Church of St Lawrence, and that of the Virgin Mary (founded by William L'English before 1344) in the Church of St Michael, Bongate. These Chantries, constituted to celebrate masses for the souls of their founders, were also endowed (as deeds of 1478 and 1518 [WSMB/A] and 1533 show) with monies to enjoin the chaplain to teach a free grammar school in the borough, initially in the church itself, as a part of his duty.

The first mention of a school in Appleby is shown by a sale in 1452 of a burgage house made by John Marshall, Vicar of St Michaels, to Thomas Lord Clifford, (also responsible for erecting the greater part of the present Appleby Castle during the reign of Henry VI), in which the property is described as "on the west side of Kirkgate extending in length to a certain narrow lane called School-house Gate".

In consideration of the loss sustained by the dissolution of the chantries, in the time of Edward VI, Queen Mary granted to the school at Appleby a yearly rent charge of £5 10s. 8d., its revenues being replaced by a grant payable from the income of the Rectory of Crosby Ravensworth, and further bequests were made from the wills of Robert Langton (Archdeacon of Dorset 1486–1514, educated in Appleby) and Dr. Miles Spencer (d. 1569).

These legacies enabled the Borough to purchase Royal Letters Patent, endowed by Queen Elizabeth I on 22 March 1574, and so provide a firm basis for the continued establishment and survival of the Grammar School, "with ten governors, who are to appoint successors, nominate the master and usher, make statutes for the regulation of the school, and receive lands and possessions, so as they exceed not the clear yearly value of £40", but this limitation has been greatly exceeded.

The incumbent headmaster in 1574, John Boste, later a Catholic convert and martyr (canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales) was followed in 1580 by Reginald Bainbrigg, a considerable scholar, who made tours of Hadrian's Wall in 1599 and 1601 and corresponded with William Camden and Sir Robert Cotton on antiquarian matters.

On his death (c.1613) he bequeathed some 295 volumes to the school library, which grew considerably in size as witnessed by the catalogues of 1656, 1782 and 1847, its funds being augmented each year by contributions from leaving pupils. The library is now in the care of the University Library of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Official criticism of the school in 1869 by the Schools Inquiry Commission (1864–1868), which examined endowed grammar schools under the chairmanship of Lord Taunton, revealed an uncertain future as a high grade classical school. In 1868 there were only 16 pupils attending but by 1880 there were 80 boarders alone.

Fruitless proposals were made by the governors to rebuild and amend the existing buildings, and in 1887 construction of a new school was completed at Battlebarrow, on the outskirts of the town, on a site provided by land purchased from St Anne's Hospital and Lord Hothfield. A new scheme for the administration of the school along more modern lines was implemented in 1891. Thereafter, there followed a steady growth in pupil numbers, from 45 in 1887, 68 in 1914, 135 in 1940 to 170 in 1955, when girls were first admitted.

In the early 1950s, due to the extended width of the catchment area and problems students would face under adverse weather conditions, there were Government proposals for comprehensive education to be provided on larger sites, for pupils of all academic abilities, offering modern and technical courses. Westmorland County Council (1889–1974), suggested a development plan for North Westmorland which was considered and agreed upon by the governors of both Appleby and Kirkby Stephen Grammar Schools for defined catchment areas to be set in place. Appleby would take pupils from an area including Appleby, Asby, the Fellside villages and villages to the west of the A66. The catchment area would eventually extend to Cliburn, Morland, Newby, Reagill and Sleagill.

With the addition of an extension at Appleby to accommodate Domestic Science, Woodwork, Science and Art Rooms, and a girls' cloakroom on the ground floor level, plus the new school finished at Kirkby Stephen, as well as both schools becoming co-educational, the autumn term of 1955 was to see significant changes to secondary education in the Eden Valley. Appleby was to lose all its boarders at the end of the summer term that same year.

On 3 September 1959, whilst retaining the title of Grammar School, Appleby and Kirkby Stephen schools became comprehensive and expanded rapidly, so that by 1974, 400 years after the establishment of the Elizabethan post-chantry Grammar School, there were over 560 pupils on the school roll.

George Washington

The father and half-brothers of the founding President of the United States, George Washington, both attended the school.

On his death, the widow of Washington's paternal grandfather, Lawrence Washington of Virginia, Mildred (née Warner) married George Gale. The Gale family were the chief tobacco merchants of Whitehaven, Cumberland. In 1700, carrying child, she moved with her new husband and three children, John 6, Augustine 3, Mildred infant, to Whitehaven. In 1701, Mildred Gale died in childbirth, she was buried in St Nicholas Churchyard in Whitehaven. Midred's sister, Mary, is an ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II.

George Gale sent the boys to board at Appleby Grammar until custody of the children was successfully challenged by the Washington family, and the boys returned to Virginia, to live near Chotank Creek.

Washington's father, Augustine, chose to enrol his two sons from his first marriage to Jane Butler, Lawrence and Augustine, at Appleby Grammar. George was the first son of his second marriage to Mary Ball. Were it not for the sudden death of his father in 1743, on reaching the age at which the two older boys had made the long voyage from Virginia, George would have most certainly followed in their footsteps.

Ofsted and academic performance

The school is in decline. In October 2008, Appleby Grammar School was one of five Cumbrian schools presented with the DCSF International School Award for recognition of links with schools abroad. and its 18–19 November 2008 Ofsted inspection was rated "Good". In September 2011, however, in its Ofsted inspection, the school was only rated as "satisfactory". In November 2013, and again in May 2016, the report from Ofsted determined the school "Requires improvement".

Notable former pupils

(in alphabetical order)