Established 1550 Motto "Non nobis solum" | Closed 1975 Ages 11–18 Founded 1550 | |
Location MarlboroughWiltshireEngland | ||
Marlborough Royal Free Grammar School, previously known as Marlborough Grammar School and King Edward's School, Marlborough, was a grammar school in the town of Marlborough, in Wiltshire, England, founded in 1550.
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Originally for boys only, the school became co-educational in 1906. Over a period of more than four hundred years, it had a number of homes around Marlborough. In 1975 it was closed, and its final buildings were re-used for the new St John's Marlborough comprehensive school.
History
The Abolition of Chantries Act of 1547 closed all of the Kingdom of England's chantries, including the Hospital of St John, Marlborough. The town's burgesses then petitioned the Crown for the hospital to be converted into a "'Free-scole for the inducement of youth", and by letters patent dated 18 October 1550 a grammar school was established. The former hospital thus became the school's first home, but in 1578 it was demolished and a new building was erected which provided a schoolroom, a house for the schoolmaster, and dormitories. This survived until 1790.
The school was sometimes known as King Edward's School, Marlborough, but in the course of the 18th century it began to be known as Marlborough Grammar School.
In 1834 a Charity Commissioners' report called the school the "Free Grammar School" and found that its original purpose was to teach Greek, Latin, and the church catechism, and that the governing body was the Corporation of Marlborough. Fourteen boys were then being taught the prescribed subjects free but had to pay for other subjects. There were also twenty-six "pay-scholars", including some boarders.
In 1853 the school survived a proposal by Earl Bruce to amalgamate it with the new Marlborough College. During the nineteenth century it declined, and in 1899 was closed. However, in 1906 it reopened in new buildings, now taking the form of a mixed school for eighty boys and girls. In 1947 a boarding-house for both sexes was established at Wye House.
Having already occupied a variety of different sites in Marlborough, in 1962 the school again moved into new buildings, this time on the edge of the town centre.
In 1975, the school was closed and merged with the local secondary modern school, Marlborough Secondary Modern, creating a new comprehensive school, St John's Marlborough. It later became St. John's School and Community College, specializing in science, technology and languages. A new school was rebuilt at the upper school site, alongside the old grammar school buildings; the buildings of the two former schools were demolished in 2010. It has since become St John's Marlborough, a centrally funded Academy school.