The Bishop Gore School ( cy, Ysgol Esgob Gore) is a secondary school in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, founded on 14 September 1682 by Hugh Gore (1613–1691),

Bishop of Waterford and Lismore The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Waterford and town of Lismore, County Waterford, Lismore in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland ...

. It is situated in

Sketty The suburban district of Sketty ( cy, Sgeti) is about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the Swansea city centre on Gower Road. It falls within the Sketty council ward of Swansea. It is also a community. Description The area approximates to the Vivi ...

, close to Singleton Park and Swansea University. In December 2013 the school was ranked in the second highest of five bands by the Welsh Government, based on performance in exams, value added performance, disadvantaged pupils' performance, and attendance.

History

Grammar school

The school was endowed and established in 1682, as a Free Grammar School by Hugh Gore, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, for "the gratuitous instruction of twenty boys, sons of the most indigent burgesses, and in the event of a dissolution of the corporation, to sons of the poorest inhabitants of the town." Initially located in historic Goat Street (on a site now part of Princess Way in the city centre), it has since known several names and locations. In September 1853 the school, by then named the Swansea Grammar School for Boys, moved to Mount Pleasant into a new building designed by the architect Thomas Taylor. The building was extended in 1869 to a design by

Benjamin Bucknall Benjamin Bucknall (1833 – 16 November 1895) was an English architect of the Gothic Revival in South West England and South Wales, and then of neo-Moorish architecture in Algeria. His most noted works include the uncompleted Woodchester Mansi ...

. From 1895 the site was shared with the newly created Swansea Intermediate and Technical School for Boys (later the co-educational

Swansea Technical College , students = 5,765 , undergrad = 4,520 , postgrad = 1,075 , other = 175 FE , city = Swansea , country = Wales, UK , campus = Urban , address = Mount PleasantSwansea SA1 6ED , we ...

). Under the provisions of the 1902 Education Act the running of both institutions was taken over by Swansea Council. During World War II the buildings were largely destroyed by incendiary bombs. Discussions about the rebuilding of the site led to the decision to move the Grammar School to a new site elsewhere in Swansea and in 1952 it relocated to newly built premises located in De La Beche Road,

, at which point it was renamed Bishop Gore Grammar School and subsequently, from 1970, Bishop Gore Comprehensive School. A large extension was built in the 1970s and further Design and Technology extensions in the 1990s.

Comprehensive

Until 1970, Bishop Gore was an all-boys grammar school, then it merged with the girls' grammar school Glanmôr and Townhill Secondary School to become Bishop Gore Co-educational Comprehensive school in 1971.

School today

, Bishop Gore has 1,002 male and female students aged 11–18, including 112 in the

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

. The

has a separate lounge, facilities and uniform. The headteacher is Helen Burgum (the school's first female headteacher, appointed September 2017). Set at the head of Singleton Park, close to the village of

and the seafront, Bishop Gore is built around two quadrangles. The red brick building has in the centre the second largest hall in Swansea, second only to the Brangwyn Hall. Each pupil is assigned to a

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

: Caswell, Langland, Bracelet, Rotherslade or Limeslade (named after beaches on the nearby Gower peninsula), which they retain throughout their time at the school. Highlights of the school year include the Eisteddfod, the inter-house sports tournaments, the productions by Bishop Gore Theatre Company, and the end-of-year balls for the senior students. In January 2010, an inspection report was published which awarded Bishop Gore the highest possible grades in all categories. As a result of this the school was featured as a 'best practice' case study by

Estyn Estyn is the education and training inspectorate for Wales. Its name comes from the Welsh language verb ''estyn'' meaning "to reach (out), stretch or extend". Its function is to provide an independent inspection and advice service on quality ...

and was named in the chief inspector's annual report – being the only secondary school in Wales to achieve this recognition.

Dylan Thomas

The most famous alumnus of Bishop Gore is almost certainly the poet, playwright and author

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

(1914–1953). His father, David John (D. J.) Thomas was senior English master at the school, then known as Swansea Grammar School. Not a distinguished pupil, he nonetheless gained attention through publishing his first poem in 1926, "The Song Of The Mischievous Dog" and in 1928 winning the school's annual one-mile race. He left in 1931 to begin work at '' The South Wales Daily Post'' as a junior reporter. In 1988 the main surviving structure of the 1869 school building was renamed the Dylan Thomas Building in honour of its former pupil.

Old Goreans

Notable Old Goreans have included: *

Martin Amis Martin Louis Amis (born 25 August 1949) is a British novelist, essayist, memoirist, and screenwriter. He is best known for his novels ''Money'' (1984) and ''London Fields'' (1989). He received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his memoir '' ...

, writer * Donald Anderson, Baron Anderson of Swansea, politician *

Gareth Armstrong Gareth S. Armstrong (born 25 June 1948) is a British actor, director, teacher and writer. Career Armstrong began his career by acting in school plays at the Bishop Gore School, Swansea. At the age of 16 he joined the National Youth Theatre; ...

, actor *

Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare, (16 April 1815 – 25 February 1895), was a British Liberal Party politician, who served in government most notably as Home Secretary (1868–1873) and as Lord President of the Council. Background and ...

, politician, Home Secretary 1868–73 * Prof Sir

John Cadogan Sir John Ivan George Cadogan (8 October 1930 – 9 February 2020) was a British organic chemist. Early life Cadogan was born in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, United Kingdom. He was educated at Swansea Grammar School, where he achieved St ...

, CBE, President of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

* Rt Rev Graham Chadwick, bishop and anti-apartheid campaigner * Hywel Davies, cardiologist and author * Prof Sir

Sam Edwards Sam George Edwards (May 26, 1915 – July 28, 2004) was an American actor. His most famous role on television was as banker Bill Anderson on ''Little House on the Prairie''.D.S.S. Form 1 Military Draft Registration Card completed on October 16, ...

FRS, physicist and university administrator *

Paul Ferris Paul Ferris may refer to: * Paul Ferris (composer) (1941–1995), English film composer * Paul Ferris (footballer) (born 1965), Northern Irish former footballer and now physiotherapist * Paul Ferris (Scottish writer) (born 1963), Scottish writer and ...

, writer * Charles Fisher, journalist *

Brian Flowers, Baron Flowers Brian Hilton Flowers, Baron Flowers FRS (13 September 1924 – 25 June 2010) was a British physicist, academician, and public servant. Early life and studies The son of the Rev. Harold Joseph Flowers and Mrs Marian Flowers, Brian Hilton Flowe ...

, FRS, physicist *

Neville George Thomas Neville George FRS FRSE LLD (13 May 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a Welsh geologist. He was president of the Geological Society of London. Life Thomas Neville George was born in the Morriston district of Swansea, the son of Thomas Rupert Ge ...

, geologist * Sir Alex Gordon, CBE, architect *

Sir William Grove Sir William Robert Grove, FRS FRSE (11 July 1811 – 1 August 1896) was a Welsh judge and physical scientist. He anticipated the general theory of the conservation of energy, and was a pioneer of fuel cell technology. He invented the Grove voltai ...

, scientist and judge * Rt Rev

Llewellyn Henry Gwynne Llewellyn Henry Gwynne (11 June 18639 December 1957) was a Welsh Anglican bishop and missionary. He was the first Anglican Bishop of Egypt and Sudan, serving from 1920 to 1946. Early life Llewellyn Henry Gwynne was born in Britain on 11 June ...

, Bishop of Egypt and the Sudan * Aneurin Hughes, EU diplomat *

Alfred Janes Alfred George Janes (30 June 1911 – 3 February 1999) was a Welsh artist, who worked in Swansea and Croydon. He experimented with many forms, but is best known for his meticulous still lifes and portraits. He is also remembered as one of The K ...

, artist * John Gwyn Jeffreys, FRS, conchologist * Daniel Jones, composer * Ernest Jones, neurologist and psychoanalyst, biographer of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...

* Mervyn Jones, Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands * Peter Jones, broadcaster * Sir

Archie Lamb Sir Albert Thomas "Archie" Lamb Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, KBE Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, CMG Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom), DFC (23 October 1921 – 19 October 2021) was a Britis ...

KBE CMG DFC, diplomat *

Mervyn Levy Mervyn Levy (11 February 1914 – 14 April 1996) was a Welsh artist, art teacher and writer on art. Born in Swansea, where he became a friend of the painter Alfred Janes, the poet Dylan Thomas and the musician Daniel Jones, he spent most of his t ...

, artist and critic * Prof

Patrick McGorry Patrick Dennistoun McGorry FAA FASSA FAHMS FRCP FRANZCP (born 10 September 1952) is an Irish-born Australian psychiatrist known for his development of the early intervention services for emerging mental disorders in young people. Positio ...

AO, psychiatrist, Australian of the Year. * John Metcalf, composer * David Miles, economist * Prof

Dewi Zephaniah Phillips Dewi Zephaniah Phillips (24 November 1934 – 25 July 2006), known as D. Z. Phillips or simply DZ, was a Welsh philosopher. He was a leading proponent of the Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion. He had an academic career spanning five decad ...

philosopher * Colin Phipps, geologist and Labour MP *

, writer * Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, writer

International Rugby players

Several Old Goreans have played international rugby, for the Wales national rugby union team or the

Wales women's national rugby union team The Wales women's national rugby union team first played in 1987. Wales plays in the Women's Rugby World Cup and the Women's Six Nations Championship History Wales Women have played as a team officially since 5 April 1987 when a Wales Women te ...

* Paul Arnold *

Roger Blyth William Roger Blyth (born 2 April 1950) is a Welsh rugby union administrator and former international. Born in Swansea, Blyth is the son of 1950s Wales flanker Len Blyth and was educated at Bishop Gore School. He played his rugby as a fullback a ...

* Stuart Davies *

Alun Wyn Jones Alun Wyn Jones (born 19 September 1985) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Ospreys and the Wales national team. He is the world's most-capped rugby union player. Jones also holds the records for the most ...

, captain of Wales *

Haydn Mainwaring Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

Richie Pugh Richie Pugh (born 10 August 1983) is Wales international rugby union player who plays at openside flanker. Pugh was born in Swansea and attended Brynmill primary and Bishop Gore Comprehensive schools before going on to study Sports Science at ...

, Wales Rugby sevens captain at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

Idwal Rees John Idwal Rees (25 July 1910 – 31 August 1991) was a Welsh international rugby union centre who played club rugby for Swansea and Cambridge University. He was capped 14 times for Wales captaining the team on two occasions. Personal history Re ...

Belinda Trotter Belinda is a feminine given name of unknown origin, apparently coined from Italian ''bella'', meaning "beautiful". Alternatively it may be derived from the Old High German name ''Betlinde'', which possibly meant "bright serpent" or "bright lind ...

, played in the first Welsh women's team in 1987. *

Geoff Wheel Geoff Wheel (born 30 June 1951, in Swansea) is a former Wales international rugby union player who attained 32 international caps. A lock-forward, he played club rugby for Mumbles RFC and then Swansea RFC Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Wels ...

References

External links

Bishop Gore School Homepage

Profile of Natalie Richards 2008 Welsh New Teacher of the Year in the Guardian

* ttp://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47885 A History of Swansea, with details about the school's founding {{Authority control Secondary schools in Swansea 1682 establishments in Wales Educational institutions established in the 1680s