Plaque on Old Crypt Schoolroom - geograph

The Crypt School is a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

with academy status for boys and girls located in the city of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. Founded in the 16th century, it was originally an all-boys school, but it made its sixth form co-educational in the 1980s, and moved to a mixed intake from year 7 in 2018, thereby becoming the only fully coeducational selective school in Gloucester. The school was founded in 1539 by Joan Cooke with money inherited from her husband John.John and Joan Cooke.
Living Gloucester, 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.

History

Founders

John Cooke (d. 1528) was a wealthy brewer and mercer of Gloucester, one of the city's earliest aldermen, serving as sheriff in 1494 and 1498. He held the office of mayor four times, in 1501, 1507, 1512 and 1518. He was a significant benefactor in the city during his life, but it was his will that started the process for the establishment of a grammar school in Gloucester. The scheme was given effect by his wife Joan Cooke, who survived him by 17 years, dying in 1545. It was Joan therefore who created the tripartite deed of 1539, deemed to be the founding charter. The school remains today the most ancient in Gloucester. A full account of the couple and their good works is described in the book by Roland Austin published in 1939 "Crypt School". A portrait of the pair painted some years after Joan's death is extant. It shows John in his mayoral robe, shaking hands with Joan and it is in the collection of Gloucester City Council.

Site

In the school's 500-year history it has been sited in three different locations within the city of Gloucester. The original school was part of

St Mary de Crypt Church St Mary de Crypt Church, Southgate Street, Gloucester GL1, is an AnglicanSt Mary de ...

in Southgate Street and the schoolroom can still be seen there. Later, in 1889, the school moved to Greyfriars, known better as Friar's Orchard, and in 1943, to its present site at Podsmead. The site on which the modern school is situated is land given to the school by Joan Cooke in 1539.

Status

Despite attempts to change the school, notably in the 1960s with the move to comprehensive schools, the Crypt remains a selective grammar school. In 1987, there was the admission of girls in the sixth form entering in at the age of 16, and the transition towards a fully coeducational school began in 2018. Since April 2011, the school has been an

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

independent of local authority control. The school has been fully co-educational since 2018.

Primary school

In May 2018, the school announced plans to create a primary school, linked to the secondary school being built on the current Podsmead site. The new primary school would, unlike main school, be unselective and would be a free school.

Facilities

Facilities at the school include: * Largest non-commercial stage in Gloucestershire * Sixth Form Centre (also known as John and Joan Cooke Centre) * Sports hall * Modern Pavilion * New Tennis and Netball courts as of 2019/20 * 3 full-size rugby pitches * 2 football pitches * 2 cricket fields (1 natural

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

, 1 artificial green) * Anthony Iles Block (Formerly Engineering Block) *

Notable former pupils

:Alumni of the school are known as Old Cryptians.

Religion

* Michael Wrenford Hooper,

Bishop of Ludlow The Bishop of Ludlow was an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford, which is within the Province of Canterbury, England. The See of Ludlow was erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 by ...

from 2002–9 * John Moore (1730–1805), Archbishop of Canterbury *

John Paddock Alvin John Paddock (born June 9, 1954) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player, currently the senior vice-president of hockey operations of the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He is a former head coach of t ...

(b. 1951), Dean of Gibraltar (2008-) *

Robert Raikes Robert Raikes ("the Younger") (14 September 1736 – 5 April 1811) was an English philanthropist and Anglican layman. He was educated at The Crypt School Gloucester. He was noted for his promotion of Sunday schools. Family Raikes was born at ...

(1736–1811), publisher and founder of Sunday School Movement * George Whitefield (1714–1770), a leader of the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

movement *

James Frederick Wood James Frederick Bryan Wood (April 27, 1813 – June 20, 1883) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the fifth Bishop and first Archbishop of Philadelphia, serving between 1860 and his death in 1883. Early life James Wood ...

Archbishop of Philadelphia The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. It covers the City and County of Philadelphia as well a ...

between 1860–83 *

James Roose-Evans James Roose-Evans (11 November 1927 – 26 October 2022) was a British theatre director, priest, and writer on experimental theatre, ritual and meditation. In 1959 he founded the Hampstead Theatre Club, in London; in 1974 the Bleddfa Centre for ...

, theatre director and priest

Sports

John Gordon A'Bear John A'Bear (16 July 1913 – 3 October 1979) was an English rugby union player. He played club rugby for Gloucester and was their youngest captain. Although he never won a cap for England, he did tour Argentina with the British Isles team ...

, international rugby union player with the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

, and

's youngest ever captain. * Charlie Hannaford,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

international *

Grahame Parker Grahame Wilshaw Parker (11 February 1912 – 11 November 1995) was an English sportsman who played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Gloucestershire and represented the England national rugby union team. Parker, who ...

, cricketer * Wayne Thomas, professional footballer (Doncaster Rovers) *

Percy Stout Percy Wyfold Stout Distinguished Service Order, DSO, OBE (20 November 1875 – 9 October 1937) was an English international rugby union wing who played club rugby for Gloucester Rugby, Gloucester and Richmond F.C., Richmond. Stout also played i ...

, England rugby union international

Academia

Ernest Baldwin Ernest Hubert Francis Baldwin (29 March 1909 – 7 December 1969) was an English biochemist, textbook author and pioneer in the field of comparative biochemistry. Born in Gloucester, Baldwin attended the Crypt Grammar School followed by S ...

, professor of biochemistry at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

from 1950–69 * Peter Bayley, professor of English at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

from 1978–85, and the first Principal of

Collingwood College, Durham , motto_English = Love the best , scarf = , named_for = Sir Edward Collingwood , namesake = Sir Edward Collingwood , established = 1972 , principal = Joe Elliott , vice_principal = Emma Brownlow , undergraduates = ~1050 , postgraduates = ~60 , ...

in 1972 *

Derek Brewer Derek Stanley Brewer (13 July 1923 – 23 October 2008) was a Welsh medieval scholar, author and publisher. Life Born in Cardiff, Wales, the son of a clerk with General Electric, Brewer read English at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was ta ...

, professor of English at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

from 1983 to 1990,

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 1977 to 1990, and president of the

English Association The English Association is a subject association for English dedicated to furthering the study and enjoyment of English language and literature in schools, higher education institutes and amongst the public in general. It was founded in 1906 by ...

from 1982 to 1983 and 1987 tp 1990 *

Thomas Edward Brown Thomas Edward Brown (5 May 183029 October 1897), commonly referred to as T. E. Brown, was a late- Victorian scholar, schoolmaster, poet, and theologian from the Isle of Man. Having achieved a double first at Christ Church, Oxford, and electi ...

(1830–1897), poet, scholar, and head-master * H. D. F. Kitto, classicist and professor of Greek at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

from 1944–62

Arts

* Capel Bond, organist *

Ian Dench Ian Alec Harvey Dench (born 7 August 1964) is an English songwriter and musician. He was the guitarist and principal songwriter for EMF, who scored a major international hit reaching number 1 in the United States with " Unbelievable" in 1991. ...

, musician, best known as the guitarist from EMF * Michael John Hurd, composer * William Henley (1849–1903), poet and editor *

Anthony Calf Anthony Calf (born 4 May 1959) is an English actor. He studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He has recurring roles in the television medical drama '' Holby City'', as Michael Beauchamp, and ''New Tricks'' a ...

, actor

Politics

* Harold Collison, Baron Collison CBE, general secretary of the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers from 1953–69 * Andrew Henderson, Ambassador to Algeria from 2006 to 2010 *

Robin Day Sir Robin Day (24 October 1923 – 6 August 2000) was an English political journalist and television and radio broadcaster. Day's obituary in ''The Guardian'' by Dick Taverne stated that he was "the most outstanding television journalist of ...

(1923–2000), journalist, broadcaster and political commentator *

James Bruton Sir James Bruton (1848 – 26 February 1933) was an English politician. He was elected member of Parliament for Gloucester for the Unionist Party in 1918 and 1922. James Bruton was born in Newent, Gloucestershire, in 1848, the son of the aucti ...

, member of Parliament for

for the Unionist Party in 1918 and 1922

Other

* Ian Bailey * Saajid Badat ,British terrorist

School song

'Carmen Cryptiense', written in April 1926 with words by D. Gwynne Williams (Headmaster) and music by C. Lee Williams.

References

External links

*
Old Cryptians
Club for former pupils and teachers.
The London Old Cryptians Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crypt School 1539 establishments in England Educational institutions established in the 1530s Schools in Gloucester Grammar schools in Gloucestershire Boys' schools in Gloucestershire Academies in Gloucestershire