Wallingford Grammar School was 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 ...

in the town of Wallingford, Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire),

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 ...

, succeeded by

Wallingford School Wallingford School is a secondary school with academy status located in the town of Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England. It was founded by Walter Bigg in 1659 in association with the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors, formally succeeding ...

when

comprehensive education Comprehensive may refer to: * Comprehensive layout, the page layout of a proposed design as initially presented by the designer to a client. *Comprehensive school, a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement ...

was introduced in 1973.

History

When Walter Bigg, thought to have been Innkeeper of St Giles in the Fields, a

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

, Master of the

Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors ] The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the 110 Livery company, livery companies of the City of London. The Company, originally known as the ''Guild and Fraternity of St John the Baptist in the City of London'', was founded prio ...

, and member of parliament, MP for Wallingford, died in 1659, he left £10 for the education of six poor boys at a school in Wallingford. The Wallingford Corporation Minute Book shows that the school was active in 1672. The school buildings were at St John's Green from 1717–80, through a lease bought with Bigg's endowment. When the lease ended the school transferred to the headmaster's house, and later the upper room in the Town Hall was used a school room until 1863, when the school briefly closed.

School building

Th
school
was revived under the Endowed Schools Act of 1872, and Wallingford School, which still benefits from the Bigg Charity was formally established when a grammar school building was built on the corner of St George’s Road and Station Road in 1877 by Sidney Roberts Stevenson. The boys’ and girls’ schools were amalgamated onto one site in 1904.

Boys' school

In 1958 the girls were moved to Didcot Girls' Grammar School, the forerunner of

Didcot Girls' School Didcot Girls' School (also known as DGS) is a secondary school with academy status for students in Didcot, Oxfordshire and the surrounding rural area. The school has been awarded with Language College and Enterprise College status (as of 2006) ...

. In 1958, Blackstone Secondary Modern was built near ''Blackstone Road'' on ''St George's Road''. It was also known as Wallingford County Grammar School. It had a rowing team.

Dissolution

With the onset of comprehensive education in 1973, Blackstone was used as the lower school (taking age 11–13) and the old grammar school was the upper school (taking older children). In 1998 the school was centralised at the old secondary modern site, and the old grammar school converted to apartments.

Alumni

* Prof Malcolm Clarke, Senior Principal Scientific Officer of the

Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (MBA) is a learned society with a scientific laboratory that undertakes research in marine biology. The organisation was founded in 1884 and has been based in Plymouth since the Citadel H ...

1978–87 *

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Frank King , Colonel Commandant 1974–79 of the

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

, and Director of Operations in Northern Ireland 1973–75 * Maj-Gen Norman Speller , Colonel Commandant of the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

(RAOC) 1978–83 * Prof Michael Sheringham , Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature since 2004 at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, and President 2002–04 of the Society for French Studies *

Ann Packer Ann Elizabeth Packer MBE (born 8 March 1942) is an English former sprinter, hurdler and long jumper. She won a gold medal in the 800 metres and a silver in the 400 metres at the 1964 Summer Olympics. Early life In 1959 Packer won the English ...

, Olympic gold medallist, 800 metres 1964.

References

External links

Wallingford School

Wallingford History Gateway

WikiMapia
{{authority control Defunct grammar schools in England Educational institutions disestablished in 1973 Educational institutions established in 1877 Defunct schools in Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire District 1877 establishments in England 1973 disestablishments in England Wallingford, Oxfordshire