Yeovil 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
Yeovil
Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, which was founded or refounded about 1860 and closed in 1906 when its only headmaster, Henry Monk, retired.
The 19th-century grammar school grew out of a long-established charity school, which according to some sources was itself a grammar school when founded in 1573 and was referred to by that name in 1839 and 1853.
First school
From the 16th century to the 19th century, a
charity school
Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...
provided a free elementary education in Yeovil for sons of the poor, funded by local charitable bequests, including the income from about 25 acres of land. Beginning in the 18th century, there were also ten places available for boys from nearby parishes, paid for by the Nowes Foundation, a charity established for the purpose of educating local boys and setting them up in trades.
[
For centuries, the school occupied a building called the Chantry, a chapel in the churchyard of the parish church of St John the Baptist, which was attached to the church tower. This was fitted out as a schoolroom by the parish in 1573.][ The full name of the building was the Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin without the Church. It probably dated from the early fourteenth century, and may have formed part of an earlier church on the site.][ Some sources say that the school was established in the 16th century as a grammar school.
In the early 19th century, litigation was begun in the ]Court of Chancery
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...
, due to the charity school having decayed and those entrusted with its investments not paying what was due on them. In 1819, the School Commissioners investigated the affairs of the school.[Daniel Vickery, ''A Sketch of the Town of Yeovil'' (1856)]
pp. 35–40
/ref>
In September 1839, the Rev. John Langdon was appointed as schoolmaster
The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled after B ...
, when the school was reported to be called "Yeovil Free Grammar School".["PROMOTIONS" in '' The Globe'' (London), Thursday 3 October 1839, p. 4: "Rev. J. Langdon to the mastership of Yeovil Free Grammar School."] By December of that year, Langdon was advertising for young gentlemen to be taken as private grammar school pupils. In July 1853, Langdon was described as "curate of Barwick and Head Master of Yeovil Grammar School" when the Dean and Chapter of Wells Cathedral nominated him as vicar of Mudford
Mudford is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated from Yeovil in the South Somerset district on the River Yeo. The village has a population of 696. The parish includes the hamlets of Mudford Sock, West Mudford and Up Mudford.
Th ...
, some three miles from Yeovil.["Contemporary Press: Intelligence" in ''The Globe'' (London), Thursday 21 July 1853, p. 2]
In 1855, the old Chantry was demolished, in order to make more space in the churchyard for burials, and was rebuilt (or replaced by a new building of similar size and appearance) next to the churchyard. This cost £1,200 and incorporated some features of the original building, including two chimneypieces and three niches. The doorway and all the windows were built from newly cut stone.[ There were ]feoffee
Under the feudal system in England, a feoffee () is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner. The use o ...
s of the new Chantry, who appointed the schoolmaster.["Yeovil — Free School", in ''Schools Inquiry Commission'', vol. XIV (1868)]
pp. 243–247
/ref>
In May 1859, Henry Monk, then aged twenty-four and of Harrow Weald
Harrow Weald is a suburban district in Greater London, England. Located about north of Harrow, Harrow Weald is formed from a leafy 1930s suburban development along with ancient woodland of Harrow Weald Common. It forms part of the London Boro ...
, was appointed as schoolmaster
The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled after B ...
of the Yeovil Charity School, replacing the Rev. John Langdon, who had resigned. The ''Western Flying Post'' noted that "There were several candidates for the position."["Yeovil Charity School", in ''Western Flying Post'', 17 May 1859] Monk’s salary was £93 a year, with permission to take private pupils,[ the purpose of this being to encourage a better class of schoolmaster.][
]
Two schools
In January 1860, Monk married Elizabeth Henrietta Hawkins (who was 'Superannuated from the War Department') at All Saints Church, Harrow Weald. At first they lived on the Sherborne Road, Yeovil, but in the 1860s they moved to a house in Hendford Hill, which acted as a boarding house for boys.[Bob Osborn]
"HENRY MONK Headmaster of Yeovil Grammar School"
yeovilhistory.info, accessed 20 September 2022
yeovilhistory.info, accessed 20 September" 2022 These were the first pupils of a new school which was advertised as Yeovil Grammar School.[
In 1864, there were two schoolrooms in the Chantry.][ One was used to teach thirty-four boys, the sons of working-class fathers; of these, ten were on the Nowes Foundation and received two suits of clothing a year and £5 towards buying an apprenticeship when they left the school at the age of about thirteen. The second room at the Chantry was used by the boys of the new grammar school, of whom there were nine day boys and another twenty boarders, who lived with the Monks.][ During the 1870s, Monk acquired a larger house, in Hendford, now called Flowers House.][
In 1873, Monk was advertising the "Grammar School, Yeovil", as a ]public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
"founded about 1573". He then had three assistant schoolmaster
The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled after B ...
s, one of whom taught French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, and the school fees were between six and eight guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...
a year for day boys, between 25 and 30 guineas for boarders.
By the 1870s, the Endowed Schools Commissioners did not like Monk combining what they considered to be a private grammar school for middle-class boys with a primary school; they wanted to create instead a public grammar school. However, beneficiaries of the educational charity at Preston, Alvington, and Brympton
Brympton is a civil parish and electoral ward in Somerset, England. The parish is situated on the north-west edge of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The parish/ward has a population of 7,308. The civil parish covers the western part of t ...
were against the loss of the clothing and apprenticeship payments,[ to which they were entitled under the 18th-century Will of Dr John Nowes.][ In 1877 the Charity Commissioners decided that in any event they had no powers under the ]Endowed Schools Act 1869
The Endowed Schools Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict c 56) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Endowed Schools Acts 1869 to 1948. It was passed during William Ewart Gladstone’s first ministry, to restructure endowed gr ...
to promote the plan.[
In 1879, the Nowes foundation stopped paying Monk its share of his salary,][ but the charity school continued to operate at the Chantry, as did Monk’s own school, which also used his home and boarding house in Hendford.][ The income from the Nowes endowments was at first conserved, pending the way forward for that charity being found.][L. C. Hayward]
THE YEOVIL CHARITY SCHOOL – (PART 3 OF 3)
in ''Chronicle: Yeovil Archaeological and Local History Society'', April 1987, pp. 134-136
One school
The charity school closed in 1884, and Monk continued to use the Chantry as a schoolroom until 1889, paying rent for it.[ In January 1886, Monk’s son F. E. Monk was acting as Assistant Master of the grammar school and was said to be a member of the ]University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. A public notice of the beginning of the school term stated "Pupils prepared for public schools, local examinations, or commercial life. There is a Preparatory Class for younger boys."
After 1889, for several years the Chantry was used for Roman Catholic Church services,
one of the meeting places they occupied before the new Church of the Holy Ghost was consecrated in Higher Kingston.[
Bob Osborn, ''Yeovil in 50 Buildings'' (2017)]
p. 16
/ref> The Yeovil School Board then occupied the Chantry for two years.[
A boy who attended Monk’s school in the 1890s later recalled being taught to read by Mrs Monk, at a time when there were some fifty or sixty boys in the school. Classes were taught by Monk, his daughter, and his son-in-law.][ In 1897, the house in Hendford was put up for auction and described as a three-storey, ten-bedroom house, with a schoolroom which could be converted into a coach house, and a walled garden.][ After the sale of his own school building, Monk took the Chantry again for teaching in,][ but after the school returned to the Chantry, the numbers fell to only about a dozen boys.][ Teaching went on at the Chantry until Monk retired in 1906.
After that, his school came to an end.][
]
Masters of the charity school
*1711: Mr Hibberd
*1754–1803: John Boucher Hodges,[''Reports from the Commissioners: Charities in England and Wales'', Vol. V (1820)]
603
/ref> died 1806
*1804: Rev. Thomas Tomkins[
*1839–1859: Rev. John Langdon][
*1859–1884: Henry Monk][
]
Notable former pupils
* T. E. R. Phillips (1868–1942), clergyman and astronomer
* Sir Ernest Petter (1873–1954), engineer[''Western Chronicle'' (Somerset), Friday 16 October 1925, p. 5]
Aftermath
Monk retired to Ryme Intrinseca
Ryme Intrinseca () is a village and civil parish in northwest Dorset, England, south of Yeovil and west of Yetminster. It is sited on a low ridge of cornbrash limestone on the edge of the Blackmore Vale. The Intrinseca part of the name derive ...
. After the death of his wife in 1911, he moved to Stratton-on-the-Fosse
Stratton-on-the-Fosse is a village and civil parish located on the edge of the Mendip Hills, south-west of Westfield, north-east of Shepton Mallet, and from Frome, in Somerset, England. It has a population of 1,108, and has a rural agricultu ...
, where he died in 1921.[
After 1906, the Chantry was used for various educational purposes, while the income from the charity school endowments was applied to offering free places at ]Yeovil School
Yeovil School was a boys' grammar school in the Somerset town of Yeovil, in existence from 1845 to 1975.
Established by John Aldridge in Clarence Place, Yeovil, in 1851 the school moved to a street named Kingston and was renamed as Kingston Sch ...
and the High School for girls. Since 1945, when secondary education became publicly funded, the trustees have made grants for higher education. As of 1987, the Chantry was in use as a store-room for legal documents.[ In 2017 it was used by a firm of solicitors as a meeting room and by then was a ]listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.[
]
References
{{Schools in Somerset
1860 establishments in England
1906 disestablishments in England
Defunct grammar schools in England
Defunct schools in Somerset
Educational institutions established in 1860
Educational institutions disestablished in 1906