Kirkham Grammar School is a selective, co-educational

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...

Kirkham, Lancashire Kirkham (originally Kirkam-in-Amounderness) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England, midway between Blackpool and Preston ( west of Preston) and adjacent to the smaller town of Wesham. It owes its existence to ...

, England. It was founded in 1549. Its roots can be traced back to the chantry school attached to St Michael's Church in the 13th century. The school remained in the church grounds until it moved to occupy its present site on Ribby Road in 1911. The front range of the school and the headmaster's house are recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated Grade II

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 I ...

School history

In 1585 the Thirty Men of Kirkham, a group which administered parish business, took control of the school. By the early part of the seventeenth century, the school had fallen into disrepair and had been without a master for seven years. Isabell Birley, an alehouse keeper, came to the rescue in 1621, presenting the Thirty Men of Kirkham with £30 for the restoration of the school. In 1655 Henry Colburn, an old boy of the school, left money and land to the school in his will, putting it in the trust of the

Worshipful Company of Drapers The Worshipful Company of Drapers is one of the 110 livery companies of the City of London. It has the formal name The Master and Wardens and Brethren and Sisters of the Guild or Fraternity of the Blessed Mary the Virgin of the Mystery of Dr ...

in London. Then began a long partnership between the company and the school, which has continued to the present day, though the Drapers surrendered control of the school in 1944, having endowed it with large extensions in 1938. The present school building was built between 1909 and 1911 when the front range and the headmaster's house were constructed to a design by the architect F. H. Greenaway of London. Independent status ceased temporarily in 1944 when the school became a

voluntary-aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In mo ...

boys'

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 ...

. A further major extension, the Norwood Science Building was opened in 1965 and subsequently extended. In 1979 the Board of Governors took the decision to revert to independent status and Kirkham Grammar School became a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

school for the first time. The last decade of the 20th century witnessed a rise in pupil numbers from 500 to 900. The school's partnership with

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenue ...

was first established in 1994. In July 2013, the school provided accommodation for teenagers attending BAE Systems' "taster weeks" The school applied to host a Pre-Games Olympic Training Camp before the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

, in London.

Andrew Flintoff Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff (born 6 December 1977) is an English television and radio presenter and former international cricketer. Flintoff played all forms of the game and was one of the sport's leading all-rounders, a fast bowler, middle-ord ...

runs a cricket academy at the school. In recent years Kirkham Grammar School has produced a number of rugby players who have appeared at the highest level of the sport, Richard Wigglesworth and

Kieran Brookes Kieran Brookes (born 29 August 1990) is an English rugby union player who plays for Toulon and England. He usually plays as a tighthead prop, but can also cover as a loosehead prop. He was educated at Kirkham Grammar School. Club career Brook ...

were part of the 2015 England's Six Nations squad, while

Kieran Marmion Kieran Marmion (born 11 February 1992) is an Irish rugby union player who primarily plays as a scrum-half. Marmion currently plays for Irish provincial side Connacht in the Pro14. Marmion came into Connacht's academy through the Irish Exiles ...

was part of the

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

squad. In Sevens rugby Daniel Bibby and Richard de Carpentier have represented

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 ...

in the HSBC World Sevens Series where they came across fellow Old Boy Adam Newton playing for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. In 2016 Daniel Bibby became the first

alumnus Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

of the school to become an Olympian gaining a silver medal for Great Britain at the Rio Games in Sevens.

Development

The school celebrated its 450th anniversary in 1999 and has undertaken a major development programme with phase one, a science laboratories and classroom project, being completed in November 2005. The second phase, a new £1.5M extension project, was launched in May 2007 to give the school extra facilities with twelve new classrooms. The classrooms, with full

Information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...

(IT)

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...

teaching aids and access to

laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

s with

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

facilities, opened in December. A

time capsule A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics dates ...

was buried in the foundations. In January 2007, the new ''Lawrence House Pavilion'' was officially opened with a performance of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

''. The pavilion houses a drama studio, changing rooms, kitchen and a lounge area funded by the ''Lawrence House Trust'', together with the ''Katie Caine Trust'', after which the studio was named and also ''The Friends of Kirkham Grammar''. The pavilion cost £220,000. In October 2007, the school's sports pitch was relaid with all weather

AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has ...

, and with floodlights it is also used by local community partners for sports such as

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

. The old pitch was recycled with part of it being used to make new pathways for North Shore Golf Club in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

Nursery School

The Nursery School is a purpose built

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...

which adjoins the junior school. It was opened in September 2003 at a cost of £250,000.

Old Kirkhamians

* Zachary Langton (1698–1788), clergyman * Ralph Copeland (1837–1905), astronomer *

Eric Laithwaite Eric Roberts Laithwaite (14 June 1921 – 27 November 1997) was a British electrical engineer, known as the "Father of Maglev" for his development of the linear induction motor and maglev rail system. Biography Eric Roberts Laithwaite wa ...

(1921–1997), engineer * Ronald Brown (1926 - 2019), Suffragan Bishop of Birkenhead * Graham Clark (born 1941), opera singer * Anthony John Lewis (1942 - 2020), mathematician, sports statistician * Alastair Little (born 1950, died 2022), celebrity chef. *

Clive Tyldesley Clive Tyldesley (born 21 August 1954) is an English television sports broadcaster. He was ITV's senior football commentator from 1998 until 2020. In that role, he has led the ITV commentary team at four World Cups and four European Championshi ...

(born 1954), football commentator * Tony Cocker (born 1959), former Chief Executive of E.ON UK * John Buckley (born 1967), Professor of Military History * Matthew Pateman (born 1969), Professor of Popular Aesthetics *

Pat Sanderson Pat Sanderson (born 6 September 1977 in Chester) is a former England international rugby union player and a former flanker for Worcester. He is the brother of the former England player Alex Sanderson. His early rugby union career blossomed at ...

(born 1977), rugby union player * Ranvir Singh (born 1977), television presenter *

Tupele Dorgu Tupele Dorgu (born 13 December 1977 in Preston, Lancashire) is an English actress and voice over artist. She is best known for playing the role of Kelly Crabtree in the ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'' from 2004 to 2010. Education Dorg ...

(born 1977), actress *

Alex Sanderson Alexander Sanderson (born 7 October 1979 in Chester) is an English former rugby union footballer who played in the back row during the 1990s and 2000s for Saracens and Sale Sharks. He is the brother of Pat Sanderson who also played rugby for L ...

(born 1979), rugby union player * Mark McQueen (born 1980), film & TV director * Richard Wigglesworth (born 1983), rugby union player *

(born 1990), rugby union player * Richard de Carpentier (born 1990), rugby union 7s player *

Kevin Wolze Kevin Wolze (born 9 March 1990) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. Career He joined MSV Duisburg in the summer of 2011, after he spent his youth playing with VfL Wolfsburg and the Bolton Wanderers with his first ...

(born 1990), German footballer * Daniel Bibby (born 1991), rugby union 7s player (Olympic Silver Medallist, Rio 2016) * Rhys Bennett (born 1991), English footballer * Joshua Morris (born 1991), English footballer *

(born 1992), rugby union player * Kieran Wilkinson (born 1999), rugby union player * James Cartmell (actor) (born 2000), actor * Ray Ingleby, businessman, entrepreneur

Past Headmasters since 1911

* Reverend Cresswell Strange * Dennis Norwood * William H Kennedy * Malcolm J Summerlee * Barrie Stacey *Douglas Walker * Richard Laithwaite * Deborah Parkinson (Acting Head) * Daniel Berry

References

External links

Official school website

Profile
on the

Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the busi ...

website {{Coord, 53.7814, -2.8886, type:edu_region:GB, display=title Schools in the Borough of Fylde 1549 establishments in England Educational institutions established in the 1540s Independent schools in Lancashire Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Boarding schools in Lancashire