Truro Cathedral School was a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

school for boys in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

, Cornwall. An ancient school refounded in 1549 as the Truro Grammar School, after the establishment of

Truro Cathedral The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Truro, Cornwall. It was built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson on the site of the parish church of St Mary. It ...

in the last quarter of the 19th century it was responsible for educating the cathedral's choristers and became known as the Cathedral School. The school closed in July 1982 and the education of choristers was transferred to

Polwhele House Preparatory School Polwhele House School is a day and boarding prep school at Polwhele House, near Truro, Cornwall. It follows the thirteen-plus Common Entrance Examination syllabus. In 2020, the school announced plans to provide senior school education, slo ...

History

An ancient foundation, the school existed before the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

as the

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area i ...

school of St Mary's Church, Truro. In 1549, following

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

's Abolition of Chantries Act of 1547 which suppressed all chantries, the school was refounded and took on a new identity as Truro Grammar School. However, as reported by

Nicholas Carlisle Sir Nicholas Carlisle, KH, FRS, MRIA, (1771 in York, England – 27 August 1847 in Margate, England) was an English antiquary and librarian. In 1806, he became a candidate for the office of Secretary to the Society of Antiquaries, which he o ...

in his survey of 1818, "The Grammar School at Truro owes its origin and endowment to some benevolent person, whose name is now not known."Nicholas Carlisle, ''A Concise Description of the Endowed Grammar Schools in England'', vol. 1 (1818)
pp. 144–145
/ref> The best evidence of the refounding of the school is an entry in the ''Journal of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

'' dated 21 May 1689, which refers to the grammar school being founded by a deed, since lost, of the third year of King Edward VI. In 1767, the Rev. St John Eliot, a former Rector of Truro, founded two Exhibitions tenable only at

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

, worth £30 a year each, with preference to be given to boys from the school. In 1818 Carlisle reported that over the previous ten years the number of scholars had been about fifty and that In the early 19th century an "anniversary school meeting" took place on every second Thursday in September, being a gathering of the school's former pupils. Cyrus Redding, in his ''An Illustrated Itinerary of the County of Cornwall'' (1842) called Truro Grammar School "the most celebrated school in the county". With the creation of the

Diocese of Truro The Diocese of Truro (established 1876) is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury which covers Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and a small part of Devon. The bishop's seat is at Truro Cathedral. Geography and history The ...

in 1876 from the Cornish part of the old

Diocese of Exeter The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is part of the Provinc ...

, the 16th-century parish church of St Mary's was designated as a cathedral. The church was then partly demolished and partly incorporated into the new

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, built on the same site. The pupils of the old

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 ...

had worshipped at St Mary's and became responsible for providing the new cathedral's choristers. It thus began to be known as the "Cathedral School". In 1906 the school was established as Truro Cathedral School by the Dean and Chapter as a Church of England public school.''Cornish Church Guide'' (1925) Truro: Blackford; pp. 326–27 By the early 20th century the school was an

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 ...

and had a boarding house called Trewinnard Court. The buildings were designed by the cathedral architect F. L. Pearson and built in the precincts of the cathedral. In 1925 the headmaster resided at Trewinnard Court. At that time choristers paid no tuition fees and there were two Bray scholarships open to choristers worth £30 p.a. The Hawkins scholarship worth £80 p.a. was open to former pupils studying at a university and tenable for three years. By the 1920s the cathedral school's reputation had significantly increased. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the school took the junior boys evacuated from St Paul's, London, some of whom joined the Truro Cathedral choir. In 1949, the school was occupying Copeland Court,

Kenwyn Kenwyn ( kw, Keynwynn) is a settlement and civil parish in Cornwall, England. The settlement is a suburb of the city of Truro and lies 0.5 mi (1 km) north of the city centre, within Truro parish, whereas Kenwyn parish covers an are ...

, formerly the bishop's palace known as 'Lis Escop'. Until 1960, the school had a large building in the Cathedral Close. In 1968 the school's age range was from seven to eighteen. There were 212-day boys and 109 boarders. Of these, twenty-two were cathedral choristers. In 1974 the school was teaching

Cornish wrestling Cornish wrestling ( kw, Omdowl Kernewek) is a form of wrestling that has been established in Cornwall for many centuries and possibly longer. It is similar to the Breton Gouren wrestling style. It is colloquially known as "wrasslin’"Philli ...

as part of its

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

programme and was the only school in Cornwall to do so. In 1979 it was reported to provide "continuous education for boys from 7–18 either as boarders or as day boys".

Closure and aftermath

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' reported on 19 April 1982 that

Viscount Falmouth Viscount Falmouth is a title that has been created twice, first in the Peerage of England, and then in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1674 for George FitzRoy, an illegitimate son of King Ch ...

, the chairman of the school's governing body, had written to parents to break the news that the school would close at the end of that year's

Summer term Summer term is the summer academic term at many British schools and universities and elsewhere in the world. In the UK, 'Summer term' runs from the Easter holiday until the end of the academic year in June or July, and so corresponds to the Easte ...

. The stated reason was "deteriorating finances", and Lord Falmouth said in his letter that the decision had been taken "with very great reluctance, after exploring all possible alternatives and after considering professional advice". John Wolters, the headmaster, wrote separately to parents to say that the school would help to find places for its boys in other schools. The other members of staff responded by issuing a statement on 18 April to say they were hoping the school could continue, "if necessary on a reconstituted basis". Reasons which have since been suggested for the closure include a lack of modern facilities, the economic downturn of the early 1980s, and the changing priorities of leaders of the Church of England, which owned the school buildings.

George Eustice Charles George Eustice (born 28 September 1971) is a British politician and former public relations executive who held office as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2020 and 2022. A member of the Conservative Par ...

, an old boy of the school, has said he suspects the Church may have wished to close the school to raise funds for repairing the roof of Truro Cathedral.

Who killed Truro Cathedral School?
dated 28 March 2011, accessed 8 April 2012 Polwhele House School - geograph

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability ...

called Truro Cathedral School Ltd was incorporated on 21 November 1960 and is still in existence. The school's task of providing the cathedral's choristers has been transferred to the neighbouring Polwhele House Preparatory School, and the number of choristers is now eighteen. The former school building in the Cathedral Close is now called "Old Cathedral School" and is currently an office building; it was used as such by the

Cornwall Council Cornwall Council ( kw, Konsel Kernow) is the unitary authority for Cornwall in the United Kingdom, not including the Isles of Scilly, which has its own unitary council. The council, and its predecessor Cornwall County Council, has a tradition ...

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

until the council gave it up. The building is still owned by the cathedral.Old Cathedral School, Cathedral Close
at propertypilot.co.uk, accessed 10 April 2012 The

Cornwall Record Office Kresen Kernow ( Cornish for Cornwall Centre) in Redruth, United Kingdom is Cornwall's archive centre, home to the world's biggest collection of archive and library material related to Cornwall. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and C ...

holds the school's archives, including "lists of masters, pupils and benefactors" dating between 1612 and 1876 and the governors' cash books from 1882 to 1984.

Notable former pupils

:''See also People educated at Truro Cathedral School'' Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth by James Northcote

Those educated at the school are known as "Old Truronians" and include (in chronological order): * Sir Edmund Prideaux (died 1659), Roundhead, member of parliament for

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset– Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the He ...

, and Solicitor General

Richard Polwhele Richard Polwhele (6 January 1760 – 12 March 1838) was a Cornish clergyman, poet and historian of Cornwall and Devon. Biography Richard Polwhele's ancestors long held the manor of Treworgan, 4 3/4 miles south-east of Truro in Cornwall, whi ...

, ''The History of Cornwall, Civil, Military, Religious, Architectural, Agricultural, Commercial, Biographical, and Miscellaneous'', vols. 4–7 (Michel & Co., 1816)
p. 66
/ref> * Samuel Enys (1611–1697), Royalist and member of parliament for Penryn *Swete Nicholas Archer,

High Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriffs of all other English counties, oth ...

, 1757 * Admiral Sir Richard Spry (1715–1775),

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

Commander-in-Chief,

North America and West Indies Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...

and

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...

* Samuel Foote (1720–1777), actor and playwright *

Thomas Haweis Thomas Haweis (c.1734–1820), (surname pronounced to rhyme with "pause") was born in Redruth, Cornwall, on 1 January 1734, where he was baptised on 20 February 1734. As a Church of England cleric he was one of the leading figures of the 18th ce ...

(1734–1820), clergyman * Thomas Wills (1740–1802), minister *

William Macarmick William Macarmick (baptised 15 September 1742 – 20 August 1815) was Lieutenant-Governor of Cape Breton and an MP. Early life and military service Macarmick was born in Truro, Cornwall, Great Britain, into a family active in local poli ...

(1742–1815), member of parliament and Lieutenant-Governor of Cape Breton Colony * John Vivian (1750–1826), Vice-Warden of the Stannaries of Cornwall *

Jonathan Hornblower Jonathan Hornblower (5 July 1753 – 23 February 1815) was an English pioneer of steam power. Personal life The son of Jonathan Hornblower the Elder and the brother of Jabez Carter Hornblower, two fellow pioneers, the young Hornblower wa ...

(1753–1815), pioneer of

steam power A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tra ...

*Colonel

John Lemon John Lemon (6 November 1754 – 5 April 1814) was a British Whig Member of Parliament. He was born in Truro, the second son of William Lemon by his marriage to Anne, the daughter of John Willyams of Carnanton House, and was the grandson of Wi ...

(1754–1814), Whig member of parliament for

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother I ...

(1757–1833), naval commander of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

Carlisle (1818)
p. 151
/ref> * Francis Gregor of Trewarthenick (1760–1815),

knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

for

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

*The Rev.

(1760–1838), poet and topographer *

Pascoe Grenfell Pascoe Grenfell (3 September 1761 – 23 January 1838) was a British businessman and politician. Biography He was born at Marazion, in Cornwall. His father, Pascoe Grenfell (1729–1810), and uncle were merchants in the tin and copper busines ...

(1761–1838), member of parliament * Thomas Tregenna Biddulph (1763–1838), clergyman *

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian Lieutenant General Richard Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian (28 July 177520 August 1842), known as Sir Hussey Vivian from 1815 to 1828 and Sir Hussey Vivian, Bt, from 1828 to 1841, was a British cavalry leader from the Vivian family. Early car ...

(1775–1842),

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...

commander * Joseph Batten DD FRS (1778–1837), principal of the

East India Company College The East India Company College, or East India College, was an educational establishment situated at Hailey, Hertfordshire, nineteen miles north of London, founded in 1806 to train "writers" (administrators) for the Honourable East India Company ( ...

Sir Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for the ...

(1778–1829), chemist and inventor *

Henry Martyn Henry Martyn (18 February 1781 – 16 October 1812) was an Anglican priest and missionary to the peoples of India and Persia. Born in Truro, Cornwall, he was educated at Truro Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge. A chance encount ...

(1781–1812), Anglican missionary *Fortescue Hichins (1784–1814) poet and historian * Thomas Turner (1793–1873), surgeon * Nicholas Michell (1807–1880), poet * Walter Hawken Tregellas (1831–1894), author *

Francis Charles Hingeston-Randolph Francis Charles Hingeston-Randolph, known until 1860 as Francis Hingston (1833–1910) was an English cleric, antiquary and author. Life Francis Hingston was born at Truro on 31 March 1833, the son of Francis Hingston (1796–1841), controller ...

(1833–1910), clergyman and antiquary * O. W. Tancock (1839–1930), clergyman and author * Arthur Williams (1899–1974), Church of England clergyman *

Gerald Hocken Knight Gerald Hocken Knight (1908–1979) was a cathedral organist, who served at Canterbury Cathedral. Background Gerald Hocken Knight was born on 27 July 1908 in Par, Cornwall, the only son of Alwyne Knight of Par by his first wife Edith Harvey a ...

(1908–1979), organist *

David Mudd William David Mudd (2 June 1933 – 28 April 2020) was a British politician. Mudd was born in Falmouth, Cornwall, in June 1933. He was educated at Truro Cathedral School and was a member of the Tavistock Urban District Council from 1959 to 19 ...

(1933–2020), Conservative member of parliament for Falmouth and Camborne * Christopher J. Turner (1933–2014), diplomat and

Governor of Montserrat The Governor of Montserrat is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of Montserrat. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The main role of the Governor ...

* Andrew Graham (born 1942), former Master of

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

Peter Grimwade Peter Grimwade (8 June 1942 – 15 May 1990) was a British television director and screenwriter, known for his work as a director and writer of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' in the 1980s. Career After joining th ...

(1942–1990), television writer and director *

Nick Darke Nick Darke (1948–2005) was a British playwright. He was also known within Cornwall as a lobster fisherman, environmental campaigner, and chairman of St Eval Parish Council. Early life Nick's great-grandfather, William Leonard Darke, was a ...

(1948–2005), playwright * Roger Taylor (born 1949) drummer of the band Queen *

(born 1971), member of Parliament for Camborne and Redruth

Masters and headmasters

Until the nineteenth century, the school usually had only one professional

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 afte ...

, called "the master". Once it needed more staff the title became "headmaster". *1600–1609: John HodgeCyrus Redding, ''An Illustrated Itinerary of the County of Cornwall'' (How and Parsons, 1842)
p. 231
/ref>Polwhele (1816)
p. 63
/ref> *1609–1612: Thomas Syms *1612–1618: Matthew Sharrock *1618–1620: Nicholas Upcot *1621–1635: Rev. George Fitzpen (or Phippen) *1635–1666: William White *1666–1685: Richard Jago *1685–1693: Henry Greenfield *1693–1698: Simon Paget *1698–1706: John Hillman *1706–1728: Thomas Hankyn & Joseph Jane *1728–1771: George Conon *1771–1804: Dr Cornelius Cardew (DD, Oxon)'Civil Promotions' in ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' dated August 1805
p. 769
/ref> *1805– : Thomas Hogg *1891–1896: Rev. Thomas Fisher Maddrell, MA (Cantab.) *1897–1901: Rev. Francis George Elwes Field, MA (Cantab.) *1937–1973: Max Stanley Mischler, MA (Oxon.) (1910–1995) *1974–1979: F. S. G. Pearson, MA (Oxon.) (1935–2012) *1979–1982: John C. Wolters, MA (Cantab.)

Old Truronians Association

An Old Truronians Association brings together former pupils of the school and continues to hold an annual dinner.

Notes

External links

Truro Cathedral School accessions
in

, indexed at nationalarchives.gov.uk
Truro Cathedral School, photograph of old building
at pcpki.com {{Schools in Cornwall Defunct schools in Cornwall Educational institutions established in the 1540s Educational institutions disestablished in 1982 1549 establishments in England 1982 disestablishments in England Truro Cathedral schools Defunct Church of England schools