Priory School is a British co-educational secondary school for 11- to 16-year-olds located on Mountfield Road in the

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

town of

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

History

Priory School was originally formed in 1969 when the Lewes County Grammar School for Girls, the Lewes County Grammar School for Boys and the Lewes Secondary Modern School were amalgamated to form a comprehensive school called Priory School, its name referring to the nearby

Lewes Priory Lewes Priory is a part-demolished medieval Cluniac priory in Lewes, East Sussex in the United Kingdom. The ruins have been designated a Grade I listed building. History The Priory of St Pancras was the first Cluniac house in England and had ...

. At this point, although the school was comprehensive for children who lived within the town of Lewes, it was also open to children from the surrounding

towns A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and villages who had passed the 11 plus. During this period there was also academic streaming: the names of the streamed groups were based on the letters of the word MOUNTFIELD. In its early years (from 1969 until around 1980) the school was in three separate locations: the former Girls' Grammar School buildings in Potter's Lane housed the Lower School (ages 12–13), while on Mountfield Road the Secondary Modern buildings housed the Middle School (ages 14–15), with the Upper School (ages 16–18) in the former Boys' Grammar. Later, in the early 1990s, Potter's Lane site was turned into a primary school now housing Southover and Western Road Schools; Priory School itself was split into Priory School (11–16) on the former Secondary Modern site and the Sixth Form (16-18), housed on the former Boys' Grammar School site, merged with Lewes Technical College, which had a site opposite in Mountfield Road, to become Lewes Tertiary College and now

East Sussex College East Sussex College or East Sussex College Group is the largest higher education college in East Sussex, providing education and training from foundation to degree level. The college educates almost half of the county's young people and over ...

. In 2017 the uniform was changed to prohibit new joiners from wearing skirts, and was said by the headteacher to be "gender-neutral". Multiple news outlets and alumni, including

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...

criticised the move, stating that the restrictions were more of a contradiction than a progression in uniforms. This decision led to a protest by students in 2019 on the basis of environmental issues, after it was announced that the change would affect every student, as opposed to just the new joiners.

Site

Priory School then became centred on the site of the former Secondary Modern School and new buildings have since been added. The adjacent buildings formerly used by the County Grammar School for Boys and by the Sixth Form have become part of the Lewes Campus of

(Further Education). The Chapel, of the former Boys' Grammar School, was retained by the Priory School. This chapel was built after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to commemorate the boys from the school who fought in the war. Next to it is the Music Block, which was rebuilt in 2008 in place of the old temporary one. The new block features improved disabled access, but thin walls and a void beneath the floor make it a rather difficult environment for music lessons. In 1993, the new revised version of Priory School opened boasting a new wing – the "South Block" – and a heavily refurbished main building. The latter was the home of Lewes Secondary Modern School until 1969, sporting a distinctive copper plated

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

. The main building included new science labs, a library and design technology rooms, built in anticipation of design technology being in the

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or othe ...

. The South Block hosts, on the ground floor, the Art, Maths, Modern Foreign Languages and English classrooms and on the first floor the

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

classrooms. The Performing Arts Block was built recently next to the Main Hall. The nearby Leisure Centre is used for indoor sports and the nearby Convent Fields, the Cricket Nets and the Tennis Courts, for outdoor ones. Between the South Block and the Main Building is a playground called the Quad. The tarmac playground continues until the chapel but there are large muddy and grassy areas surrounding it.

Arts

Priory has been awarded Arts and Language College statuses, specialising in these areas with increased funding. The three modern foreign languages taught are Spanish, French and German. There is also a Chinese club. A number of pupils have gone on to make careers in the arts. Eric Goulden and Pete Thomas made their names in the music business. Annabel Abbs and Lucy Atkins have had a number of books published.

Chapel

In 1960 a chapel, designed by Sir Edward Maufe, was built to honour the boys from the Lewes County Grammar School for Boys who died in the Second World War. Their names are shown on the walls of the vestibule, with the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

motto "Dare Nec Computare" above the door, translating as "To give and not to count the cost".

Notable former pupils

* Annabel Abbs, writer * Lucy Atkins, writer * John Authers, financial journalist * Ralph Brown, actor * Eric Goulden, musician * Alex Hughes, Church of England priest and Archdeacon of Cambridge * Tim Loughton, former Member of Parliament for East Worthing and Shoreham *

, presenter, (named Piers Pughe-Morgan whilst at Priory) *

Lloyd Russell-Moyle Lloyd Russell-Moyle (born 14 September 1986) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Kemptown from 2017 to 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative Party, he was a ...

, former Member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown * David Rutley, former Member of Parliament for

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

* Ronald Smith, musician * Emma Tucker, national newspaper editor * Graeme K Talboys, writer * Pete Thomas, musician

References

External links

Lewes Priory School websiteLewes Sixth Form College website
{{authority control Secondary schools in East Sussex Educational institutions established in 1969 Schools in Lewes 1969 establishments in England Foundation schools in East Sussex