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The former Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Crediton, Devon, England was founded (as The Kyng's Newe Gramer Scole of Credyton) in 1547 by Edward VI and re-endowed and renamed in 1559 by Elizabeth I.^[1]

History

Foundation

In 1547 the grammar school was founded and endowed by Edward VI. In 1559 it was "further endowed by Queen Elizabeth, who by her charter vested the patronage in the twelve governors of the church, directing them to elect four boys, under the name of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar Scholars, to each of whom 40s. are annually given: there are three exhibitions, of £6. 13s 4d each, to either of the universities, tenable for five years. "^[2] ^[3]

Teaching began in 1572 in the Lady Chapel of the parish church with 10 pupils^[4]

In 1861 it moved into new premises (at St Martins Lane).

In 1911 it absorbed Dunn's School.^[5]

It was noted in Hansard in 1952 as a maintained secondary school which provided boarding.^[6]

Merger in 1966

In 1966 the boys grammar school (between St Martins Lane and Western Road) incorporated the Crediton High School For Girls (which had been founded in 1911 on the adjoining site to the west).^[4] To accommodate the merger, a new multistorey block was built (aligned north-south) on the slope between the former schools.

Comprehensive

In 1973 it merged with The Shelley Secondary Modern school at Barnfield, Crediton. It now forms the Western Road campus (the upper school) of the Queen Elizabeth's School, which is (in 2016) a state run academy, with some boarding students. The lower and upper schools are split across two sites in Crediton.

Notable former pupils

John Griffith Bowen, novelist
Henry Callaway, missionary
Bill Giles, former BBC weatherman
Sir Neville Simms, chief executive of Tarmac from 1992 to 1999
Robert Orchard, BBC parliamentary correspondent. QES 1964–72
Major Rupert Guy Turrall, Intelligence Corps recipient of MC and DSO in WWII, operations officer with the Chindits

School records

Some of the school records were transferred to the Devon Record Office in 2006.^[7]

Copies of the 1547 and 1559 charters are held at the Devon Record Office (ref 2065M/SS6/4).^[8]

References

^ Carlisle, Nicholas (1818). A Concise Description of the Endowed Grammar Schools in England and Wales (Google books). Vol. 1. Baldwin, Cradock and Joy. p. 258. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
^ 'Creacombe - Cretingham', A Topographical Dictionary of England, pp. 720-725. 1848. The grammar school was founded and endowed by Edward VI, and further endowed by Queen Elizabeth, who by her charter vested the patronage in the twelve governors of the church, directing them to elect four boys, under the name of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar Scholars, to each of whom 40s. are annually given: there are three exhibitions, of £6. 13. 4 each, to either of the universities, tenable for five years.
^ White's Devonshire Directory, 1850, Edward VI., in the first year of his reign, by his letters patent, incorporated 12 parishioners by name of the the [sic] Governors of the hereditaments and goods of the Church of Crediton, and vested with them the lands, tithes, &c., which had belonged to the late College of Crediton, and the chapel of St. Swithen, at Sandford and directed them to apply the yearly profits thereof for the support of ... for the support of a Grammar School, .... Queen Elizabeth, by letters patent in the second year of her reign, augmented the possessions of this trust. ... There are belonging to the trust in Crediton, six houses, occupied rent-free by ..., the master of the Grammar School, the master of Dunn's School, ... Out of the income derived from the trust property, they pay the following yearly stipends:- ... about £150 to the master of the Grammar School; £6. 13s. 4d. each to three exhibitioners at the University; £2 each to four poor scholars at Crediton School; £27 to the United English and Blue School;
^ ^a ^b "Queen Elizabeths Community", Local Authority Publishing, archived from the original on 13 November 2010, The Royal Free Grammar School was founded by a charter of Edward V1 in 1547. Under a later charter it was named Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School and teaching began in 1572 with just ten scholars in the Lady Chapel of the parish church. In 1861 the school moved to a new building at the western end of the town near the Green. In 1911 Crediton High School for girls opened on the adjoining site. In 1966 the two schools became one co-educational grammar school.
^ "Samuel Dunn 1723 - 1794", The Heard Family of Mid Devon, archived from the original on 25 December 2007, retrieved 7 April 2010
^ Hansard C Deb 23 July 1952 vol 504 c39W, 1952
^ Acquisitions of Special Interest (PDF). Autumn 2006. p. 4. Retrieved 29 April 2018. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ The National Archives | Access to Archives