Brewood Grammar School
Encyclopedia
Brewood Grammar School was a boys' school in the village of Brewood
in South Staffordshire
, England
.
Founded in the mid 15th century by the Bishop of Lichfield
as a chantry
school it was closed by the 1547 Act of Dissolution of Chantries. It was re-founded by Matthew Knightley and Sir Thomas Gifford around 1575 and survived as a grammar school
until 1975 when its last headmaster, Roy Leafe, retired. It then became a mixed-sex middle school in 1977. As a 20th century grammar school it took a number of boarders who lived at Wheaton Aston Hall, and taught agricultural science. The school had a small attached farm with cattle and poultry.
The original building does not survive. The earliest part of the remaining buildings, originally two houses donated to the school, dates from 1778. In 1799 these were enclosed in the school grounds by moving the road. They were rebuilt in 1856 as Rushall House (now Grade II listed ) and used as a schoolroom and dormitories. In 1863 the headmaster's house was rebuilt, and further extensions to the school were made in 1898, 1926, 1935, and 1952.
The school is commemorated in a recent memorial window in the nearby parish church, St Mary and St Chad.
(1699 - 1745) was headmaster here and failed to employ Samuel Johnson
Brewood
Brewood refers both to a settlement, which was once a town but is now a village, in South Staffordshire, England, and to the civil parish of which it is the centre. Located around , Brewood village lies near the River Penk, eight miles north of Wolverhampton city centre and eleven miles south of...
in South Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Founded in the mid 15th century by the Bishop of Lichfield
Bishop of Lichfield
The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 4,516 km² of the counties of Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Midlands. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed...
as a chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
school it was closed by the 1547 Act of Dissolution of Chantries. It was re-founded by Matthew Knightley and Sir Thomas Gifford around 1575 and survived as a grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
until 1975 when its last headmaster, Roy Leafe, retired. It then became a mixed-sex middle school in 1977. As a 20th century grammar school it took a number of boarders who lived at Wheaton Aston Hall, and taught agricultural science. The school had a small attached farm with cattle and poultry.
The original building does not survive. The earliest part of the remaining buildings, originally two houses donated to the school, dates from 1778. In 1799 these were enclosed in the school grounds by moving the road. They were rebuilt in 1856 as Rushall House (now Grade II listed ) and used as a schoolroom and dormitories. In 1863 the headmaster's house was rebuilt, and further extensions to the school were made in 1898, 1926, 1935, and 1952.
The school is commemorated in a recent memorial window in the nearby parish church, St Mary and St Chad.
Notable staff
William BudworthWilliam Budworth
William Budworth , schoolmaster at Brewood in Staffordshire, England. He taught several notable pupils, but he is most remembered for not employing Samuel Johnson as an assistant at Brewood Grammar School.-Biography:...
(1699 - 1745) was headmaster here and failed to employ Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...