Patrick Comerford
I was in Lichfield last week as a guest of the community heritage and history group Lichfield Discovered at the ‘house warmer’ to unveil plans for the Schoolmaster’s House at the old Grammar School on Saint John Street.
Lichfield Discovered has plans to use the rooms in the centuries-old buildings for workshops, tours, events, talks and exhibitions for an initial five-year period, under an agreement with Lichfield District Council.
The former school buildings at the corner of Saint John Street and Frog Lane were bought by Lichfield Rural District Council in 1917 and became council's offices in 1920. In recent years, the rooms have been part of the council offices, for two centuries the property was part of Lichfield Grammar School, where both Samuel Johnson and David Garrick went to school. But, until now, the building has not been open to the public.
The oldest surviving part of the complex is the former headmaster’s house at 45 Saint John Street, built in 1682. The main school room behind the house was rebuilt in 1849. The features that still remain include wood panelling, fireplaces and a wooden spiral staircase up to the attic, which was once used as a dormitory by school boarding pupils and still has some of their names carved into doors.
I have been involved with Lichfield Discovered in small ways in the past, including leading a walking tour around the Cathedral Close in 2014, and recording five interviews with Dave Moore for Lichfield Discovered, discussing my family connections with Lichfield, in 2015.
The former school buildings are part of a larger complex that includes the modern offices that are home to Lichfield District Council. Both the council chamber and the office of the leader of the council are housed in two of older buildings, the Old Grammar School and the School Master’s House. These older buildings in the complex date back to 1682, and have a history that goes back even further, over 500 years.
In its day, it is said, the old grammar school in Lichfield ranked alongside schools such as Eton and Winchester. The school was on the same site for more than 400 years. In that time, it provided education to many famous people, who later went on to be influential in their age.
The school dates back to November 1495, when William Smyth, Bishop of Lichfield in 1493-1496, refounded the Hospital of Saint John the Baptist and added to it a school for poor children. In the new statutes, Bishop Smyth wrote: ‘It is appointed that there be a Master of Grammar in Priests Orders who shall instruct in grammar all Scholars Gratis, which Master shall receive for his stipend the sum of £10 annually.’
Smyth was a benefactor of a number of educational institutions: he was a co-founder of Brasenose College, Oxford, endowed a fellowship in Oriel College, and gave manors to Lincoln College.
The first school probably stood nearer the road than its successors and must have been demolished before 1577 as a deed from the 27 April 1577 describes the ‘new school’.
The Schoolmaster’s House was built in the Jacobean style in 1682, and fronts onto Saint John Street. The grammar school was separated from Saint John’s Hospital in 1692, but the school continued to use the chapel.
The schoolboys who attended the school included local worthies such the antiquarian Elias Ashmole, the lexicographer Samuel Johnson, the Shakespearean actor David Garrick and the politician and essayist Joseph Addison.
The stone mullioned windows on the ground floor of the building, adjoining the garden, were originally in the second grammar school, which was built in 1577 and demolished in 1849 to make way for the present building. As well as being home to 14 successive headmasters of the grammar school, the attics were also used as dormitories for the boarders. Some of their initials can still be seen carved into the oak doors.
The site was used as a grammar school until 1903, and the area at the front was used as a playground. In the end, the lack of land meant the school moved to a site on Upper Saint John Street. It merged with King’s Hill Secondary Modern in 1971 to become King Edward VI School.
Meanwhile, the school and master’s house were sold In December 1902 to Theophilus Basil Percy Levett, who promptly sold them two months later to Dr Herbert Major Morgan.
Dr Morgan brought the Jacobean oak fireplace to the house. It was originally made over 400 years ago for the house at 11 Market Street, and its features include carefully carved dragons, wand marine creatures fossilised in the marble.
Lichfield Rural District Council bought the property in 1917, but it was immediately taken over by the army and was used it as a pay office for the Lincolnshire Regiment for the rest of World War I. After World War I, Lichfield Rural District Council regained ownership of the building. It has been used for local government offices since 1920, and the school house now houses the council chamber.
After the reorganisation of local government in 1974, the building passed to Lichfield District Council. A large extension was added in 1987 facing Frog Lane, incorporating a new main entrance, but the 1849 school room continues to serve as the council chamber. The council leader Doug Pullen was among the speakers at last week’s ‘house warmer.’
Today, Lichfield Discovered has more than 10,000 followers online, including historians, teachers, community workers and museum curators who volunteer in their own time.
Katie Gomez of Lichfield Discovered describes the building as stunning and packed with history, and says she is passionate about using it as a place to share Lichfield’s history and legacy. The future plans include open days, tours of the building, family history days and events in partnership with museums throughout the region.
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