Derby School
Motto	Vita Sine Litteris Mors (Life without Learning is Death)
Established	c. 1160, refounded 1554
Closed	1989
Type	grammar school
Founders	Walkelin and Goda
Location	Derby Derbyshire England
Houses	Gateley's, Tanner's, Fuller's, and Grimes's
Publication	The Derbeian
Former pupils	Old Derbeians

Derby School was a school in Derby in the English Midlands. Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) 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 Derby (pronounced "dar-bee" /dˈɑːbɪ/ is a city in the East Midlands of England. History The area that is now Derbyshire was first visited probably briefly by humans 200000 years ago during the Aveley Interglacial as evidenced by a Middle England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Derby (pronounced "dar-bee" /dˈɑːbɪ/ is a city in the East Midlands of England. This article is mainly about the English Midlands For other uses see Midlands (disambiguation. It had an almost continuous history of education of over eight centuries. For most of that time it was a grammar school for boys. 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 The school became co-educational and comprehensive in 1974 and was closed in 1989. Mixed-sex education, (or just Mixed education) also known as Coeducation, is the integrated education to males and females at the same school facilities A comprehensive school is a Secondary school and State school for children from the age of 11 to at least 16 that does not select children on the basis of academic In 1994 a new independent school called Derby Grammar School for boys was founded. An independent school is a school which is not dependent upon national or local Government for financing its operation and is instead operated by tuition charges gifts and Derby Grammar School is an independent and selective Church of England Secondary school at Littleover near the city of Derby.

Origins

The school was re-founded in the 12th century by a local magnate, Walkelin de Derby (also called Walkelin de Ferrieres, or de Ferrers) and his wife, Goda de Toeni, who gave their own house to an Augustinian priory called Darley Abbey to be used for the school^[1]. Walkelin de Derby (also known as Walkelin de Ferrieres, anglicized as Walkelin de Ferrers) (c The Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo (died AD 430) are several Catholic Monastic orders and congregations A priory is a House of men or women under religious vows headed by a Prior or prioress Darley Abbey is a village on the outskirts of Derby, England. Local legend has it that it was the second oldest school in England^[2]. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland However, there is no firm information as to the site of the original school^[3].

While Derby School was in existence almost continuously for more than eight centuries, it was closed for a few years as a result of the Dissolution of the Monasteries^[4]. The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the formal process between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded

Magna Britannia^[5] says of Derby School -

Royal Charter

The former Derby School Building in St Peter's Church Yard, Derby

Following the extinction of Darley Abbey, on 21 May 1554, Queen Mary I by a Royal Charter, and in return for a payment of £260 13s 4d, granted the corporation of Derby several properties and endowments which had belonged to Darley Abbey, the College of All Saints, St Michael's Church, and some other suppressed chantries and gilds, for the foundation of "a Free Grammar School, for the instruction and education of boys and youths in the said town of Derby for ever to be maintained by the Bailiffs and Burgesses of the same town. Darley Abbey is a village on the outskirts of Derby, England. Events 878 - Syracuse Italy is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily. Mary I (18 February 1516 &ndash 17 November 1558 was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death A Royal Charter is a Charter granted by the Sovereign on the advice of the Privy council to legitimize an incorporated body such as a city company "^[3]

The new Free Grammar School was established in a purpose-built building next to St Peter's Church, Derby. ^[7] In the late 20th century, this building was for some time part of the Derby Heritage Centre and is now a hairdresser's. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on The school remained at this site until it moved to St Helen's House in 1863. ^[8]

The school held a closed exhibition (a form of scholarship) worth £50 a year at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. At the universities of Dublin, Oxford and Cambridge and at Westminster School and Winchester College, an exhibition is a financial A scholarship is an award of access to an institution or a financial aid award for an individual student scholar for the purpose of furthering their Education The pound, a unit of currency originated in England as the value of a pound mass of Silver. Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary ^[9] At any one time, this could be held by one old boy of the school, who had the title at Emmanuel College of Exhibitioner. At the universities of Dublin, Oxford and Cambridge and at Westminster School and Winchester College, an exhibition is a financial (Until the 1930s, fifty pounds was a substantial sum, usually more than the annual wage of a farm labourer. The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. )

While the astronomer John Flamsteed was at the Free Grammar School in the 1660s, parents were expected to provide boys with books, quill-pens, and wax candles to use when daylight failed. Historically Astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky while Astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena John Flamsteed FRS ( 19 August, 1646 - 31 December, 1719) was an English Astronomer and the first ^[10] At that time, most masters of the school were Puritans. A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, ^[10]

St Helen's House period, 1863-1966

The School at St Helen's House, with the Old Derbeians' war memorial. St Helen's House is on the right and 'B' block on the left

St Helen's House, in King Street, Derby, was built about 1726 for John Gisbourne, an alderman of Yoxall Lodge, Staffordshire^[11], and originally stood in eighty acres of parkland ^[12]. The boys-only grammar school moved here in 1863, after the school's governors had bought the property from Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper^[4][8], the nephew of the philanthropist Joseph Strutt, an old boy of the school^[13][14]. Edward Strutt 1st Baron Belper ( 26 October 1801 &ndash 30 June 1880) was a Liberal Party Politician in the United Joseph Strutt (1765-1844 was an English Philanthropist. Background and early life Joseph was the youngest son of Jedediah Strutt of

Under the Rev. Walter Clark BD (headmaster 1865-1889)^[15] the school was expanded from a local grammar school into a nationally known public school. In Western universities a Bachelor of Divinity (BD or BDiv is usually an Undergraduate Academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of An independent school is a school which is not dependent upon national or local Government for financing its operation and is instead operated by tuition charges gifts and On 14 November 1888, Derby School received a visit by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII^[16].

Date Stone on the wall in front of 'B'-Block

The school was greatly expanded with 'B'-block being added in 1901. The date stone on the wall outside 'B'-Block reads: "In usum huius scholae A. D. MCMI sepositum P. K. Tollit A. M. Praefecto".

During World War II, the school was evacuated to Overton Hall, Ashover, a village near Matlock. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Ashover is a village in the English county of Derbyshire. It is in the North East Derbyshire district of the county Matlock is the County town of Derbyshire, England. It is situated at the south eastern edge of the Peak District, and is twinned

In 1944, the School (already owned by Derby Corporation as a result of its 1554 Charter) accepted financial support from Derbyshire County Council and became one of four single-sex grammar schools in Derby within the tripartite system established by the Education Act 1944. The Tripartite System, known colloquially as the grammar school system was the structure by which Secondary education was organised in England and Wales between the The Education Act 1944 changed the education system for secondary Schools in England and Wales. The other grammar schools were Bemrose (boys), Homelands (girls) and Parkfield Cedars (girls, see Judith Hann). Judith Hann (born 8 September 1942) at Littleover, Derby, Derbyshire, England is a freelance broadcaster and writer specialising

After the Second World War, the school returned to St Helen's House. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

The St Helen's House complex consisted of the House itself (called 'A'-block), which contained classrooms and offices; an attached annexe ('B'-block), which held most of the classrooms and (on the first floor) 'Big School', the school's assembly hall; the school chapel, a separate building in red brick; several single-storey prefabricated buildings which contained science laboratories and gym; and another smaller annexe close by which housed the refectory and some classrooms. An ususual feature were the cloisters between the rear of 'B'Block and the rear of the chapel. Here was housed the armoury for the CCF containing scores of real weapons: dozens Lee Enfield rifles, a couple of Bren guns and even revolvers. No live ammunition was stored. It's mind boggling to think of such a situation. At a school!

Games were played at Parker's Piece, a small ground near the school. The ground was on the banks of the river Derwent and there was a boathouse for the rowing club. Also, two football pitches in winter and a cricket square for summer. An ancient wooden pavillion smelling of decades of dubbin, wintergreen and persperation provided changing rooms and ablutions.

St Helen's House was notable for its Fives Court, since demolished, in the grounds in front of 'B'-block and for the fire escape outside Big School. Fives is a British sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. Boys would prove their mettle by sliding down the fire escape supports.

In front of the main House, or 'A'-block, a war memorial to Old Derbeians stands. A statue of Gillard, a notable master, was later moved to Littleover.

The school was divided into four houses: Gateley's, Tanner's, Fuller's, and Grimes'. All boys were allocated to one of the houses prosaically (by Harry Potter standards) in alphabetical order. The houses competed annually for the Cock House Trophy, gained by the house with the greatest number of 'House Points' which were awarded by masters for boys' academic, social and sporting achievements.

Forms for boys up to the age of about sixteen were named by a number and the initial of the form master. The number one was eschewed, so boys started in Form 2. For at least one year, there was a Form 2B, which is the same as the Bash Street Kids. The Bash Street Kids is an ongoing Comic strip that features in the UK comic The Beano. The Fifth and Sixth Forms were divided between lower and upper: the complete form numbering system was Form 2, Form 3, Form 4, Lower Fifth, Upper Fifth, Lower Sixth, Upper Sixth.

Each form was allocated a form room. And each boy had a desk in the form room in which he kept his books and other belongings. Theft was unheard of. But lessons were held throughout the school; in fact many miles would be covered by swarms of boys moving from one room to another after the bell signalling the end of a 'period'. A period was 40 minutes. Double periods were obviously twice as long. Masters engulfed in the crowds yelled for running in the corridors to cease.

Leadership at the school was in the hands of the masters, but, as with most schools, older pupils were given responsibility and were appointed Praepostors (an appellation still used at Uppingham and Rugby) or Monitors. Praepostor (sometimes spelt Praepositor) is now used chiefly at English Independent schools such as Rugby and Uppingham, and at other Uppingham School is a co-educational Independent school situated in the small town of Uppingham in Rutland, England. Rugby School, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, is a Co-educational Boarding school and one of the oldest public schools As mentioned above, the title Prefect (Praefectus) was reserved for the Head Master. The Praeposters and Monitors were responsible for the behaviour of younger boys outside lessons in the halls and grounds of the school and were permitted to punish minor breaches of discipline. Such punishment would consist of requiring the boy to report to the Praepostors' or Monitors' room, where the punishment would be handed out. Punishments were many and varied, but usually inventive. One example was to require the boy to put a number of dots - usually four - in each square of an area of a sheet of graph paper - not as violent as the punishments handed out in the Rugby School of Tom Brown's Schooldays. Rugby School, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, is a Co-educational Boarding school and one of the oldest public schools Tom Brown's Schooldays is a novel by Thomas Hughes first published in 1857

The concentration of staff and pupils at St. Helen's House generated an eco-system around the school. Opposite the school, in a group of three shops, was a sweet shop, which served as the school tuck shop. School legend had it that, when the master of the shop was alive, he used to take bets on horse races tick-tacked from the upper floor of the school where the sixth formers had their form rooms. A bakery in between St. Helen's house and the annex supplied half loaves of bread to hungry pupils on their way from one class to another. Also opposite the school, the Seven Stars, a former coaching inn, was popular with staff and older pupils.

In the early 1960s the nearby Lancaster School buildings was absorbed. A daily treck from King Street to Lancaster Street for school dinner became part of many routines. There were also teaching rooms there, notably for art and for geography, and a large area devoted to woodwork lessons on the ground floor. It became a place for riotous football in the playground.

In 1966, the St Helen's House building was declared dangerous because of falling tiles and masonry. The school moved to a new site on Moorway Lane, Littleover, in 1967. Littleover is a large Suburb of Derby, England situated between Rosehill, Normanton, Sunny Hill, South Derbyshire St Helen's House still stands today and is in the process of being converted into a Hotel.

Littleover period, 1966-1989

The first headmaster and deputy headmaster of Derby School at Moorway Lane, 'Norman' Elliot and W. O. Butler, transferred from the St Helen's House site. The school continued as a single-sex grammar school until 1974, when it was taken over as a maintained school by Derbyshire County Council, which converted it into a co-educational comprehensive school and greatly increased its size, in buildings and pupils. Mixed-sex education, (or just Mixed education) also known as Coeducation, is the integrated education to males and females at the same school facilities A comprehensive school is a Secondary school and State school for children from the age of 11 to at least 16 that does not select children on the basis of academic At this point, it was still Derby School. However, in 1989 the County Council took the decision to close Derby School and to make the headmaster redundant^[8]. A new school called Derby Moor Community College, now known as Derby Moor Community Sports College, was opened in the Moorway Lane buildings, with a new head and governing body but with many of the old school's staff and students. Derby Moor Community Sports College, formerly known as Derby Moor Community School and also known amongst its pupils as DMCS is a secondary school and specialist Sports In terms of legal identity, this was not the same school, but in some ways it was its successor.

Cadet Forces

Before the Second World War, the school had an Officers Training Corps. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including During the 1940s, OTCs in British schools were renamed 'Junior Training Corps'. The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949 Events and trends The 1940s was a period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s which also leads the period to be Derby School's JTC was amalgamated into the Combined Cadet Force in April, 1948. The Combined Cadet Force (CCF is a Ministry of Defence sponsored youth organisation in the United Kingdom. This had an army section, an RAF section, and a band made up of members of both. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. A military band is a group of personnel that perform musical duties for military functions usually A parade was held on Friday afternoons, and on that day members of the CCF would come to school in their uniforms and boots. A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted The CCF survived into the years at Littleover.

School motto

Cap badge of the Derby School JTC from the 1940s

The school motto, Vita sine litteris mors, is a quotation from letter number 82 in Seneca the Younger's Epistulae morales ad Lucilium -

Vita sine litteris mors est, et hominis vivi sepultura. The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949 Events and trends The 1940s was a period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s which also leads the period to be A motto (from the Italian word motto, meaning witticism sentence is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca, or Seneca the Younger; Σένεκας in Ancient Greek literature (c The Epistulae morales ad Lucilium is a bundle of 124 letters which were written by Seneca the Younger at the end of his life

(Life without learning is death, and the funeral of a living man).

This motto is shared with -

• Adelphi University in Nassau County, New York
• Manning's High School, an 18th century foundation in Jamaica
• The new Derby Grammar School

School hymn

The school hymn, Lift Up Your Hearts!, was given a musical setting in 1916 by Walter Greatorex, an old boy of the school^[17]. Adelphi University is a private Nonsectarian university located in Garden City, in Nassau County New York. There is also a Town of Nassau in Rensselaer County. Nassau County is a suburban county in the New York Metropolitan New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system Jamaica (ˈdʒəˈmeɪkə} is an Island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. Derby Grammar School is an independent and selective Church of England Secondary school at Littleover near the city of Derby. Lift up your hearts! is an English Hymn written in 1881 by H Montague Butler Walter Greatorex ( March 30, 1877 – December 29, 1949) was an English Composer and Musician, probably best remembered

School Register

The Derby School Register, 1570-1901

A book called The Derby School Register, 1570-1901, was published in 1902^[18], edited by Benjamin Tacchella, a modern languages master at the school, and the following is an extract from its preface:

Old Derbeians

See List of notable Old Derbeians. This is a list of notable Old Derbeians, former pupils and masters of Derby School (from the 12th century to 1989 and of Derby Grammar School

A Service of Remembrance takes place at the Old Derbeians' War Memorial in front of St Helen's House on each Remembrance Sunday. In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is the second Sunday of November the Sunday nearest to 11 November ( Remembrance Day) which is the anniversary Wreaths are laid by the President of the Old Derbeians' Society and the Headmaster of Derby Grammar School. ^[19]

List of masters and headmasters

See List of Masters of Derby School. This is a list of the Headmasters and masters This aims to include all of the school's known headmasters, plus some other notable masters. The list has many names of those who taught at the school in the final years at St Helen's House (1945-1966) and at Littleover (1966-1989).

St Helen's House gallery

Click on an image to enlarge it.

St Helen's House 2007

St Helen's House in 2007	The Old Derbeians' War Memorial	'B'-Block
The cross potent quadrate and stag couchant of the school arms on 'B'-Block	The fire escape on 'B'-Block	The Chapel
The former gym and science laboratories	The former school tuck shop opposite St Helen's House (shop on right)	The Seven Stars
Advanced Chemistry 1965	'Bronco' Lane (Chem) 1965	'Rock' Allit (Physics) 1965
'Molson' (Biol) 1968	Cross-country (Advanced) 1965

Derby Grammar School

Derby Grammar School, an entirely new school founded in 1994, is an independent school which includes a Junior department. Derby Grammar School is an independent and selective Church of England Secondary school at Littleover near the city of Derby. An independent school is a school which is not dependent upon national or local Government for financing its operation and is instead operated by tuition charges gifts and It occupies the 18th century Rykneld Hall at Littleover (previously Rykneld Hospital) and currently has around three hundred pupils^[20].

The new school aspires to fill the gap undoubtedly left by Derby School. With the agreement of the Committee of the Old Derbeians' Society, Derby Grammar School has adopted a heraldic badge devised by the Reverend Walter Clark in 1883 for Derby School, which it used until the badge was replaced by a coat of arms granted by the College of Arms in 1952. The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is an office regulating Heraldry and granting new Armorial bearings for England, Wales ^[8] Of course, the 1952 coat of arms ceased to exist with Derby School in 1989.

Membership of Derby School's Old Derbeians Society is now open to all former pupils of the new Derby Grammar School, deemed to be the next generation of Old Derbeians. ^[21]

References

See also

• List of the oldest schools in the world

External links

• Web site of the Old Derbeians Society
• Words and music of Lift Up Your Hearts! at The Ames Collection
• Words and music of Lift Up Your Hearts! at cyberhymnal.org
• Official site of the new Derby Grammar School