Derby School
Encyclopedia
Derby School was a school in Derby
in the English Midlands
from 1160 to 1989. It had an almost continuous history of education of over eight centuries. For most of that time it was a grammar school
for boys. The school became co-educational and comprehensive
in 1974 and was closed in 1989. In 1994 a new independent school
called Derby Grammar School
for boys was founded.
(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. Local legend has it that it was the second oldest school in England
. However, there is no firm information as to the site of the original school.
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
.
Magna Britannia
says of Derby School -
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."
The new Free Grammar School was established in a purpose-built building next to St Peter's Church, Derby. The school remained at this site until it moved to St Helen's House in 1863. In the late 20th century, this building was for some time part of the Derby Heritage Centre and is now a hairdresser's.
The school held a closed exhibition
(a form of scholarship
) worth £
50 a year at Emmanuel College, Cambridge
. At any one time, this could be held by one old boy of the school, who had the title at Emmanuel College of Exhibitioner. (Until the 1930s, £50 was a substantial sum, usually more than the annual wage of a farm labourer.)
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. At that time, most masters of the school were Puritan
s.
St Helen's House
, in King Street, Derby, was built about 1726 for John Gisbourne, an alderman of Yoxall Lodge, Staffordshire, and originally stood in 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) of parkland. The boys-only grammar school moved here in 1863, after the school's governors had bought the property from Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper
, the nephew of the philanthropist Joseph Strutt
, an old boy of the school.
Under the Rev. Walter Clark BD
(headmaster 1865-1889) the school was expanded from a local grammar school into a nationally known public school
. Under his leadership, the school building was extended. On the front of the extension, a stone bears the inscription "Quod faustum fortunatumque sit regiae scholae Derbiensi hunc lapidem initium operis felicissimis auspicus Alberti Eduardi Wal princip inlustrisque coniucis nuper suscepti sua ipse manu locavit Gulielmus Dux Devoniensis A. D. IV kal sext A. S. MDCCCLXXIV Praef Gualtero Clark A.M. Collegii S. Mar. Magd apud Cantabric olim scholar". (This part of the school became known as 'B'-block or the Pearson Building.) The royal patronage continued on 14 November 1888, when Derby School received a visit by the Prince of Wales
, later King Edward VII.
See also details below.
The date stone on the wall outside 'B'-Block reads: "In usum huius scholae A.D. MCMI sepositum P.K. Tollit A.M. Praefecto".
Amber Valley Camp was one of the National Camp Corporation premises. In the 1930s this organisation began to set up wooden buildings complete in every way on sites in the countryside so that urban children could enjoy and experience Britain’s national surroundings.
They proved to be useful in the 1939-1945 war as evacuation centres and even in some instances as military camps. After the war Derby Corporation Education Committee used Amber Valley Camp for monthly visits by the town’s secondary school children.
Originally the camp itself consisted of six buildings used as dormitories, there were two ablution blocks, a sanatorium, a double staff bungalow (one part housing the Camp Manager - Commander De Denne (RN Retd.) and the Rev Allan Grime and his family occupied the other section. The dining room allowed 300 pupils to take meals. In addition, there were four classrooms in a block and a further hut was the craft centre. Another block housed a physics lab and a chemistry lab and provided an office for Les Bradley – the Headmaster. Classes were also held in the school hall, the Woolley Moor Methodist Chapel and a nearby public house. The dormitories were called after Derbyshire places, including Wingfield, Melandra, Eyam, Dovedale, Cromford and Bakewell. The only building now left at Amber Valley is the old dining room, which is now the headquarters of the Ogston Sailing Club.
. In 1945 this organisation vacated the buildings including Big School (the large school assembly hall) and allowed Derby School to return to its home after five years at the beginning of September at the commencement of the Autumn term of 1945. Thus Derby School was restored to its roots and began its final period there of just over two decades before moving finally on to the Moorway Lane, Littleover site in 1966.
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 other three were Bemrose School
(boys), Homelands (girls) and Parkfield Cedars Grammar School (girls), see Judith Hann
.
The St Helen's House complex consisted of the house itself (called 'A'-block), which contained classrooms and offices; an attached annexe known as the Pearson Building (called 'B'-block), which held most of the classrooms on the ground and second floor plus on the first floor 'Big School', the school's large assembly hall complete with stage; there was then a free standing school chapel; plus a separate building in red brick which housed the Chemistry Department approached through the cloisters between the rear of 'B' Block and the rear of the chapel. Here was also housed the armoury for the JTC/CCF containing scores of weapons - dozens of Lee Enfield .303 rifles, a couple of Bren guns and revolvers. No live ammunition was stored. There were then several single-storey prefabricated wooden buildings which contained the woodworking classroom, gymnasium, changing rooms and shower facilities, and another smaller annexe close by which housed the refectory and some classrooms approached from Edward Street.
The river Derwent ran parallel to City Road and formed one of the boundaries. A large wooden structured boathouse was built almost right up to the boundary of the Great Northern Railway line in 1877 (later known as the LNER railway) which ran on a brick arched viaduct. A metal arched bridge built by Handyside of Derby Andrew Handyside and Company allowed this railway line to cross the river Derwent. Boats and oars were stored on the ground floor, and the changing and locker rooms were up an outside a wooden staircase. This boathouse was also the headquarters of the Derby Rowing Club and also the Derby School Rowing Club premises. Derby School boat club began in 1862 and was closed down in 1889. Derby School Rowing Club was reborn in 1931 and details are included in a book entitled 1879 - 1979 The First Hundred Years pages 61 – 63.
The first Captain of Boats recorded in Tacchella's Register was appointed in 1862. The first reference to the Derby Grammar School Boat Club appears in an advertisement in the Derby Mercury of June 3, 1863, which mentions the Rev. T.H.L. Leary, Headmaster at the time, providing trophies for competition amongst boys at the school at the forthcoming regatta. The school boat club was closed shortly after the death in 1889 of the headmaster, the Rev. Walter Clark. For 41 years no rowing activities took place at the school. It is recorded there was conflict within the school that rowing was attracting more members than the cricket club was prepared to allow and therefore responsible for bringing pressure to bear which resulted in the demise of rowing.
The school rowing club was reborn in 1931 owing much to two senior members of the Derby Rowing Club, Tom Ison and Secretary Harry Ellis, and the wholehearted support of the then Headmaster, Mr. T.J.P. York. The Derby School rowing club continued until the start of World War II
when it was closed down. In September 1945 it started once again after both the masters and boys returned from five years of evacuation to Amber Valley.
Many of the older large clinker built 'fours' and 'pairs' boats being housed under the railway arches of the LNER railway which ran alongside the sports ground. In addition on Parker's Piece, there were two football pitches in winter and a cricket square for summer. The sports ground was large enough for a 400 yard athletic track to be laid out for use during the summer term along with facilities for long and high jumps.
An entirely new clubhouse was built and completed in 1963 on the opposite bank of the river Derwent, but slightly further upstream. During the coldest weather for many, many years the river Derwent in January 1963 froze over and all equipment, including boats, seats, timber, tools and other paraphernalia
, was carried over to the other side.
Court, since demolished, this was in the grounds in front of the Pearson Building also known as 'B'-block and for the fire escape outside Big School. Boys would prove their mettle by sliding down the roof of the metal fire escape.
and World War II
. Every year on the Sunday, known as Remembrance Sunday
nearest to 11 November, the Old Derbeian Society hold a service of Remembrance. This service is attended by Old Derbeians, their friends and family, and the Headmaster of the new Derby Grammar School
.
When Derby School at Moorway Lane, Littleover was closed by the Education Authority and became a special co-educational sports college, the OD Society removed the war memorial from Littleover. It was resited and refurbished back at St. Helen's House in Derby, slightly (15 metres) to the north of the original site. For this action Derby City Council in 1991-92 awarded the Derby Civic Society Award to the Old Derbeian Society .
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 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. For the academic year 1945-46 for the only time there was a three form entry intake, but then starting in the academic year 1946-47 it reverted to its normal two form entry.
At St. Helen's House and in B Block 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, but lessons were held throughout the school. In approximately 1949 lockers started to be provided on the ground floor of B Block where many pupils could store their own books and belongings.
s, known as props (an appellation still used at Uppingham
and Rugby
) or monitor
s. The title 'prefect' (Praefectus) was reserved for the Head Master. The praeposters (props) 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. 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
.
Opposite the school, in a group of three shops, was a sweet shop, which served as the school tuck shop. A bakery in between St. Helen's house and the annex supplied half loaves of bread to 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 were absorbed. A daily trek from King Street to Edward 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 football in the playground.
, in 1966. Mr Richard Blunt, an historic buildings expert acquired a 299 year leasehold for both St Helen's House (A Block) and the Pearson Building (B Block) in 2006 from Derby City Council. In 2008 and 2009, both buildings were made wind and weather proof and generally tidied up and modern educational accessories taken away by the new owner. Plans for St. Helen's House being converted along with the Pearson Building (B Block) into a quality hotel with a new residential apartment crescent where the current chapel, gymnasium and craft workshops stand have been delayed. Planning approval for this original major conversion was issued in 2008 by Derby City Council. In July 2011 a planning application to change the use of the two buildings in King Street into high quality offices was submitted to Derby City Council.
Derby School had a significant football team in the early 1870s, notable for its passing tactics. A double pass is reported from Derby school against Nottingham Forest in March 1872, the first of which is irrefutably a short pass: "Mr Absey dribbling the ball half the length of the field delivered it to Wallis, who kicking it cleverly in front of the goal, sent it to the captain who drove it at once between the Nottingham posts". In February 1873 the following passing movement is also described: "[The ball was] crossed by C Garrard and cleverly put through by H. Sleigh"
On arrival at the new school in 1966, its playing fields were found to be still full of stones, so in the beginning the boys were bussed across town to Parker’s Piece, at Chester Green, for sports.
The traditions of the older boys, uprooted from St Helen's House, influenced the new boys. The running of the school was still steeped in history, with praepostor
s and monitors, and with the houses
still competing for the Cock House trophy. Latin
remained an important subject. Masters (never called teachers) still dressed in suits, with gowns and mortar boards
, and used corporal punishment
, sometimes publicly after lessons. There was a strict dress code, and sixth form
ers could wear boater
s on summer days. Lockers did not need locks. Older boys expected respect and obedience from younger boys, although not fagging
. Praeposters and monitors could administer punishment. They also had their own rooms, and later the use of the Pavilion, off limits to masters and the lower forms. The new school even had purpose-built Fives
courts, where gloved fights
between boys with grudges were tolerated as a gentlemanly way of settling disputes.
Things begin to change many of the masters took the opportunity to retire. Theft, which was said to have been unthinkable at St Helen’s House, arrived. The house system began to lapse, the dress code was relaxed, and long hair was tolerated.
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. 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. A new school called Derby Moor Community School, 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. In terms of legal identity, this was not the same school, but in some ways it was its successor.
The entrance hall to Derwent building, the "old" Derby School, features a floor mosaic depicting the Derby School badge. There are plans to expand the college and building to connect the two parts of the college together are due to commence October 2010. It has been proposed to remove the mosaic to another part of the building.
(OTC). This also included an OTC Corps Band. A special OTC cap badge was worn and one has been donated by an Old Derbeian and is on view in the OD Society bookcase within the library at Derby Grammar School.
One of the benefits being a member of the school's JTC and Combined Cadet Force was that Derby School pupils were allowed to undertake Cert.'A' training in all military matters and in Derby this meant that final exams were held at The Barracks at Sinfin in Derby, the home of the Sherwood Foresters Regiment. Passing out with a Cert.'A' meant that when the boys were later called up to undertake their National Service they were one-step ahead of the majority of young men.
(CCF). This had an army
section, an Royal Air Force
section, and a band
made up of members of both. A parade was held on Friday afternoons, and on that day members of the JTC and CCF would come to school in their uniforms and boots. In addition, JTC and CCF pupils stayed on after school on Monday afternoons to undertake other instruction in civilian clothes. The CCF survived into the years at Littleover.
The school motto
, Vita sine litteris mors, is a quotation from letter number 82 in Seneca the Younger
's Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
-
.
This motto is shared with -
A legend of the motto, forming the school badge, was laid in black and white mosaic at the entrance of the new Moorway Lane School in 1966.
, was given a musical setting in 1916 by Walter Greatorex
, an old boy of the school.
A book called The Derby School Register, 1570-1901, was published in 1902, edited by Benjamin Tacchella, a modern languages master at the school, and the following is an extract from its preface:
Much reliance was placed upon Benjamin Tacchella's previous work and publication along with much research with both the Derby Borough Council and with local archives. The great significance of the school being refounded and restored following the issue of a Charter on 21 May 1554 by Queen Mary is recorded.
Recently June 2011 a complete 'hard' copy of this Short History was presented to the OD Society and now resides in the library of the Derby Grammar School
(DGS)
(DGS) for research purposes. These consist of over 23 volumes and record in great detail almost 90 years of school activities and the names of every pupil and teacher at St. Helen's House in Derby and at the Moorway Lane site in Littleover, Derby.
The aims and objectives of the Society are threefold:
An interesting rule of the O D Society states "Any Old Derbeian, any past Head or Teacher of Derby School, also the Head for the time being, any past Head and any past or present Teacher of the Derby Grammar School, shall be entitled to become a member."
In June 2010 the OD Society presented 'The Alan Sanders Memorial Cup' for the very first time to the winning team at the resurrected annual cricket match played between the ODS Team and Derby Grammar School First XI team. Alan Sanders had been the OD Society's secretary (from 1997-2006), archivist and committee member.
. Wreaths are laid by the President of the Old Derbeians' Society and the Headmaster of Derby Grammar School. At this service every Old Derbeian who died during World War I
or World War II
has their name read out.
, an entirely new school founded in 1994, is an independent school
which includes a Junior department. It occupies the 18th century Rykneld Hall on Rykneld Road in Littleover (previously Rykneld Hospital) and has around 300 pupils.
With the agreement of the Committee of the Old Derbeian 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 1952 coat of arms fell into disuse when Derby School closed in 1989.
Membership of the Old Derbeian Society was extended in the late 1990s to now be open to all former pupils of the new Derby Grammar School, deemed to be the next generation of Old Derbeians.
See Aims and Objectives of OD Society
----
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
in the English Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
from 1160 to 1989. It had an almost continuous history of education of over eight centuries. For most of that time it was 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...
for boys. The school became co-educational and comprehensive
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
in 1974 and was closed in 1989. In 1994 a new independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
called Derby Grammar School
Derby Grammar School
Derby Grammar School is an independent and selective grammar school at Littleover near the city of Derby, England. Founded as a school for boys in 1995, it takes boys from the age of seven and currently has around three hundred pupils...
for boys was founded.
Origins
The school was founded in the 12th century around 1160 by a local magnate, Walkelin de DerbyWalkelin de Derby
Walkelin de Derby , also known as Walkelin de Ferrieres, anglicized as Walkelin de Ferrers, was a Norman lord of Egginton in the English county of Derbyshire...
(also called Walkelin de Ferrieres, or de Ferrers) and his wife, Goda de Toeni, who gave their own house to an Augustinian priory
Priory
A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
called Darley Abbey
Darley Abbey
Darley Abbey is a village on the outskirts of Derby, England. The village is located on the River Derwent and is associated with the world heritage site of Derwent Valley Mills.- History :...
to be used for the school. Local legend has it that it was the second oldest school in 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...
. However, there is no firm information as to the site of the original school.
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
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
.
Magna Britannia
Magna Britannia
Magna Britannia, being a concise topographical account of the several counties of Great Britain was an ambitious topographical and historical survey published by the antiquarians Daniel Lysons and his brother Samuel Lysons in several volumes between 1806 and 1822...
says of Derby School -
Royal Charter
Darley Abbey
Darley Abbey is a village on the outskirts of Derby, England. The village is located on the River Derwent and is associated with the world heritage site of Derwent Valley Mills.- History :...
, on 21 May 1554, Queen Mary I by a Royal Charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
, 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."
The new Free Grammar School was established in a purpose-built building next to St Peter's Church, Derby. The school remained at this site until it moved to St Helen's House in 1863. In the late 20th century, this building was for some time part of the Derby Heritage Centre and is now a hairdresser's.
The school held a closed exhibition
Exhibition (scholarship)
-United Kingdom and Ireland:At the universities of Dublin, Oxford and Cambridge, and at Westminster School, Eton College and Winchester College, and various other UK educational establishments, an exhibition is a financial award or grant to an individual student, normally on grounds of merit. The...
(a form of scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
) worth £
Pound (currency)
The pound is a unit of currency in some nations. The term originated in England as the value of a pound of silver.The word pound is the English translation of the Latin word libra, which was the unit of account of the Roman Empire...
50 a year at Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
. At any one time, this could be held by one old boy of the school, who had the title at Emmanuel College of Exhibitioner. (Until the 1930s, £50 was a substantial sum, usually more than the annual wage of a farm labourer.)
While the astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
John Flamsteed
John Flamsteed
Sir John Flamsteed FRS was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. He catalogued over 3000 stars.- Life :Flamsteed was born in Denby, Derbyshire, England, the only son of Stephen 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. At that time, most masters of the school were Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
s.
St Helen's House period, 1863-1966
St Helen's House, Derby
St Helen's House is a Grade I listed building situated in King Street, Derby, England. It has been used in the past as a private residence and as an educational establishment...
, in King Street, Derby, was built about 1726 for John Gisbourne, an alderman of Yoxall Lodge, Staffordshire, and originally stood in 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) of parkland. The boys-only grammar school moved here in 1863, after the school's governors had bought the property from Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper
Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper
Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper PC, FRS , was a British Liberal Party politician. He served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1852 to 1854 under Lord Aberdeen.-Background and education:...
, the nephew of the philanthropist Joseph Strutt
Joseph Strutt (philanthropist)
Joseph Strutt was an English philanthropist. He got his wealth from family textile business. The Strutt brothers were radical social reformers who gave significant donations and founded several important institutions in their native Derby area....
, an old boy of the school.
Under the Rev. Walter Clark BD
Bachelor of Divinity
In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies....
(headmaster 1865-1889) the school was expanded from a local grammar school into a nationally known public school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
. Under his leadership, the school building was extended. On the front of the extension, a stone bears the inscription "Quod faustum fortunatumque sit regiae scholae Derbiensi hunc lapidem initium operis felicissimis auspicus Alberti Eduardi Wal princip inlustrisque coniucis nuper suscepti sua ipse manu locavit Gulielmus Dux Devoniensis A. D. IV kal sext A. S. MDCCCLXXIV Praef Gualtero Clark A.M. Collegii S. Mar. Magd apud Cantabric olim scholar". (This part of the school became known as 'B'-block or the Pearson Building.) The royal patronage continued on 14 November 1888, when Derby School received a visit by the Prince of Wales
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
, later King Edward VII.
See also details below.
Evacuation to Overton Hall, Ashover, 1939-1940
Following the declaration of war on 3 September 1939 arrangements were made for the pupils and staff of Derby School to be evacuated immediately in September 1939 away from the town of Derby. As Amber Valley Camp being built by the National Camp Corporation was not completely finished, as a temporary measure, they went to Overton Hall in Ashover near Matlock. for a few months until June 1940.Amber Valley Camp, 1940-1945
In June 1940 Derby School moved from Overton Hall, Ashover to new accommodation at Amber Valley Camp, Woolley Moor some five miles (8 km) away. The boys all walked this distance and subsequently, an annual sporting event “The Five Mile Walk” was inaugurated.Amber Valley Camp was one of the National Camp Corporation premises. In the 1930s this organisation began to set up wooden buildings complete in every way on sites in the countryside so that urban children could enjoy and experience Britain’s national surroundings.
They proved to be useful in the 1939-1945 war as evacuation centres and even in some instances as military camps. After the war Derby Corporation Education Committee used Amber Valley Camp for monthly visits by the town’s secondary school children.
Originally the camp itself consisted of six buildings used as dormitories, there were two ablution blocks, a sanatorium, a double staff bungalow (one part housing the Camp Manager - Commander De Denne (RN Retd.) and the Rev Allan Grime and his family occupied the other section. The dining room allowed 300 pupils to take meals. In addition, there were four classrooms in a block and a further hut was the craft centre. Another block housed a physics lab and a chemistry lab and provided an office for Les Bradley – the Headmaster. Classes were also held in the school hall, the Woolley Moor Methodist Chapel and a nearby public house. The dormitories were called after Derbyshire places, including Wingfield, Melandra, Eyam, Dovedale, Cromford and Bakewell. The only building now left at Amber Valley is the old dining room, which is now the headquarters of the Ogston Sailing Club.
Annual reunion at Amber Valley Camp site
For many years the Old Derbeian Society has organised an annual reunion of old Amber Valley pupils and other Old Derbeians, with their wives, partners and friends in June. The Ogston Sailing Club allows the society to use their clubhouse, which used to house the school dining room, the masters' common room and the school tuck-shop.Return to Derby in 1945
St. Helen’s House and the adjoining building known as ‘B’ Block, also as the Pearson Building, in King Street had been used by Ordnance Survey staff during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In 1945 this organisation vacated the buildings including Big School (the large school assembly hall) and allowed Derby School to return to its home after five years at the beginning of September at the commencement of the Autumn term of 1945. Thus Derby School was restored to its roots and began its final period there of just over two decades before moving finally on to the Moorway Lane, Littleover site in 1966.
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
Tripartite System
The Tripartite System was the arrangement of state funded secondary education between 1944 and the 1970s in England and Wales, and from 1947 to 2009 in Northern Ireland....
established by the Education Act 1944
Education Act 1944
The Education Act 1944 changed the education system for secondary schools in England and Wales. This Act, commonly named after the Conservative politician R.A...
. The other three were Bemrose School
Bemrose School
Bemrose School , was a grammar school for boys in Derby, England, until 1975, when it became a comprehensive. It became comprehensive in 1989. There were a few difficult years as the school worked to establish itself as an all ability school for Derby. It became a Foundation School and then a...
(boys), Homelands (girls) and Parkfield Cedars Grammar School (girls), see Judith Hann
Judith Hann
Judith Hann at Littleover, Derby, Derbyshire, England, is a freelance broadcaster and writer specialising in science, food and the environment.-Education:...
.
The St Helen's House complex consisted of the house itself (called 'A'-block), which contained classrooms and offices; an attached annexe known as the Pearson Building (called 'B'-block), which held most of the classrooms on the ground and second floor plus on the first floor 'Big School', the school's large assembly hall complete with stage; there was then a free standing school chapel; plus a separate building in red brick which housed the Chemistry Department approached through the cloisters between the rear of 'B' Block and the rear of the chapel. Here was also housed the armoury for the JTC/CCF containing scores of weapons - dozens of Lee Enfield .303 rifles, a couple of Bren guns and revolvers. No live ammunition was stored. There were then several single-storey prefabricated wooden buildings which contained the woodworking classroom, gymnasium, changing rooms and shower facilities, and another smaller annexe close by which housed the refectory and some classrooms approached from Edward Street.
Parker's Piece - Playing field, sports ground and rowing club
All school sports were played at Parker's Piece. Believed to be named after a sports ground at Cambridge University, this is a 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) ground three-quarters of a mile from the school and situated on City Road. Near to the entrance from City Road there had been built a wooden Sport's Pavilion which included changing facilities and toilets. This wooden pavilion is still in existence in the 21st century.The river Derwent ran parallel to City Road and formed one of the boundaries. A large wooden structured boathouse was built almost right up to the boundary of the Great Northern Railway line in 1877 (later known as the LNER railway) which ran on a brick arched viaduct. A metal arched bridge built by Handyside of Derby Andrew Handyside and Company allowed this railway line to cross the river Derwent. Boats and oars were stored on the ground floor, and the changing and locker rooms were up an outside a wooden staircase. This boathouse was also the headquarters of the Derby Rowing Club and also the Derby School Rowing Club premises. Derby School boat club began in 1862 and was closed down in 1889. Derby School Rowing Club was reborn in 1931 and details are included in a book entitled 1879 - 1979 The First Hundred Years pages 61 – 63.
The first Captain of Boats recorded in Tacchella's Register was appointed in 1862. The first reference to the Derby Grammar School Boat Club appears in an advertisement in the Derby Mercury of June 3, 1863, which mentions the Rev. T.H.L. Leary, Headmaster at the time, providing trophies for competition amongst boys at the school at the forthcoming regatta. The school boat club was closed shortly after the death in 1889 of the headmaster, the Rev. Walter Clark. For 41 years no rowing activities took place at the school. It is recorded there was conflict within the school that rowing was attracting more members than the cricket club was prepared to allow and therefore responsible for bringing pressure to bear which resulted in the demise of rowing.
The school rowing club was reborn in 1931 owing much to two senior members of the Derby Rowing Club, Tom Ison and Secretary Harry Ellis, and the wholehearted support of the then Headmaster, Mr. T.J.P. York. The Derby School rowing club continued until the start of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when it was closed down. In September 1945 it started once again after both the masters and boys returned from five years of evacuation to Amber Valley.
Many of the older large clinker built 'fours' and 'pairs' boats being housed under the railway arches of the LNER railway which ran alongside the sports ground. In addition on Parker's Piece, there were two football pitches in winter and a cricket square for summer. The sports ground was large enough for a 400 yard athletic track to be laid out for use during the summer term along with facilities for long and high jumps.
An entirely new clubhouse was built and completed in 1963 on the opposite bank of the river Derwent, but slightly further upstream. During the coldest weather for many, many years the river Derwent in January 1963 froze over and all equipment, including boats, seats, timber, tools and other paraphernalia
Paraphernalia
In modern usage, the word paraphernalia most commonly refers to apparatus, equipment, or furnishing used in or necessary for a particular activity as in, "Beth is such an avid sports fan that her walls are covered with baseball paraphernalia"....
, was carried over to the other side.
Fives Court
St Helen's House was notable for its FivesFives
Fives is a British sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a special court using gloved or bare hands as though they were a racquet.-Background:...
Court, since demolished, this was in the grounds in front of the Pearson Building also known as 'B'-block and for the fire escape outside Big School. Boys would prove their mettle by sliding down the roof of the metal fire escape.
Old Derbeian War Memorial
In front of St. Helen's House, ('A'-block), stands a war memorial to Old Derbeians who lost their lives in World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Every year on the Sunday, known as Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance Sunday
In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day. It is the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m...
nearest to 11 November, the Old Derbeian Society hold a service of Remembrance. This service is attended by Old Derbeians, their friends and family, and the Headmaster of the new Derby Grammar School
Derby Grammar School
Derby Grammar School is an independent and selective grammar school at Littleover near the city of Derby, England. Founded as a school for boys in 1995, it takes boys from the age of seven and currently has around three hundred pupils...
.
When Derby School at Moorway Lane, Littleover was closed by the Education Authority and became a special co-educational sports college, the OD Society removed the war memorial from Littleover. It was resited and refurbished back at St. Helen's House in Derby, slightly (15 metres) to the north of the original site. For this action Derby City Council in 1991-92 awarded the Derby Civic Society Award to the Old Derbeian Society .
School split up into four houses
The school was divided into four houses: Gateley's, Tanner's, Fuller's, and Grimes'. All boys were allocated to one of the houses 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 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. For the academic year 1945-46 for the only time there was a three form entry intake, but then starting in the academic year 1946-47 it reverted to its normal two form entry.
At St. Helen's House and in B Block 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, but lessons were held throughout the school. In approximately 1949 lockers started to be provided on the ground floor of B Block where many pupils could store their own books and belongings.
Praeposters and monitors
Leadership at the school was in the hands of the masters, but, as with most schools, older pupils were given responsibility and were appointed praepostorPraepostor
Praepostor is now used chiefly at English independent schools, such as Rugby, Giggleswick and Eton at other schools such as the former Derby School which began as grammar schools for the teaching of Latin grammar. It is the equivalent of prefect...
s, known as props (an appellation still used at Uppingham
Uppingham School
Uppingham School is a co-educational independent school of the English public school tradition, situated in the small town of Uppingham in Rutland, England...
and Rugby
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
) or monitor
Hall monitor
A hall monitor is a student volunteer in American schools who is charged with maintaining order in the school's corridors. They may be either students who are chosen for the position because they are responsible, or that may be chosen on a rota from all available students...
s. The title 'prefect' (Praefectus) was reserved for the Head Master. The praeposters (props) 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. 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
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
of Tom Brown's Schooldays
Tom Brown's Schooldays
Tom Brown's Schooldays is a novel by Thomas Hughes. The story is set at Rugby School, a public school for boys, in the 1830s; Hughes attended Rugby School from 1834 to 1842...
.
Opposite the school, in a group of three shops, was a sweet shop, which served as the school tuck shop. A bakery in between St. Helen's house and the annex supplied half loaves of bread to 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 were absorbed. A daily trek from King Street to Edward 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 football in the playground.
St. Helen's House declared unsafe and 299 year leasehold acquired by new owner
In 1965, 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, LittleoverLittleover
Littleover is a large suburb of Derby, England situated between Rose Hill, Normanton, Sunny Hill, South Derbyshire and Mickleover about three miles south west of Derby city centre.-History:The history of the name of Littleover is simple...
, in 1966. Mr Richard Blunt, an historic buildings expert acquired a 299 year leasehold for both St Helen's House (A Block) and the Pearson Building (B Block) in 2006 from Derby City Council. In 2008 and 2009, both buildings were made wind and weather proof and generally tidied up and modern educational accessories taken away by the new owner. Plans for St. Helen's House being converted along with the Pearson Building (B Block) into a quality hotel with a new residential apartment crescent where the current chapel, gymnasium and craft workshops stand have been delayed. Planning approval for this original major conversion was issued in 2008 by Derby City Council. In July 2011 a planning application to change the use of the two buildings in King Street into high quality offices was submitted to Derby City Council.
Derby School had a significant football team in the early 1870s, notable for its passing tactics. A double pass is reported from Derby school against Nottingham Forest in March 1872, the first of which is irrefutably a short pass: "Mr Absey dribbling the ball half the length of the field delivered it to Wallis, who kicking it cleverly in front of the goal, sent it to the captain who drove it at once between the Nottingham posts". In February 1873 the following passing movement is also described: "[The ball was] crossed by C Garrard and cleverly put through by H. Sleigh"
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.On arrival at the new school in 1966, its playing fields were found to be still full of stones, so in the beginning the boys were bussed across town to Parker’s Piece, at Chester Green, for sports.
The traditions of the older boys, uprooted from St Helen's House, influenced the new boys. The running of the school was still steeped in history, with praepostor
Praepostor
Praepostor is now used chiefly at English independent schools, such as Rugby, Giggleswick and Eton at other schools such as the former Derby School which began as grammar schools for the teaching of Latin grammar. It is the equivalent of prefect...
s and monitors, and with the houses
House system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
still competing for the Cock House trophy. Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
remained an important subject. Masters (never called teachers) still dressed in suits, with gowns and mortar boards
Square academic cap
The square academic cap, graduate cap, or mortarboard or Oxford cap, is an item of academic head dress consisting of a horizontal square board fixed upon a skull-cap, with a tassel attached to the center...
, and used corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
, sometimes publicly after lessons. There was a strict dress code, and sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
ers could wear boater
Boater
Boater may refer to:*Boater, a type of hat*Boater, one of the first disposable diapers*Someone involved in boating...
s on summer days. Lockers did not need locks. Older boys expected respect and obedience from younger boys, although not fagging
Fagging
Fagging was a traditional educational practice in British boarding private schools and also many other boarding schools, whereby younger pupils were required to act as personal servants to the most senior boys...
. Praeposters and monitors could administer punishment. They also had their own rooms, and later the use of the Pavilion, off limits to masters and the lower forms. The new school even had purpose-built Fives
Fives
Fives is a British sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a special court using gloved or bare hands as though they were a racquet.-Background:...
courts, where gloved fights
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
between boys with grudges were tolerated as a gentlemanly way of settling disputes.
Things begin to change many of the masters took the opportunity to retire. Theft, which was said to have been unthinkable at St Helen’s House, arrived. The house system began to lapse, the dress code was relaxed, and long hair was tolerated.
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
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
and greatly increased its size, in buildings and pupils. 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. A new school called Derby Moor Community School, now known as Derby Moor Community Sports College
Derby Moor Community Sports College
Derby Moor Community Sports College Trust, formerly known as Derby Moor Community Sports College and Derby Moor Community School, is a secondary school and specialist Sports College situated on Moorway Lane, Littleover, Derby....
, 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. In terms of legal identity, this was not the same school, but in some ways it was its successor.
The entrance hall to Derwent building, the "old" Derby School, features a floor mosaic depicting the Derby School badge. There are plans to expand the college and building to connect the two parts of the college together are due to commence October 2010. It has been proposed to remove the mosaic to another part of the building.
School Corps
In the 19th century the school founded the Derby School Corps and in Tacchella's The Derby School Register, 1570-1901 published in 1902 the names of the Captains of the Corps commencing in 1862 up until the year 1901 are listed. An notable entry in Derb Schol Fasci 1867 and 1868 which was the forerunner of The Derbeian contains the following:Officers Training Corps
Before the Second World War, the school had an Officers Training CorpsOfficers Training Corps
The Officer Training Corps is a part of the British Army which provides military leadership training to students at UK universities...
(OTC). This also included an OTC Corps Band. A special OTC cap badge was worn and one has been donated by an Old Derbeian and is on view in the OD Society bookcase within the library at Derby Grammar School.
Junior Training Corps
During the early 1940s, OTCs in British schools were renamed 'Junior Training Corps' (JTC). On return to Derby in September 1945 from being evacuated in 1939 due to World War II, first to Overton Hall at Ashover and then in June 1940 to Amber Valley Camp near Alfreton the JTC was very popular with senior pupils (Lower and Upper Fifth plus Sixth forms) with many pupils going off for two weeks summer camp under canvas to places such as Aldershot and Catterick Army depots.One of the benefits being a member of the school's JTC and Combined Cadet Force was that Derby School pupils were allowed to undertake Cert.'A' training in all military matters and in Derby this meant that final exams were held at The Barracks at Sinfin in Derby, the home of the Sherwood Foresters Regiment. Passing out with a Cert.'A' meant that when the boys were later called up to undertake their National Service they were one-step ahead of the majority of young men.
Combined Cadet Force
In April 1948 Derby School's JTC was amalgamated into the Combined Cadet ForceCombined Cadet Force
The Combined Cadet Force is a Ministry of Defence sponsored youth organisation in the United Kingdom. Its aim is to "provide a disciplined organisation in a school so that pupils may develop powers of leadership by means of training to promote the qualities of responsibility, self reliance,...
(CCF). This had an army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
section, an Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
section, and a band
Military band
A military band originally was a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music...
made up of members of both. A parade was held on Friday afternoons, and on that day members of the JTC and CCF would come to school in their uniforms and boots. In addition, JTC and CCF pupils stayed on after school on Monday afternoons to undertake other instruction in civilian clothes. The CCF survived into the years at Littleover.
School motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
, Vita sine litteris mors, is a quotation from letter number 82 in Seneca the Younger
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
's Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
The Epistulae morales ad Lucilium is a bundle of 124 letters which were written by Seneca the Younger at the end of his life. These letters all start with the phrase "Seneca Lucilio suo salutem" and end with the word "Vale" . In these letters, Seneca gives Lucilius tips on how to become a more...
-
- Vita sine litteris mors est, et hominis vivi sepultura.
.
This motto is shared with -
- Adelphi UniversityAdelphi UniversityAdelphi University is a private, nonsectarian university located in Garden City, in Nassau County, New York, United States. It is the oldest institution of higher education on Long Island. For the sixth year, Adelphi University has been named a “Best Buy” in higher education by the Fiske Guide to...
in Nassau CountyNassau County, New YorkNassau County is a suburban county on Long Island, east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,339,532...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... - Manning's High School, an 18th century foundation in JamaicaJamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
- The new Derby Grammar SchoolDerby Grammar SchoolDerby Grammar School is an independent and selective grammar school at Littleover near the city of Derby, England. Founded as a school for boys in 1995, it takes boys from the age of seven and currently has around three hundred pupils...
A legend of the motto, forming the school badge, was laid in black and white mosaic at the entrance of the new Moorway Lane School in 1966.
School hymn
The school hymn, Lift Up Your Hearts!Lift Up Your Hearts!
Lift up your hearts! is an English hymn written in 1881 by H. Montagu Butler. The words echo the English translation of the Sursum corda, a part of the communion liturgy in Christian churches.-Music:...
, was given a musical setting in 1916 by Walter Greatorex
Walter Greatorex
Walter Greatorex was an English composer and musician. He is probably best remembered for his hymn tune Woodlands which has been used with hymns such as Henry Montagu Butler's Lift Up Your Hearts! and Timothy Dudley-Smith's Tell Out, my Soul.-Education:Born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, the son...
, an old boy of the school.
The Derby School Register, 1570-1901 by Benjamin Tacchella
Derby School - A History to the End of the 19th Century
In June 1953 Colin S. Bell, an Old Derbeian, wrote a mini history of the school starting from its first creation around 1160 until 1538 (known as "The Pre-Reformation Period") and then from 1554 until 1900 (known as "The Post Reformation Phase").Much reliance was placed upon Benjamin Tacchella's previous work and publication along with much research with both the Derby Borough Council and with local archives. The great significance of the school being refounded and restored following the issue of a Charter on 21 May 1554 by Queen Mary is recorded.
"Derby School - A Short History 1554 - May 21st 1954"
This 34 page document was written by Mr. George P. Gollin and Mr. Roy Christian (both ODs)and appeared in separate sections within the Derbyshire Advertiser local newspaper during 1954 in the lead up to the Quater Centenary celebrations of the Schools refounding, with the date of the charter being 21 May 1554. It was decided to amalgamate each separate section into one publication and was published in May 1954.Recently June 2011 a complete 'hard' copy of this Short History was presented to the OD Society and now resides in the library of the Derby Grammar School
Derby Grammar School
Derby Grammar School is an independent and selective grammar school at Littleover near the city of Derby, England. Founded as a school for boys in 1995, it takes boys from the age of seven and currently has around three hundred pupils...
(DGS)
The Derbeian magazine
Bound copies of The Derbeian starting in July 1889 until the last publication in 1978 are available at Derby Grammar SchoolDerby Grammar School
Derby Grammar School is an independent and selective grammar school at Littleover near the city of Derby, England. Founded as a school for boys in 1995, it takes boys from the age of seven and currently has around three hundred pupils...
(DGS) for research purposes. These consist of over 23 volumes and record in great detail almost 90 years of school activities and the names of every pupil and teacher at St. Helen's House in Derby and at the Moorway Lane site in Littleover, Derby.
Old Derbeian Society
The Old Derbeian Society (ODS) was formed in 1911 allowing all pupils of Derby School, who had left their full time secondary education, to enrol as members for life. On Saturday 28 October 1911 the President of the OD Society, Dr. R. Laurie, had invited its members to a smoking concert to inaugurate the birth of the Society for which the need had long been felt. The full report appears in The Derbeian (the school's magazine) for December 1911 and includes a statement from the Rev. A.C. Knight "that a loyal and patriotic Old Boys' Society (now known as OD Society) would inspire confidence in the town and in this way help the school itself."The aims and objectives of the Society are threefold:
- To foster the memory of the old Derby School and to support the new Derby Grammar School; also to further the interests of the School's past and present members.
- To keep Old Derbeians in touch with one another and with the School.
- To organise Old Derbeians for social purposes and for the purpose of cricket, football and other games.
An interesting rule of the O D Society states "Any Old Derbeian, any past Head or Teacher of Derby School, also the Head for the time being, any past Head and any past or present Teacher of the Derby Grammar School, shall be entitled to become a member."
In June 2010 the OD Society presented 'The Alan Sanders Memorial Cup' for the very first time to the winning team at the resurrected annual cricket match played between the ODS Team and Derby Grammar School First XI team. Alan Sanders had been the OD Society's secretary (from 1997-2006), archivist and committee member.
War Memorial Service of Remembrance
A Service of Remembrance takes place at the Old Derbeians' War Memorial in front of St Helen's House on each Remembrance SundayRemembrance Sunday
In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day. It is the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m...
. Wreaths are laid by the President of the Old Derbeians' Society and the Headmaster of Derby Grammar School. At this service every Old Derbeian who died during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
or World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
has their name read out.
Derby Grammar School
Derby Grammar SchoolDerby Grammar School
Derby Grammar School is an independent and selective grammar school at Littleover near the city of Derby, England. Founded as a school for boys in 1995, it takes boys from the age of seven and currently has around three hundred pupils...
, an entirely new school founded in 1994, is an independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
which includes a Junior department. It occupies the 18th century Rykneld Hall on Rykneld Road in Littleover (previously Rykneld Hospital) and has around 300 pupils.
With the agreement of the Committee of the Old Derbeian 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
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
in 1952. The 1952 coat of arms fell into disuse when Derby School closed in 1989.
Membership of the Old Derbeian Society was extended in the late 1990s to now be open to all former pupils of the new Derby Grammar School, deemed to be the next generation of Old Derbeians.
See Aims and Objectives of OD Society
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
- Official site of the new Derby Grammar School
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