Foundation of School, 1392
Penistone Grammar School is as much a part of Penistone's identity as the viaduct or Penistone Church. The earliest history of the school is lost in obscurity, as much of the old paperwork is either lost or illegible but Penistone Grammar School can trace its roots back to 1392. There is not much in Penistone which has such a link with ancient times.
There is a record of a gift of land in that year for the purposes of a school from Thomas Clarel, the absentee lord of the manor. He drowned in the River Don, 1st May 1442. The Free Grammar School of Penistone received bequests in 1443. After the 'dissolution of the chantries' in 1547, the school continued as the free school for the children of Penistone. The school was rebuilt in 1702.
John Dransfield's 1892 guide records the charter of foundation. It was a school for boys and held in the church itself. Later it was located at 'Fairfield', which was next to Cockpit Lane and close to the church as in the picture below (more or less where Robinson's News/Dransfield Solicitor is now), but it was demolished before the twentieth century arrived.
Six Footless Birds
The Clarel coat of arms has six footless birds (heraldic martlets) and has long been used by the school. It has also been very much adopted by Penistone in general, including my website, as the de facto Penistone coat of arms. It was always displayed in the Town Hall but is now hidden by curtains. On older PGS badges, the birds were arranged 3, 2, 1 and not as shown here.
Disce aut Discede
The school's Latin motto 'Disce aut Discede' is on the school badge and was inscribed on a stone above the doorway of the old school, meaning something like 'Get some work done or clear off', also translated as "Learn or leave" or "Get on or get out". Barely visible above the doorway on the right hand building (pictured below), the stone was moved to an equivalent position in the new school. I hope it survives the demolitions to come.
Old Picture
This picture shows school buildings as they were about 1890, not long before they were demolished. The photographer took the picture from a high viewpoint in the church yard for Penistone Almanac and I was lucky enough to scan the original (courtesy of The Don Press). Dr. Nicholas Saunderson, the celebrated blind professor of mathematics at Cambridge, received his earliest education here and learnt to read and write from running his fingers over Penistone Church gravestones.
The wall just visible on the left edge of the picture is the old cloth hall, now Clark's chemist. The gravestone on the left is still there but the gateway to the churchyard now has a lychgate. The old school buildings were demolished in 1893 and a new building built in its place. Opened in 1895 for the Midland Bank, it now houses HSBC bank and Robinson's news.
Nearby land was sold for auction in 1903, including the site of an old pit for fighting cocks. which is shown as dotted lines in the graphic below. Click on it to see the auction plan of the Fairfield area. The old school was located below lots 4 and 5. Lot 8 bought by Woods printers. The '18 foot wide Right of Way' lane became (still is) the main works access road to the printers. The vertical right of way is Cockpit Lane and this would have run just behind the school building.
In 1892 the school moved to its current site in Weirfield house and it took in boarders. It was the year of Tchaikovsky's 'Nutcracker'. Girls were admitted in 1907 and in 1911 the Fulford building opened (known as 'A' block when I was a lad), shown below. In the 1960s, the buildings ('blocks') were all called by a letter rather than a name. The stable block ('C' block), was reconstructed in 1900, which I remember as Spurler Jagger's woodwork room in the sixties, with a science room near to it. Spurler was a fine teacher and very handy with the chisel. In fact, he was also a fine fellow away from school.
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This distant view of the school from the church tower shows the white Saunderson building (built in the 1960s) with the new library building in front. The Bowman building and the large Hall/Gymnasium opened in 1956. New playing fields and the temporary 'E' block 'terrapin' buildings were added in 1960. New buildings arrived in 1968: the Saunderson block and the new Hall and kitchens. Also that year Fulford block had alterations and conversion of old kitchen and dining rooms. 'E' block was removed some time in the 1990s.
Wilfred Burgess Simms was headmaster with Mr Humpston as deputy when I was a pupil and Mr 'killer' Cartwright was head of the younger section. Eric Fisher (EF) Bowman was the head before Wilfrid Simms . We used to walk down to Netherfield Church for drama lessons with our teacher, Mr. Keith. This arrangement worked well but there was one occasion when we had to be particularly quiet - there was a funeral in the church. This church later merged with St. Paul's Methodist chapel, now St. Andrews, and the building was converted to flats. Visitors to the neglected graveyard are now discouraged by 'Private' signs.
Netherfields 'Union Workhouse' was built in 1860 and used for Rural District Council meetings each month, whilst the Urban District Council meetings were at other council offices. It later became an old folks home and in 1974 was acquired by the school for use as a sixth-form college. Escapees from the old folks home were easily rounded up from The Bridge public house.
Some Info
2000
Pupils - 1,333 plus 250 in the sixth form (16 y.o. and older)
Number obtaining 5 GCSEs at grades A, B or C - 53%
2002 PGS Visit to Huddersfield Uni
PGS students recorded a jam session (WMA 813kB) during their 2002 school visit to music technology studios (Engineering Dept.) of Huddersfield University.
2008
The PGS website claims about 1600 pupils and says that they accept 270 pupils in each year (yrs 7 - 11).
1992 Reunion
The 600th Anniversary of P.G.S. in 1992 was celebrated with a reunion for alumni, grouped into leaving years, and there were other activities under the guidance of the headmaster Mr. Bould (whom I mistook for a caretaker). Mr Bould gave a very fine speech at this hugely enjoyable event. As a spin-off from this, other smaller reunions occurred where people in my year had a few get-togethers in a local pub and my thanks go to Lynn Harvey (nee Harley). It was a great pleasure to meet up with some old schoolmates whom I had not seen for a very long time.
See my 1967 year reunion page for a 2004 reunion. I would love to see another grand reunion like the one of 1992 before the old buildings go. A new window was installed in Penistone Church in 1992 to celebrate the 600th anniversary.
Major Revamp
Something like £2M has been earmarked for a major rebuilding programme for the school, which will also be enlarged. There was a proposal from persons unknown to dispense with the PGS name and give the school the 'plastic' name of the 'Advanced Learning Centre' (ALC) because of extra facilities which go beyond its utility as a school; such as conferencing, a 'wellbeing' service and some extra community access.
The name change required unanimous approval from the governors but they did not approve and the historic name of Penistone Grammar School will remain unchanged. It is interesting, however, that their website uses 'ALC' as much as possible, perhaps in the hope that it might become the de-facto name regardless of the governing body. It might be more likely that Barnsley council is trying to get the ALC name established and that they run the website. Visit their website link below for details of the new plans (and hope that it works better than when I tried).
