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'BEDFORD SCHOOL for Expats' (and others who may
be interested!) is part of the 'Travelling Days'
series. These pages contain both recent (2004)
and historic pictures and descriptions of one of
Britain's largest public schools, Bedford
School.
References are made throughout the pages to
other related sites in the 'Travelling Days'
series and direct links are often supplied to
them.
This writer is indepted to the authors of two
books, Michael De-la-Noy ('Bedford School: A
History' published in 1999), and M.E. Barlen,
M.P. Stambach, and D.P.C. Stileman ('Bedford
School and the Great Fire' published in 1984) who
have provided much of the information contained
herein.
Links to the topics covered in this site may be
seen on the black index bar at the top of each
page.
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ON 15 AUGUST 1552, during the short reign of
Edward VI, the 'Mayor, Bailiffs, Burgesses and
Commonalty' of the Town of Bedford were, by
letters patent, granted the right to
‘erect, make, found and establish a free
and perpetual Grammar school’ which was to
provide ‘education, institution and
instruction of Boys and Youths in Grammar,
Literature and Good Manners.’
The School’s roots, however, date from the
time of the Newnham Priory, dating from around
1166, until its suppression in 1540 when premises
for a school were acquired in Mill Street. A deed
of gift by Sir William Harper, (born in Bedford
in 1497) and Dame Alice, his wife, on 12 April
1566, to the Mayor Burgesses, etc. of Bedford was
to provide funds (later known as the
‘Harpur Trust’) in perpetuity for the
‘poore chylders ther to be nurryshed and
enformed’ and other categories of the poor
and needy. The source of the money was from the
buildings and land in Holborn acquired by Harper
he had left Bedford as a young man to seek his
fortune in London. In 1552 he had provided the
school in Mill Street with new premises in St
Paul’s Square and a house for the first
headmaster, Edmund Greene.
William was elected Lord Mayor of London in 1561
and knighted the following year. His coat of arms
and crest included the eagle which has remained
as a symbol presently used by the four Harpur
Trust schools. Sir William Harper died on 27
February 1574 and was buried at St Paul’s
Church in Bedford. (The name ‘Harper’
was, it has been said, changed to
‘Harpur’ in 1764 in the belief that
the new spelling looked much better when used in
the Latin inscription applied on a new facade for
the school building!)
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JAMES SURTEES PHILLPOTTS was appointed as the
twenty-second headmaster of Bedford Grammar
School in 1874 at the age of thirty-five. He was
to remain in that position until his retirement
in 1903. On 29 October 1891 a procession of
staff, pupils and Old Boys moved fom the old
school premises in St Paul’s Square to new
premises built on land purchased to the north of
St Peter’s Green.
The building in Victorian Gothic style (picture
above left, taken circa 1900) included a Great
Hall with galleries opening to classrooms on the
second and third floors. The ground floor
included the headmaster’s study, the Bell
Room, and common rooms for teachers and, later,
for monitors, as well as more classrooms to make
up a total of forty two in all. Access to the
upper floors was by narrow staircases situated at
each end of the building.
More details of the history of the
school are given in the 'Bedford in the 1940s'
which can be found by clicking
'here'.
This, the school’s main building, remained
in that form until the disastrous fire on 3 March
1979 (pictured above right) destroyed all but the
west end where the Bell Room and
headmaster’s study were situated. All that
remained of the rest was the brick shell which
was incorporated in the restored building. The
new premises were opened on 10 September
1981.
In the interim the school had functioned in
twenty two temporary huts erected near the
Science Block and by using the Howard and Craig
buildings on the school estate for teaching
purposes. The girls’ High School allowed
the school to use its hall for speech day and
prize giving and the hall at the Harpur Centre in
the town became an examination hall until the
school’s new recreation centre was
completed in 1980.
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THE MAIN building after the 1979 restoration.
Note that the original dormer windows have not
been replaced.
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SOUTH ELEVATION of the main building in 1897.
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VIEW of the main building from the south in
2003. A porch leading to the main foyer of the
school was designed and introduced during
reconstruction following the 1979 fire.
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