The Lost Schools of Old Kettering

History is all around us, the past leaves footprints everywhere.

Sometimes a footprint is a hole in the ground, or a space where something once was. There’s a number of school buildings in Kettering which have disappeared over the years, for various reasons…

Types of Schools + A Timeline of the Schooling System

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1530s onwards – Parish Instruction

Parish priests or curates were expected to teach boys the catechism and basic literacy.

1570s – Grammar Schools

Endowed schools (like Kettering Grammar School, founded 1577) taught Latin and later broader subjects, usually for boys 11+.

Early 1700s – Charity Schools

Small churchor society-funded schools gave poor children free lessons in reading, writing, religion, and (for girls) sewing.

1808 – British Schools

Set up by Non-Conformists, open to children of all denominations. Often used the monitorial system (older pupils helping to teach).

1811 – National Schools

These schools were run by the Church of England, through the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. This was founded in 1811, partly is response to the foundation of British Schools – the Church of England didn’t want religious influence over the poor to slip out of its hands.

1870 – School Boards

The Elementary Education Act of 1870 set up elected School Boards in towns and cities. These boards could build new schools wherever church schools (National or British) were not enough. The schools they ran were called Board Schools.

They gave basic education in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and were open to all children, no matter what church (or chapel) their family attended.

Kettering School Board was formed in 1890.

1870 – Elementary Schools

“Elementary Schools” was an umbrella term for Board, British, and National Schools.

Late 1800s–Early 1900s – High Schools

Often for girls, but sometimes for boys; taught broader subjects and prepared older pupils (11–16/18) for jobs or further study. They were often functionally equivalent to Grammar Schools.

1902 Education Act

This Act abolished School Boards, and brought all schools (Board, National, British, and others) under local authority control for funding and inspection.

National Schools continued but were now classed as “provided” (Council) or “non-provided” (Voluntary Aided) schools.

Many still exist today as Church of England Voluntary Aided or Voluntary Controlled primary schools.

1944 – Grammar Schools and the 11-plus

The Butler Act (1944) reorganised education into three types: Grammar, Technical, and Secondary Modern. To decide who went where, children sat the 11-plus exam at age 11.

Grammar Schools became selective: only children who passed were allowed to attend, often with a path to university.

This replaced the older mix of local entry tests, scholarships, or fee-paying places.

1944 – Secondary Modern Schools

For most children after the 11-plus exam. Focused on practical skills and general education until school-leaving age.

1944 – Technical Schools

Technical Schools were supposed to give children a practical and scientific education, preparing them for jobs in engineering, building, design, or applied science.

They often taught subjects like metalwork, mechanics, and technical drawing at a higher level than Secondary Moderns.

1960s onwards – Comprehensive Schools

Brought all pupils together in one school, without the 11-plus, teaching a wide range of subjects up to 16 or 18.

Mixed, Boys, and Girls

There was a time that Junior and Senior Schools were expected to be single sex – as it sounds, Mixed would denote a school which was for both.

Kettering Grammar School

Gold Street

1856 – 1964

A photograph of the Grammar School. — Photo from Tony Smith’s Kettering.

Kettering Grammar School was founded in 1577.

A sketch of the original Grammar School building.

The original building stood until it was almost falling down, and was rebuilt in 1856.

The school moved into the more spacious and modern building on Bowling Green Road in 1913.

The original building lived on, first as the home and surgery of a doctor, and was then the council’s surveying department.

It was demolished without warning or consultation in 1964, to make room for shops.

Local historian and heritage campaigner Tony Ireson had been a prominent local voice calling for the building to be preserved. Carrying out the demolition on a Sunday is widely seen as an under-handed move.

Kettering Grammar School

Kettering Boys’ School

Windmill Avenue

1962 – 2007

This was Kettering Grammar School‘s third home – they had spent 1913 – 1962 in the building that now houses the council offices on Bowling Green Road.

Both moves were prompted by the need for more spacious and modern schooling facilities.

Kettering Grammar School absorbed Stamford Road School in 1976, together becoming a comprehensive called Kettering Boys’ School.

The school’s long and storied life ended in 1993, and the site was taken over by Tresham College.

The building was demolished in 2007 to make way for Tresham Institute‘s new building.

The centuries-long legacy of the school lives on the form of a charity.

The Kettering Old Grammar School Foundation currently provides funding for local educational causes. It was formed in 1911, to manage the administration of the school and its properties.

The Foundation currently provides funding for local education causes. It was formed in 1911, originally to manage the administration of the school and its properties.

According to a Map of Kettering (1821) and its reference key, these are the properties which belonged to the school.

The Education Act (1944) meant that all schools would fall under the control of their local authority. This led to a long legal battle, where the council tried to seize all of the buildings which belonged to the Grammar School.

The Foundation successfully fought of these attempts in 1955, and the properties were able to stay within the charity.

North End Infants School

St Andrew’s Infant School

Northall Street

1859 – 1975

Originally North End Infant School, it later became St Andrew’s Infant School.

The building was demolished for road-widening.

Boys’ National School

The Parish Church Mixed School

Horsemarket

1876 – 1970

When the land to build this school was allocated, the Kettering Vestry was planning for it to be a Mixed School. But it opened as a Boys’ School, and stayed that way until 1927 when it absorbed the Girls’ School on Market Hill.

The Parish Church Mixed School closed in 1965 when it moved to its new location on the Headlands, opening as Bishop Stopford School.

The building on the Horsemarket was demolished in 1970.

St Andrew’s Mixed School

St Andrew’s Street

1886 – 1964

This school was demolished in 1964.

St Mary’s School (Original Building)

Fuller Street

1899 – 1979

St Mary’s School opened with its original building in 1899.

By the mid 1970s, the building was showing signs of structural failure. It had to be closed and rebuilt, opening with the current building in 1979.