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…
Kettering Grammar School
Gold Street, First Building
1577 to 1856
Kettering Grammar School was founded in 1577, though it had previously existed in a different form.
Gold Street, Second Building
1856 to 1964
The Elizathan building stood until it was almost falling down, and was rebuilt in 1856. The school remained here until 1913, when it moved into a new building on Bowling Green Road.
The school building on Gold Street was used for offices for a while, until it was demolished by the council 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 morning is widely seen as an under-handed move.
Windmill Avenue
1962 – 1993
- Became Kettering Boys’ School in the 1970s.
- Closed in 1993.
- Building became the Windmill Avenue Campus of Tresham College in 1994.
- Demolished for a new college building in 2007.
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.
As of 1821, the school owned 17 properties in Kettering.
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 property which belonged to the charity.
The Foundation successfully fought off these attempts in 1955, and the properties were able to stay within the charity.
North End Infants School
later
St Andrew’s Infants School
- When was it?
- 1859 to 1975.
- Where was it?
- Northall Street.
- Why was it demolished?
- Road widening.
- What is there now?
- Iceland carpark.
Boys’ National School
later
The Parish Church Mixed School
- When was it?
- 1876 to 1970.
- Where was it?
- Horsemarket.
- Why was it demolished?
- Space clearance.
- What is there now?
- Bus interchange.
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.
St Andrew’s Mixed School
St Andrew’s Street
- When was it?
- 1886 to 1964.
- Where was it?
- St Andrew’s Street Street.
- What is there now?
- Row of shops and a carpark.
St Mary’s School (Original Building)
- When was it?
- 1899 to 1979.
- Where was it?
- Fuller Street.
- Why was it demolished?
- The building was showing signs of structural failure.
- What is there now?
- The current St Mary’s School, in its replacement building.
Hitchman’s Prep School
Victoria Hall, Gold Street
- When was it?
- 1888 to 1936.
- Where was it?
- Gold Street.
- Why was it demolished?
- Town modernisation.
- What is there now?
- Boots, in the Newland Centre.
This was a private school. It shared the building with a small theatre, a stationery store, and a library.
• My Books • More Local History •
Sources
Bull, F.W. (1891) History of Kettering.
Bull, F.W. (1908) Kettering Charities.
Kettering High School Old Girls’ Association (2025) History.
Mercer, R. (2006) Chairman’s Letter, Kettering Civic Society.
Peyton, S.A. (1933) Kettering Vestry Minutes 1797-1853
Slough, B. (1995) Cytringanian Farewell: Kettering Grammar/Boys’ School.
Jack Preston 