The Forgotten History of Kettering Grammar School

The story of Kettering Grammar School, as it is usually told, starts in 1577. This is when Queen Elizabeth I granted the lands for the use of funding the school, and signed its royal decree.

But its true origin story is much older…

The Original School

In Kettering through the middle ages, like in many towns, education was handled by the church.

In his chambers above the northern end of the Parish Church, or the Church of Saint Peter & Saint Paul, it seems that the priest ran a song school.

Like their title suggests, song schools taught boys in the choir how to sing. But they also provided a basic grammatical education. This would allow them to read what they would be singing, and also to go on to administrative roles within the church, or even work towards becoming priests themselves.

The priest was supported by a chantry. These were endowments used to fund the church and its activities. The money was provided by properties and rents throughout the town.

The Reformation

The English Reformation meant big changes to the country and its churches. Part of this was The Chantries Act 1547.

This law authorised the Crown to seize lands and goods belonging to churches and their chantries. In order to seize these lands, investigations were carried out into individual churches across the kingdom.

During the reign of Edward VI, it was the Parish Church’s time to be investigated. But due to a legal loophole, this chantry was immune to seizure from the crown. The church and the rest of its properties were taken from the ownership of the Abbey of Peterborough,

The building itself was victim to Iconoclasm, the widespread destruction or removal of religious images, statues, and art deemed idolatrous by reformers. For example, the arches above the door stood empty for centuries, as their small statues had been destroyed. The ones which now live there were made by local author JL Carr.

Three statues over the doorway to Kettering Parish Church.

The Chantry

While the investigation under Edward VI didn’t specify what the chantry was for, a later one did.

In 1681, a commission into charitable causes had a look at Kettering Grammar School, and stated that a free school had been in Kettering since “the memory of man is not to the contrary.”

The school established by Elizabeth I would have been in operation for longer than living memory by that point. But it is unlikely to be the one referred to in the commission. The school’s establishment would have been securely documented, and the depth of the commission would have used specifics where available.

The Grammar School