Clitheroe Royal Grammar School
Created | Updated Sep 3, 2003
Address: York Street, Clitheroe, Lancashire.
CRGS was founded in 1554 by William and Mary, for the free education of boys. It continued only admitting boys until the 1970's, keeping both sexes firmly apart until the late 1970’s/early 1980’s, when it finally went fully co-ed. It is one of the largest State Grammar Schools in England.
Nowadays the school occupies two sites. The main school, housing secondary school pupils (11 – 16 years) sits on Chatburn Road, just outside the town centre. This was originally the girls’ school, and still bears the list of Head Girls up until the schools merged. Pupils of the lower school must pass the 11-plus exam to gain entry (CRGS is not a fee-paying school), which has helped to uphold the school’s reputation for academic excellence. This, coupled with a frankly ridiculous looking royal blue blazer as part of the uniform, has made CRGS pupils stand out from other schools in the area.
CRGS has the largest all A-level sixth form in the country, housing over 500 pupils in the overcrowded building on York Street. The building was erected in the 19th century, and has a few unique features. One is the bell tower, which strangely enough houses no bell. The other interesting feature of the sixth form building is the library, which used to be the main assembly hall. In here are the lists of the Old Boys who died in every war since the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Honoratorum Nomina, which covers the entire back wall in gold writing. What this is is a mystery to existing pupils, so if anyone can shed light on why there is a list of names of boys dating from the middle of the 18th century every year right up to 1983, post your answer below. The uniform worn by sixth formers is thankfully a lot more understated and less ludicrous than that of the lower school.
Many of the teachers of CRGS have been there for 20 or more years, and so there is a real sense of tradition and community. However, there are problems between staff and students over issues such as uniform (why should 17 year olds be made to wear a uniform? Surely a dress code would be far less patronising) and conduct. The school has one or two odd traditions, such as Commemoration Day, when the whole school assembles in the parish church to hear the school prayer and a service on the school charter (basically its founding and what William and Mary intended it should do). The staff wear academic robes for this service and the pupils line the streets in single file for a procession back to the school. All this takes place once a year.
The staff are incredibly dedicated, and the pupils are intelligent and hard-working. The intake is very much middle class children, whose parents own two cars and a dog, with a sister or brother who will follow them to CRGS. This tends to put a few people off applying, but it really is a welcoming place. The only thing is that the staff still tend to treat the sixth form students like children.
CRGS was founded in 1554 by William and Mary, for the free education of boys. It continued only admitting boys until the 1970's, keeping both sexes firmly apart until the late 1970’s/early 1980’s, when it finally went fully co-ed. It is one of the largest State Grammar Schools in England.
Nowadays the school occupies two sites. The main school, housing secondary school pupils (11 – 16 years) sits on Chatburn Road, just outside the town centre. This was originally the girls’ school, and still bears the list of Head Girls up until the schools merged. Pupils of the lower school must pass the 11-plus exam to gain entry (CRGS is not a fee-paying school), which has helped to uphold the school’s reputation for academic excellence. This, coupled with a frankly ridiculous looking royal blue blazer as part of the uniform, has made CRGS pupils stand out from other schools in the area.
CRGS has the largest all A-level sixth form in the country, housing over 500 pupils in the overcrowded building on York Street. The building was erected in the 19th century, and has a few unique features. One is the bell tower, which strangely enough houses no bell. The other interesting feature of the sixth form building is the library, which used to be the main assembly hall. In here are the lists of the Old Boys who died in every war since the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Honoratorum Nomina, which covers the entire back wall in gold writing. What this is is a mystery to existing pupils, so if anyone can shed light on why there is a list of names of boys dating from the middle of the 18th century every year right up to 1983, post your answer below. The uniform worn by sixth formers is thankfully a lot more understated and less ludicrous than that of the lower school.
Many of the teachers of CRGS have been there for 20 or more years, and so there is a real sense of tradition and community. However, there are problems between staff and students over issues such as uniform (why should 17 year olds be made to wear a uniform? Surely a dress code would be far less patronising) and conduct. The school has one or two odd traditions, such as Commemoration Day, when the whole school assembles in the parish church to hear the school prayer and a service on the school charter (basically its founding and what William and Mary intended it should do). The staff wear academic robes for this service and the pupils line the streets in single file for a procession back to the school. All this takes place once a year.
The staff are incredibly dedicated, and the pupils are intelligent and hard-working. The intake is very much middle class children, whose parents own two cars and a dog, with a sister or brother who will follow them to CRGS. This tends to put a few people off applying, but it really is a welcoming place. The only thing is that the staff still tend to treat the sixth form students like children.
