Giggleswick School

Giggleswick School

Giggleswick School is an independent co-educational boarding school in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England.

The Early School:

The current Giggleswick school was founded on half an acre of land leased by the Prior and Convent of Durham, to James Carr the Chantry Priest at the local Parish Church of St Alkelda, for the express purpose of enclosing it and building, at his own expense, one 'Gramar Scole'. By 1512 the school consisted of two small, irregular buildings, next to the local parish church. The school was run traditionally by the Chantry Priests until Edward VI dissolved the position. The school was saved, however, by the petition of the kings chaplain, John Nowell, and in 1553 it received its royal charter. This granted land to the school, and endowed it with the title: The Free Grammar School of King Edward the VI of Giggleswick. Some locals of a certain age still refer to Giggleswick as 'The Grammar School'. There is some evidence that there was a school on the same site from an earlier date. Giggleswick was one of only 27 schools listed in the Public Schools Yearbook of 1889, and certainly has claims to be one of the oldest public schools, although claims vary depending on the precise criteria used.

The Victorian Period

The school continued in its original location until 1867, when it moved slightly further out of the village, and up the hill to its present location. At this point, a major expansion of the school and its facilities began. New boarding accommodation was added, playing fields were laid out, and new classrooms were built. The only remaining part of the second school, the Covered Courtyard, was later converted into a shooting range, used by the school's Combined Cadet Force contingent and other Territorial Army units.

The School Chapel

In 1897, work began on the new school chapel, a gift from local land owner and school governor Walter Morrison. The eminent architect T.G. Jackson designed the building to Morrison's unusual specifications: a Gothic building with a dome, designed to fit into the surrounding landscape as naturally as possible. It was also Morrison's wish that the building should be completely fitted out and furnished inside, to allow for no unsympathetic alteration in the future. The interior of the chapel was filled with an astonishing array of expensive fixtures and fittings. The pews were made of imported cypress wood, the floors were covered in marble, and the organ was made by Henry Willis & Sons, one of the leading organ makers in the country at the time. The dome of the chapel was covered in copper, which developed a covering of a very distinctive green verdegris for many years, only reverting to its original bronze after major building restoration work began in the late 1990s. The interior of the dome was filled with mosaics depicting various angels playing musical instruments, and the four gospel writers at each corner of the base. The current altar furniture is made of sterling silver and Brazilian rosewood. It was presented to the school in memory of Sir Douglas Glover, an old boy of the school, and later a school governor.

The Modern School

In 1934, the school was enlarged again, by the addition of a prep school called Catteral Hall (ages 7&n;13), over the road from the main school buildings, a new boarding house was created from the Georgian Beck House in the village, and in 1966 another boarding house, called Morrison was opened. In the 1970s the school went co-educational, the first public school in the north of England, and for a long time the only public school, to do so. In the late 1990s a pre-preparatory school called Mill House (ages 3–7) was opened within the grounds of Catteral Hall, and more recent expansion at the school has seen the creation of a new library, dining hall, sports facilities and science laboratories, as well as the refurbishment of the boarding accommodation. Giggleswick is one of only 18 schools to possess a Royal Marine cadet force, which became affiliated with HMS Bulwark in the Autumn of 2004.

Boarding Houses

There are four boys' boarding houses:

• Morrison, named after Walter Morrison,
• Nowell, named after John Nowell,
• Paley, named after William Paley,
• Shute, named after Josias Shute.

The houses Nowell, Paley and Shute are all currently located in the main body of the school, while Morrison, the most recently added boarding house, was purposely built slightly further from the main school campus. The two girls' houses are:

• Carr, named after James Carr,
• Style, named after George Style

The 1927 Eclipse

The grounds of Giggleswick School (near the Chapel) were selected as the official observation post for the 1927 eclipse and thus Sir Frank Dyson, the Astronomer Royal, was blessed with a wonderful view of the flaming corona of the sun through the whole 23 seconds of its total eclipse.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni, who are known as Old Giggleswickians, include:

• General Sir James Birch G.B.E. K.C.M.G., C.B. (1865–1939), Soldier. ADC to The King.
• Lewis Booth (1909–1942), England Rugby International
• James Bowden (1931–2002), England and Great Britain Rugby League International
• Major General Sir Duncan Cumming K.B.E., C.B.E., O.B.E. (1903–1979), England Rugby International, Governor of Kordojan Province, Sudan
• Anthony Daniels (1946– ), Star Wars actor
• Keith Duckworth O.B.E. (1933–2005), Engineer, joint founder of Cosworth Engineering
• Owen Francis C.B. (1913–2005), Under-Secretary for Fuel & Power, later Chairman London Electricity Board (72-76)
• Sir Douglas Glover T.D.(1908–1982), Conservative M.P.
• Douglas Hacking,O.B.E., P.C., D.L. 1st Lord Hacking (1884–1950), Conservative M.P.
• Sir James Hacking (1871–??), Businessman, Mayor of Bury
• Sir John Hare (1844–1921), Actor & Manager of the Garrick Theatre
• John Saul Howson (1815–1885), Theologian.
• Thomas Kidd (1770–1850), Classical scholar.
• John King (1883–1916), England Rugby International (12 caps)
• John Langhorne (1836–1911), Educationalist, headmaster of The King's School, Rochester
• Maurice Latey O.B.E. (1915–1991), Senior BBC Journalist
• Arnold Leese (1877–1956), British fascist
• Robert Marshall D.S.C. (1917–1945), England Rugby International, Naval Officer
• Henry Maudsley C.M.G., C.B.E., K.C.M.G. (1835–1918 ) Founder of the Maudsley Hospital
• O. S. Nock (1904–1994), Railway historian.
• Joseph Mycock (1914–2004), England Rugby Captain, also Captain of Lancs., Sale and Harlequins
• Sir George Ogden O.B.E., C.B.E. (1914–1983), First Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Metropolitan Council
• William Paley (1743–1805), Theologian.
• Thomas Procter (1753–1794), Painter & Sculptor
• Nigel Roebuck (1946– ) Motor racing journalist
• Charles Rycroft (businessman) (1901 - 1998) Millionaire & Philanphropist
• Lt-Col Harry Schofield V.C. (1865–-?) Soldier.
• Norman Sharpe O.B.E. Businessman & School Benefactor
• Tom Skeffington-Lodge (1905–1994) Former Labour M.P.
• John Sykes (1956–) Conservative M.P. for Scarborough 1992-97
• Sir Matthew Thompson Bt. (1820–1891) Liberal M.P., Mayor of Bradford, Chairman of The Midland Railway etc.
• Richard Whiteley, (1943–2005) Countdown presenter
• Sir Anthony Wilson, (1928–) Head of the Government Accountancy Service, Chief Accounting Adviser to HM Treasury
• Gary Wolstenholme M.B.E., Leading amateur golfer

Notable Former Masters

Russell Harty, a BBC2 chat show host in the 1980s from Blackburn, taught English at the school, notably to Richard Whiteley. Harty and Whiteley entered television at the same time in the late 1960s. John Langhorne was master there in the nineteenth century when it was known by its full title.

External links

• School website
• Official OG Club website
• Short history
• Organ reference

Coordinates: 54°4′20.97″N, 2°17′38.20″W