Scorton Grammar School

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scorton Grammar School was located in Scorton village, in Richmondshire North Yorkshire.

It was founded by Leonard Robinson who bequeathed money, land and his house so that someone should "teach school in the town of Scorton"

The school's latin motto was Sola in Deo Salus means "Safety in God alone". The school crest was the roebuck (the family crest of the the founder).

The school was run as a private boys boarding school with day students from nearby villages until the decision was made to accept female pupils from 1989 in order to raise numbers at the school.

During the 1991 summer holidays, chairman of the governors John Bell announced, that the school was no longer viable with only 100 pupils. The school was a charitable trust but it was heavily indebted and the lack of new admissions meant that it would be impossible to continue operating and to balance the books.

Other small independent schools in the area have also closed over recent years, these include the Assumption Convent in Richmond in 1993 and the Great Ayton Friends' School in 1997.

[edit] List of Headmasters

• John Noble was its first headmaster from 1720.

• Charles Illman, was headmaster from 1959-1984,

• Martin Folliot was headmaster from 1984-1989,

• Dennis Hart was headmaster from 1989 until closure in 1991.

[edit] Alumni

• John Leonard Wilson (1897-1970)

He was Bishop of Singapore from 1941-1949, his ministrations at the Japanese PoW camp at Changi prison featured in a film called Singapore Story.

He was Bishop of Birmingham from 1953-1969.

[edit] Redevelopment of the site

After closure the four acre site was bought by a local builder named Randall Orchard. The main building was renovated and converted into flats, five large houses were built and an estate of more than 80 smaller homes were built on the grounds.