Bury Grammar School
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Bury Grammar School is an independent grammar school in the town of Bury in the English county of Lancashire (now Greater Manchester), that has existed since c.1570. The current boys' head master is the Reverend Steven Harvey MA. The previous headmaster, Keith Richards MA, retired after sixteen years of headmastership on April 7, 2006. The girls' head mistress is Roberta "Bobby" Georghiou.
Bury Grammar School celebrates its Founders' Day on the first Friday after May 6. On the Friday after this date, a procession leads through the streets of Bury to the Parish Church, led by the CCF. After a service, the students are then given a half-day holiday. It is often said that the purpose of Founder's day is to cause the most disruption to the people of Bury but in reality the day is very important to staff and students and crowds of workers and shoppers line the route of the procession. Rain is an almost unheard of phenomenon on Founder's day. Recently there has been some hostility to the traffic disruption caused from local authorities, however as the CCF is affiliated to the Lancashire Fusiliers who have the freedom of Bury the tradition is protected.
Although originally just a boys' school, a new boy's school building was built opposite the old building and, once complete, the old building was re-opened as a girls' school. With the exception of drama, affairs between the two schools are rare although increasingly encouraged. The schools recently announced their intention to build a joint sixth form centre.
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[edit] The crest
The school's crest dates from c.1840, and depicts a swan holding a key in its beak, under which is the motto: Sanctas Clavis Fores Aperit (Latin for "the key opens the sacred doors"). Both are largely considered to have been created by Rev. Henry Crewe Boutflower, a former headmaster. The swan is from the device of John, Duke of Berry, who may have been an ancestor of one of the founders, Henry Bury (but was more likely chosen due to the similar names). The key is considered to be a pun on the name of Roger Kay, another founder. However, there is an illumination from the Très Riches Heures, commissioned by the Duke, in which he is standing near a swan at the gates of heaven, and receiving the key from St. Peter, and this may have provided inspiration. This would also serve to explain the somewhat cryptic motto, which has also been interpreted as referring to doors leading to knowledge.
A new logo for the Boys' School was launched in October 2006, to be used in conjunction with the crest.
[edit] Houses
The boys' school has four houses, whose colours are reflected in the colour of the badge and the stripes of the tie on the school uniforms. Three were originally created in 1905 to try and introduce some of the camaraderie of boarding school into the sports of a day school. The three houses were:
- Hulme (pronounced hyoom), named after William Hulme, architect of Manchester. Colour: sky blue.
- Kay, named after the Reverend Roger Kay, founder of Bury Grammar School, after whom the hall (now in the girls school) is named. Colour: green.
- Derby, named after the Earl of Derby. Colour: yellow.
Another house was introduced in 1919:
- Howlett, named after a former headmaster. Colour: red.
House selection is random; however, a boy's family can request that he be placed into a certain house before he starts the school. Often, families will all be in the same house. House does not affect classes; the only time any house distinction is made is during either one of the various House competitions, in many areas such as sport and music. No houses exist in the girls' school; the girls' uniforms resemble those of boys in Hulme in terms of colour.
[edit] Notable teachers
Henry Dunster (1609-1659), first president of Harvard College, a native of Bury, was master of the school prior to his emigration to Massachusetts in 1640.
[edit] Notable Old Boys and Girls
- Henry Pendlebury (1626–1695), Presbyterian minister
- Richard Wroe (1641–1718), Warden of Manchester College, 1684–1718
- Sir Robert Peel (1788–1850), Prime Minister, 1834–1835, 1841–1846 (although he more famously attended Harrow, he is now believed to have briefly attended Bury)
- Sir John Holker (1828–1882), Attorney-General, 1875–1880
- Cecil Cronshaw (1889–1961), industrial chemist and dye expert
- Sir Malcolm Knox (1900–1980), philosopher and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, 1953–1966
- Sir John Charnley (1911–1982), orthopaedic surgeon
- Sir David Trippier (born 1946), politician
- David Chaytor (born 1949), politician
- Victoria Wood (born 1953), comedienne
- Alistair Burt (born 1955), politician
- Simon Kelner (born 1957), editor-in-chief of The Independent
- Paul Kenyon (born c.1967), broadcaster
- Victoria Derbyshire (born 1968), broadcaster
- Amy Nuttall (born 1982), actress and singer
[edit] References
- Fallows, I.B., Bury Grammar School: A History
