School History
St Batholomew’s School was founded in 1466 from the legacy of Henry Wormestall who set aside £12 2s 4d annually for “teching gramar scole of the whiche that toune hath grete nede”. St. Bartholomew’s is consequently considered one of the oldest schools in the UK.
1466
1466
Wormestall’s Grammar School
The story begins with the 1466 will of Henry Wormestall, a wealthy cloth merchant, who endowed a chantry chapel and a priest to pray for his immortal soul. It is likely that the chantry priest also acted as a schoolmaster who would have taught his pupils in St Nicolas Church. Wormestall’s name reappears in the records from 1548 when it is recorded that the income from Wormestall’s bequest was being used to pay for a schoolmaster.
1551
St Bartholomew’s Grammar School
St Bartholomew’s Grammar School. Lessons were held in the Litten Chapel and the former prior’s lodgings were handed over to provide accommodation for the schoolmaster.
1788
Francis Baily
Francis Baily, English astronomer and founding member and president of the Royal Astronomical Society, is a pupil at the school.
1848
1848
After a charity commissioners’ report criticised the management of the Grammar School, changes were brought about resulting in a new building on the Litten site. This provided places for 20 free scholars and 40 fee paying boys to be taught Classics, English Grammar, Mathematics, Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and ‘useful learning’. A post of schoolmaster was advertised in the local and national press.
1885
St Bartholomew’s Grammar School
Under the leadership of Rev. J Atkins (1876-1902) new school buildings were opened in Enborne Road, providing accommodation for 130 day boys and 20 boarders.
1902
1902
Sharwood Smith became headmaster and introduced many changes and established traditions that remain to this day. The school became a County Grammar School and in 1903 the St Bartholomew’s badge and school motto of ‘Ad Lucem’ were chosen.
1917
45 Old Boys of the school lost their lives during the First World War. It was decided to Rename the Houses after four former students who died serving in the forces and at Speech Day in July 1919 Mr Sharwood Smith (headmaster) paid tribute to Curnock, Davis, Evers and Patterson. A memorial to them was unveiled in 1921. The memorial can be found today in our school reception area. Approaching the entrance of our school you will also see a quotation from T S Eliot’s Four Quartets which marks the entrance to our Heritage Garden – ‘Time present and time past, Are both perhaps present in time future, And time future contained in time past.’. The garden is important to our school community and contains four memorial stones to Curnock, Davis, Evers and Patterson. On Remembrance Day each year a wreath of poppies is laid on each stone.
1972
1972
The quincentenary of the school’s foundation in 1466 was marked six years later by a visit from Queen Elizabeth II who was accompanied by Margaret Thatcher, the then Secretary of State for Education.
1975
St Bartholomew’s Grammar School joins with its near neighbour, Newbury County Girls’ Grammar School to form an 11-18 coeducational, comprehensive school which was to continue the name of St Bartholomew’s. The boys’ site would be called Wormestall in honour of the school’s founder and the girls’ site was to be known as Luker, after Miss Jane Luker, the Girls’ School’s first headmistress. The new school colours mixed the green of St Bartholomew’s and the purple of the Girls’ School. Many elements of the two schools continued into the new, especially the values of service and community. The Girls’ School Groups were absorbed into the Boys’ School Houses and this became the structure for pastoral care, with form tutors working under the leadership of House Heads. House competitions became a vital feature of school life, as did House fundraising for charities. These continue to be an important part of school life today.
1980
1980
The school moved into the era of computing and the school proudly reported the acquisition of its first micro computer. By 1982, a mainframe computer with 46 megabyte capacity had been installed!
1985
The school received a visit from Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
1993
The school received a second visit from HM Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince Philip. Assistant Headteacher, Miss Thorne, who was a student at St Bart’s in 1993 when the Queen visited, recalls “It was a privilege to be selected to be one of the students to take part in the Lacrosse display in the old sports hall. The day was very exciting and it was an amazing experience to see the Queen in real life and in our school.”
2010
2010
St. Bartholomew’s School was chosen by West Berkshire Council to benefit from a multi-million pound investment oof central government funding for redevelopment in 2008. The school moved into its new accommodation at the beginning of November 2010. The building reflects the importance of the House system, with House blocks, sited around a covered outdoor Hub space for whole school assemblies and events.
2011
The new school buildings were formally opened by HRH the Countess of Wessex. St. Bartholomew’s School gained Academy status; this was a natural extension of the school having been Grant Maintained and having enjoyed Foundation status previously. Becoming an academy has helped the school to continue to offer the best possible provision to meet students’ needs.
2016
On Founder’s Day, Bartholomew’s School celebrated its 550th anniversary. The school marked this significant anniversary with a variety of events and activities, including a fanfare composed and arranged by students, a celebration cake designed and made by Food Technology students, a special anniversary issue of BartholoNews and a sapling yew tree planted in the Heritage Garden. Alongside staff, all students in Years 7–10, came together to form a giant 550 for a special aerial photograph.
