School History
It was long believed to be William Ermysted who founded the school some time before his death in 1558 but research in 1948 revealed an earlier history, dating back to at least 1492 and possibly earlier to 1468. So William Ermysted was in fact the school’s second benefactor, the original founder being Peter Toller.
Peter Toller
Some time before his death in 1492, Peter Toller, who was then rector of Linton-in-Craven and Dean of Craven, founded in Skipton Parish Church the Chantry of Saint Nicholas, to which he attached a Free Grammar School to educate the children of the town. In 1492 according to his will, the Chantry School received all his lands and tenements in Skipton, Addingham, Eastby, Draughton and Hellifield, together with a sum of money to pay for ornaments and repairs. When Henry VIII initiated his reformation of the church, the Chantry of Saint Nicholas was dissolved and its lands appropriated by the Crown, although the revenues of the school were continued.
William Ermysted
William Ermysted had been a prominent figure in Henry VIII’s London, as Canon of St Paul’s, “clerk of the King’s Chancery” and Master of the Temple. On the 1st of September 1548 William Ermysted’s re-foundation deeds for the Chantry School were executed and on 12th December 1551 the deeds were enrolled on the Close Rolls. Essentially these documents recorded the lands which he wished to present to the School in order that it be supported in the future and also advised a system of management, with a teaching regime according to the majority of classically based grammar schools of the time.
William also endowed the school with the Chapel of St. James, late of the Knights Hospitaler of St. John, purchased from Henry, Earl of Cumberland in which to house it. The building survives to this day at the bottom of Shortbank Road and current houses an electricity substation.
William and Sylvester Petyt
Between their respective births in 1637 and 1640, and their deaths in 1707 and 1719 William and Sylvester Petyt both played important roles in the development of the school.
On his death in 1707 William Petyt bequeathed a sum of £200 towards the maintenance of Scholars of Christ’s College, Cambridge for those students who had previously been Scholars of the Free Grammar School of Skipton-in-Craven. In addition he gave £50 to the School, which was subsequently used to purchase books for poor scholars.
When William’s brother Sylvester, also a former Scholar of Ermysted’s, died in 1719 he left to the School the huge sum of £30,000 to form the Petyt Trust. This still provides for various educational functions, including some Speech Day prizes, although the bulk of the capital was used in the nineteenth century to endow Skipton Girls’ High School. Sylvester also delivered to Skipton the Petyt Library comprising of books from his own collection as well as from those of his brother and friends.
Edward Hartley
The legacy of the School’s founding fathers and benefactors survives in the three School Houses of Toller, Ermysted and Petyt but the fourth House, Hartley, takes its name from the School’s Headmaster during the period 1876 to 1907. Under Edward Thomson Hartley, Ermysted’s moved from the Chapel bequeathed to it by Ermysted to its present Gargrave Road site. Originally thirteen boys made the move in 1877, but under Hartley’s dynamic leadership the School flourished and added to the original School House the Gym and Pool, the Science Department, Staff Study, and the Craft Workshops.
“Ermysted’s was the right choice for our boys, who are proud to be a part of traditions stretching back over 500 years.
Parent
The seventh oldest state school in Britain.
The foundation of our school
Ermysted’s Grammar School can trace its origins to the last decade of the 15th century, possibly 1476 but certainly before 1492 as a Chantry School founded by Peter Toller adjoining Skipton Parish Church.
It was refounded after the Dissolution in the building next to the Cross Keys public house at the bottom of Shortbank Road in 1548 by William Ermysted and it moved to its present site in 1876. The initial Foundation for the School has been maintained through the centuries and is now managed as a registered charity by the Foundation Governors.
Because of the charitable status of the Foundation, Ermysted’s is classed as a Voluntary Aided (VA) school. As a Voluntary Aided school, Ermysted’s has to provide 10% of any cost for new buildings, renovations and maintenance of existing buildings. Without the Foundation’s contribution, further development and refurbishment simply cannot take place.
The main 1876 building in which the School primarily operates is classified as listed which, in effect, gives the whole site listed status. The advantage is VAT exemption on most development but the disadvantage is that no development can take place without Listed Building Consent. Furthermore, because the land and property belong to the Foundation and not the Local Authority, all planning applications must go to Craven District Council. In addition, the site is registered locally as a conservation area which imposes further restrictions. All development, therefore, has to be planned to be in keeping with the original design and appearance of the School which itself brings its own costs.
Over the past 20 years, the School has developed dramatically to accommodate the growth of pupil numbers from approximately 600 to the present role of over 800. Major projects include the building of two new science labs, conversion of the old gym into IT suites and RE rooms, conversion of the old baths into the Music Centre, construction of the Refectory and the Food Technology Lab, construction of the CDT/English block, the Sixth Form Centre, in addition to the refurbishment of existing laboratories and teaching rooms. The Foundation’s contribution to this expenditure has amounted to over £500,000.
In addition to the capital expense of maintaining and developing the site, the Foundation also contributes to the costs of educational trips, visits, travel to sports fixtures, and entry fees to competitions.
It is easy to see why the Foundation needs constant replenishment.
That replenishment is provided primarily by donations from pupils’ families. With over 800 boys on roll, if the majority of families commit to a regular contribution, gift aided to the School, the Foundation will be provided with an income stream sufficient to ensure the prosperity of the School into the future.
Should you wish to donate, a banker’s order and gift-aid declaration form can be downloaded here – Enrichment Fund Donation Form.
However large or small, every donation is gratefully received.
Ermysted’s in the 20th century
Founders’ Day is held annually in the Autumn Term with a service at the Holy Trinity Church in Skipton commemorating the foundation of the School over five hundred years ago.
At Ermysted’s
532
years
Established circa 1492
825
pupils
on roll
59
weekly
enrichment activities
