The best examples of the 16thC are Lord Williams’s Almshouses & his Grammar School. The Almshouses were apparently built after 1550 when Lord Williams succeeded to the Chantry Property & before his death in 1559. They replaced the original Quatremain Hospital which Leland said stood close by the Church & which Camden, writing in 1586, said no longer existed. Richard Quartremain, a wealthy Merchant of North Weston in the parish of Thame, & his wife Sibyl, founded the Chantry or Guild of St Christopher in 1447. This included an Almshouse or ‘Hospital’ for 6-“poor men”. Rent for the Almshouse was provided from a Farm in Long Crendon & certain ‘divers Tenements’ in Thame. Payments included 6d. a week to each of the 5-poor men & 1-woman, with an additional 1d a week for bread for each, and, a sum of 5s a year for their Smocks and 22s-1d on the repair of the Almshouses. In 1548, during the Reformation, the Chantry was dissolved & by 1550 Ownership had passed to Sir John Williams. It is believed that the current Building (now used as Private Dwellings) was built shortly after this Date, replacing the original ‘Hospital’ Building which stood close by, next to the Church. The present Building (now partly Private Cottages & partly Store-rooms) is a picturesque Range of Timber-framed, 2-Storeyed Cottages set at right-angles to the High Street. The Top-Storey Oversails & is supported on carved brackets. There is a Central Angular Bay on each Floor. There were once 6-Cottages of 2-Rooms each. Externally except for some 19thC windows they have been little altered. Buckler’s Drawing of 1821 shows them when they were still 6-Almshouses.
The Property was vested with the Warden of New College, Oxford in 1575 (together with the Grammar School), and the Headmaster of the School acted as Secretary & Housekeeper to the Almshouses. The 5-Almsmen and 1-Almswoman were provided with a Black ‘Frieze’ Wool Gown each year, at ‘Allhollentide‘ (Oct 31st) & at Christmas every 4th-yr, a Red ‘Frieze’ Wool gown for Sunday Best, complete with Silver badge worn on the left Arm bearing the Arms of Lord Williams. The 5-men & 1-woman were chosen by Lord Norreys or his Heirs (later the Earls of Abingdon). Unless prevented by Infirmity, they were expected to attend the Parish Church for Morning & Evening Service Daily & on Sundays & Festivals to sit in the Chancel around Lord Williams‘ Tomb. The oldest Almsman was paid an extra 4s a year for cleaning the Watercourse between the Almshouse & the Privy at the Corner of the School Orchard. The Almswoman was expected to Nurse the Infirm. By the mid-17thC, the weekly payment to each Recipient had risen to 2s-5d.
In the early 19thC, the Almshouses had developed a reputation for drunkenness & immorality (in flagrant abuse of the Statutes), allegedly encouraged by the Occupants of the Houses on the other side of Church Row. This had apparently improved by 1860, but at which time the condition of the Almshouse was stated to be very poor. With the demise of the School in the early-1870s, the Almshouses were Sold by the Endowed School Commission, & the Income used to provide a yearly allowance of £33-6s-8d. to each of the Almspeople, in lieu of the former Allowances & Residence. After its sale, the Building has been used as Store Rooms, Tea Rooms & now as Private Dwellings.
A Brass Memorial of Edward Harris, Fellow of New College & the 1st Head Master of Thame Grammar School. Habited in an University Gown, with Braid on the long Sleeves, he is kneeling facing Eastwards, with joined hands. The Figure is well Designed & the head fine. He wears mustachios & a pointed Beard. Round his neck is a small Ruff.
Besides Edward Harris & Timothy Tripp Lee (d.1840) the following Headmasters of the Grammar School are Commemorated in the Church: Richard Boucher (d.1627), by a Monument in the Chancel; Thomas Middleton (d.1694); & the Rev Alfred Edward Shaw (d.1921).
Headmaster of the Grammar School, William Burte (1631-47)
The Grammar School, once used by Pursers as Offices & Store-rooms, was Built in 1569. The School was Founded by Lord Williams of Thame who upon his death on 14th October, 1559, Bequeathed in his Will dated 18th March 1559.
“the Rectories & Parsonages of Brill, Oakley, Boarstall & Easton Beston [Northants] to mine Executors forever, to the intent that they, or the Survivor or Survivors of them, shall within the same erect a Free School in the Town of Thame & to find & sustain with the Profits thereof, a Schoolmaster & an Usher forever, in such sort and time as my said Executors shall think most convenient for the Maintenance of the said School Forever.“
The Building of the Schoolhouse began in 1569 (after sufficient Income had been accumulated from the Bequests), with Teaching starting late in 1570. The original Stone Building, although much altered, is still standing amidst its later additions. It was roughly T-shaped & contained Rooms for the Master & Usher in the West Front & a Schoolroom 50ft x 20ft behind, with Attics above for the use of Boarders. The windows of the Schoolroom contained the Royal Arms, together with those of the Founder & of his Connections. There was a Playground in the North-east Corner, together with a Masters Garden & Orchard, at the Corner of which was the Privy. For the 1st few years the Executors Superintended the Affairs of the School, but in 1575, realising that they “must someday go the way of all flesh,” they handed over to the Warden & Fellows of New College Oxford. “all that Capital Messuage or House, newly Builded in Old Thame, called the School House, with a Garden & Orchard and a Curtilage hereunto adjacent and lying.” The School remained under the Guardianship of New College for almost exactly 3-Centuries.
In 1575 a Royal Licence from Queen Elizabeth 1 Associates New College Oxford with the School – “to uphold & maintain a Free Grammar School for the Free Teaching & exercise of Grammar – in Thame for all time“. This Link with New College is sustained today with the Warden of the College participating in School Affairs as a Foundation Governor & the Lord Williams’s Legacy has Educated many Generations of Families in Thame over the last 445-yrs. The original Building still Stands in Church Road as a fine Elizabethan House converted for use as Offices. Notable old-Boys of the early-Period include John Hampden, a Statesman killed in the Civil War in 1643 & John Fell, Bishop of Oxford, 1675.
It is a 2-Storeyed Building with Attics, Built of rubble with dressed Stone Copings. It consists of Rooms for the Master & Usher, facing West on to Church Row, with Attics above for the Boys & a Lofty Schoolroom behind (50ft x 20ft). Over the Central Doorway is set a Carved Panel containing the Arms of Lord Williams. The Forecourt is now entered from High Street, but the School was originally separated from the Almshouses by a Wall.
School hours, typical of Elizabethan Days, were 6 to 11-am & 1-5 or 6pm, 9-hrs in winter & 10 in Summer. When darkness required it, boys had to supply their own Candles. There was a weekly ½-day in addition to Festivals & 4 Holidays of rather over a Fortnight each. Boys were admitted at the age of 7, as soon as they could Read & Write. The only subject of instruction, as also the only Language in which instruction was given, was Latin. It was only this Instruction which was “Free”; boys had to pay 8d on Admission, to be used for buying Books & 2d a quarter to pay for cleaning & “to the purchasing of rods” – though Pupils who were Resident in the Town, or who were relatives of the Founder, were exempt from all Fees except the Capitation Fees of 1s a Quarter to the Master & 6d to the Usher. Much emphasis was placed on Religious Instruction. The School began & ended with a set form of Service, containing Latin Prayers & a special Latin Hymn. Before Dinner, a Passage from the Bible was to be read & Church attendance on Sundays & Festivals was compulsory, the Boys meeting at the School & having their own Seats in the Chancel.
During the 1st-Half of the 17thC, the School was at the height of its Prosperity & Influence. Its Benches were crowded with sons of neighbouring Gentry, as well as of Farmers & Tradespeople. Its Scholars, mainly Pupils of Richard Boucher, 1597-1627, who had the reputation of “sparing the Rod that he might impart his beloved Learning,” distinguished themselves in Parliament, on the Bench & in the Church. “The Families of the Ingoldsbys & Hampdens in Bucks,” says Anthony Wood, “while young had been mostly bred in the said School of Thame & had sojourned either with the Vicar or the Master.” During the Civil War Schooling was frequently disrupted by the use of the School Buildings to Accommodate both Parliamentarian & Royalist Troops & much damage to the Building & its Fittings was encountered.
Among the Students there during the 2nd-Quarter of the 17thC was Anthony Wood, the Oxford Antiquary. Thame about this time was the Centre of Military Operations between the King’s Forces & the Rebels was continually being beaten up by one side or the other. Wood, though but a boy at the time, has left on record in his narrative some vivid impressions of the conflicts which he personally witnessed & which bring the disjointed times before us in a vision of strange & absolute reality. He tells of Colonel Blagge, the Governor of Wallingford Castle, who was on a Marauding Expedition, being chased through the Streets of Thame by Colonel Crafford, who Commanded the Parliamentary Garrison at Aylesbury & how one man fell from his horse & the Colonel “held a Pistol to him, but the Trooper cried ‘Quarter!’ & the Rebels came up & rifled him & took him & his horse away with them.” On another occasion, just as a Company of Roundhead Soldiers were sitting down to Dinner, a Cavalier Force appeared “to Beat up their Quarters,” & the Roundheads retired in a hurry, leaving “Wood & the Schoolboyes, Sojourners in the House,” to enjoy their Venison Pasties.
The Building suffered during the Civil War, but was repaired by 1661 when Warden Woodward of New College found it ‘new mended, lathed & Tiled‘. However much of this damage was repaired & during the latter part of the 17thC, the School regained much of the reputation it enjoyed before the Civil War. At one time the windows of the Schoolroom contained the Royal Arms & those of Lord Williams & his Connections. The decline of Thame Grammar School is generally considered to have begun during the 1st-Half of the 18thC, with a succession of Masters whose primary interest seemed to be in the collection of their Salary & other Emoluments, rather than the Education of the Boys. The School reached its lowest ebb, under the Masterships of the Rev T T Lee (1814-1841) & the Rev T B Fookes (1841-1872). By this time the School had also largely ceased to be a “Free” School. The Establishment of “Howard House Academy” in 1840, under the Mastership of J W Marsh, was attracting more Day-boys & Boarders due to (according to the Schools Inquiry Commission in 1866) its low Fees & the ‘Practical Business’ & ‘Sound Commercial’ Character of the Education provided. Education was also becoming readily available to all children, the British School being established in Park Street, in 1836. By 1866, Thame Grammar School only had 2-Day-boys on its Books & no Boarders. From 1870 there were no Pupils at the School, the last boy commonly reported as Jack Stevens, the son of a Grocer in the Town & Dr Fookes finally Resigned as Headmaster in 1872. A new Board of Governors was formed in 1873 with a view to the Establishment of a New School for up to 120-Scholars, 60 of them being Boarders. Consideration was given to extending the existing School Building, even at the expense of pulling down the Almshouses. Finally, it was agreed to Build new Premises on a Site in Oxford Road, opposite the old ‘Priestend‘ Tollhouse ” on Land purchased from Mr Samuel Field. Expenditure was approved by the Charity Commissioners & with money raised from the Sale of the old School Building in Church Row & other Property in Thame. The old School Building was Sold in 1877 & became a Girls School until 1908, when the Girls School moved to the Mansion House on the High Street & became the Girls Grammar School. (Now the Site of the Co-op Store).
The original Thame Grammar School Building remained empty for a number of years before being sold to become a Private Residence, and later Commercial Offices. Various 19th & 20thC additions have been made to the old Building, including the Staircase & Bandstand bought from Lord Rothschild’s House at Halton near Aylesbury, when the School Building was used as a ‘Dancehall & Cafe‘ between the 2-World Wars.
Jazz Trumpeter, Bandleader & Formula-1 Driver Johnny Claes 1916-1956 was born in London to a Scottish mother & Belgian father. He was educated at Lord Williams’s School. Although at 1st Johnny didn’t intend to Race cars at all, somehow he got involved in Racing. He was a Jazz Musician with his own Jazz Band (The Clay Pigeons) & seemed happy with that. He spoke both French & English, which made him an easy target for the British Racing Drivers for their meetings with the ACF, for none of them was able to speak both Languages. Although he wasn’t top of the Bill, he was a fairly good Racing Driver who won several important Races. In F1, however, he never made it into the Points. He died during a minor operation while under Anaesthetic.
Mansion House School: A House, once the ‘Mansion House‘ of the Knollys Family in the High Street, Built in 1572 & Demolished in 1965. It was erected by Sir Francis Knollys (d.1629 & was later re-Built & Inhabited by Francis Knollys, MP (d.1757) & by Sir Francis Knollys, Bt, MP (d.1772). During its time it served as a Private House, a Billet for Royalist Troops, a Refuge for 50-French Clergy. The Mansion House School was opened in 1808/9 by John Jones, a former Master of the old Market House School continued for about 20-yrs. In 1840 it was taken over by L D Hunt & extensive alterations were made which included New Classrooms, Boarding Accommodation, 2-Halls, a Gymnasium & Swimming Bath & the School was reopened as the Oxford County School. In 1868 James Marsh, at one time a Master of the British School became Headmaster & the School was Amalgamated with Howard House School, a Private School which he had opened in 1854 at Cuttlebrook House. At this School Instruction of a ‘sound Commercial Character‘ was given for low Fees. By 1866 he had 120 Pupils, of whom 80 were Boarders. The combined Schools Advertised under the joint names of the Oxford County Middle Class School & Howard House School, and promised ‘a practical Commercial Education‘. Boys were prepared for the Universities, the Civil Service, and especially for Professional & Business Careers. There was a Preparatory Department. Marsh’s son J W Marsh succeeded him in 1883 but committed suicide in 1888 because of Financial difficulties. The School was then taken over by T Gardner and in 1894 by C H Hills. In 1900 it became a Preparatory School and in 1908 it was transferred to London. It was used as a Girls Grammer School (East Oxford) from 1917 to c.1948 when the School moved to Holton Park, Wheatley. In 1948, the Balfour Family had Sold the House & Park to Oxon County Council, which decided it should be the Site for a New School.
Aston Rowant & Chilterns Spring Line Villages 