"from henceforth there may and shall be one Grammar School…… which shall be called the Free Grammar School of King Edward the Sixth of Giggleswick, and the same School for ever to continue of one Schoolmaster or Headmaster and of one Under Master or Usher"

1499 to 1800

James Carr of Stackhouse started the school as a private enterprise around 1499. As priest in charge of the "Chantry of the Rood", he started teaching to supplement his very meagre income. In 1507 he took a lease of half an acre of land, from the Prior of Durham for 79 years, on the garth by St Alkelda's church in the village of Gyllyswyke in order to keep there "one gramer scole" and the "First School" was opened in 1512.  Soon after this, the reigns of King Henry VIII and his son King Edward VI brought massive pressure on the chantry's as these kings supposed that the chantry's were largely corrupt.

Luckily for Giggleswick, the new vicar of Giggleswick, John Nowell, had been Chaplain to King Henry VIII and used his influence at court (his brother was Dean of St Paul's) to secure a Royal Charter from King Edward VI on 26 May 1553 (just one month before the boy king died!) for the school and endow it with lands at South Cave in East Yorkshire, thus the Royal Grammar School of King Edward VI at Giggleswick was named. It was around this time that the school's distinctive lozenge shaped crest was adopted.

As was normal at that time the school grew slowly over the centuries facing further challenges during the Puritan period of the 17th century, when Josiah Shute a local priest and landowner secured its' future with grants of land and scholarships - The Shute Scholarships.

King Henry VI

The School Crest

Josiah Shute

Rev J R Blakiston

1801 to 1900

By the 1860's the school was ready for further development and the new headmaster Mr Blakiston who was succeeded by the famous reforming headmaster George Style, was anxious to modernise the school and develop it to challenge the schools in the south of England.  A new school was to be built on a new site and boarding was now fully organised in a purpose-built hostel opened in 1869.  This quickly saw further growth and by 1874 they had added a new classroom block and most importantly the Marshall-Watts Science School.  This was the first purpose built science laboratory building in the country and visitors from schools and universities all over the country came to see what had been done.  At the same time the swimming pool, also the first of its' type, being heated and covered was opened in 1877.  Whilst building the pool, the Sanatorium, a purpose built on site "hospital" was built to cater for the boarders who now were coming to the school from all over the country.  During this time such notable scientists as Henry Maudsley, founder of the Maudsley Hospital in London and Charles F. Thackray, founder of the Thackray Medical Museum and world-famous botanist and chief curator at Kew Gardens, Clarence Elliot passed through the school and benefitted from the new science-based curriculum.  Later in the 20th Century Keith Duckworth, creator of the Cosworth motor racing engine was an alumnus who learned his science in these new buildings.

The origins of the house names

All the school's houses; Carr, Nowell, Paley and Shute are named for the benefactors who are such significant figures in the school's history.  James Carr, the founder, John Nowell who secured our Royal Carter in 1553, Josiah Shute who saved the school from Puritan reforms in the 17th Century, William Paley, the headmaster and father of the great Old Giggleswickian theologian of the same name, George Style, modernising headmaster and Walter Morrison who as a governor along with Mr Style brought about the modernisations leading to the development of the new science based curriculum and gave the school it's magnificent chapel in 1897

The Chapel

Walter Morrison, a towering local personality, was the son of Britain's wealthiest commoner and as such was by modern standards a billionaire.  A most learned and well-travelled man, he gave the school its' chapel to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.  The chapel, austere externally but hiding the beauty and grandeur of it's interior, was opened in 1901 having taken only 4 years to create from inception to consecration.  A remarkable feat given the intricacy and scale of it's construction and interior decoration.  To this day the chapel is at the heart of the life of the school and remains at the centre of our affection to the degree that many former pupils return here each year to be married

The Great War

During the Great War, 860 old boys and master's served and 125 of them paid with their lives.  This was a remarkably high ratio of 1 in 7 casualties for a school with no more than 200 pupils at that time. This was probably because being partly a local grammar school, many of them were in "the ranks" or junior officers who would have led from the front in battle.  In 1926 the beautiful Arts and Crafts style Memorial Library was opened, paid for by subscription by Old Giggleswickians as their memorial to those 125 who had sacrificed everything.

1901 to 2007

In 1938, the expanding school under headmaster Partridge created Style House by acquiring Beck House to accommodate more boarders as the school's reputation continued to grow. The first housemaster was the legendary master in charge of Rugby, Deputy head and Classicist L. P. Dutton after whom the school's 6th form centre is now named.  The same Mr Partridge made his own investment to help the school purchase the estate of Catteral Hall, adjacent to the school in 1938 and it was there that the prep school, now Giggleswick Junior School was established.  Later during the World War, Mr Partridge gained further respect for his work assisting in the kitchens and helping the ground staff.  The Partridge building was opened at the Junior School there as a brand-new teaching building in 2004. 

In 1976, when the government's "Direct Grant Scheme" came to an end like many such schools the governors took the bold step to become a fully independent fee-paying school.  After each of these historic moments of challenge the school has thrived and again the numbers expanded with Morrison House opening in 1968. The governors therefore took the bold step to admit girls and the first girls joined the school in September 1976, paving the way for the school to become fully co-educational by 1983.  This was a revolutionary move and again helped to secure the school's future. This led to a reorganisation of houses and Carr and Style House became girls houses after a period where girls had previously been integrated into the boys' houses.  Today girls make up 45% of the school population and are at the heart of the school's success on the sports field in the theatre and in the classroom. 

In 1999 the governors announced the decision under headmaster Anthony Millard to build the new dining hall. At the time this seemed to some to be rather unadventurous, but in fact it was a most inspired move as it allowed the school to break out of its site and free up the space occupied by the old dining hall.  In that space the Sharpe Library was created after the significant bequest of Norman Sharpe. This created a modern study centre which today houses 6th form teaching and ICT teaching. In 2003 the Science laboratories were completely redeveloped and in 2004 the new sports hall was opened with its county standard indoor cricket nets and competition area.  This 2 decades of constant development were capped in 2007 with the opening of the Richard Whiteley Theatre, following another significant legacy from the much-loved former pupil and Governor Mr Richard Whiteley OBE.   

2008 to now

The period of the 2020's has been marked by yet more challenges following the global financial crisis and Covid 19 Pandemic. In fact, these challenges have been a great opportunity for the school to reorganise and renew itself under headmaster Mark Turnbull. So that the curriculum, the use of digital technologies and the modernisation of boarding through the total refurbishment of Nowell house in 2019 along with the introduction of flexible boarding arrangements (in response to the socio-economic changes of parental choice preferring children to be able to spend time at home at the expense of time spent in longer commutes) and the establishment of a comprehensive in-house provision of bus routes, along with deft and shrewd fiscal controls has put the school in a very strong position to address the challenges of the post-Covid world of independent education.

Sam Hart joined the school in January 2022 from Winchester College.  After a distinguished army career Sam became a teacher of Physics and now leads the school as we enter the next phase of our development.