Nottingham High School

Template:Infobox school/short descriptionTemplate:Template other Nottingham High School is a private, coeducational day school in Nottingham, England, consisting of an infant and junior school (ages 4–11), and senior school (ages 11–18). It was founded in 1513 by Dame Agnes Mellers, as a free grammar school for boys, with a charter signed by Henry VIII. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and has been coeducational since 2015.

There were 1186 students enrolled as at December 2025, of whom 262 were in the sixth form, studying for advanced certificate examinations. The school was inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in 2019, where it achieved a rating of 'excellent' in all categories.

History

Foundation

File:Nottingham High School charter 1512.jpg

The original 1512 charter approving the foundation of a free grammar school in Nottingham

In 1513, the "Free School" was founded by Dame Agnes Mellers, after the death of her husband Richard, partly in his memory, but also as atonement for wrongdoings against the people of Nottingham. To do so she enlisted help from Sir Thomas Lovell as governor of Nottingham Castle and Secretary to the Treasury. Through their combined efforts, Henry VIII sealed the school's foundation deed on the 22 November that year. It is unclear whether this was a new institution or an endowment of an existing school, of which records exist back to 1289. Almost 20,000 boys are estimated to have attended between 1513 and 2013.

In the foundation deed, Mellers provided for a commemoration service in St Mary's Church in the Lace Market "on the Feast of the Translation of St Richard of Chichester, namely 16 June" each year, although the service "is now held on the nearest Saturday to that date." With the exception of Nottingham Goose Fair, this is the most ancient ceremonial event still held in the city of Nottingham, and the oldest still largely in its original form (the Goose Fair now being a funfair rather than a livestock fair), although there seems to be no record of it being held between the mid-16th century and its revival in 1923. The formal procession seeks to symbolise the ancient links the school has with the Crown, the city and the church. The foundation deed also provides for distributing (out of a total sum of 20 shillings) certain monies to the lord mayor of Nottingham, vicar and others. and for the purchase of bread, cheese and ale for consumption by officials attending the service. Any balance remaining is required to be given to the poorest scholar, but now is given to a representative scholar of the school.

Coat of arms

The College of Arms granted the school a coat of arms in 1949, the full blazon being:

Ermine, a lozenge argent charged with three blackbirds rising proper. On a chief gules, an open book also proper, garnished or, between two ducal coronets of the last. And for the crest, on a wreath argent and gules, a squirrel sejant gules holding between the paws a ducal coronet or. Mantling, argent and gules. Motto "Lauda Finem".

The motto, Lauda finem, is Latin for "praise [to] the end".

The arms incorporate those of the founder: the arms of the Mellers family were three blackbirds (or merles – an example of canting arms) – on a white field; Dame Agnes, being a woman, would have displayed them on a lozenge, not a shield. In 2007 the school unofficially introduced a new logo for more general use, a modified version of the shield that omits the lozenge and ermine field.

Remembrance Day service

Affixed to the weathered, discoloured white stone war memorial is a black plaque with white text in Times New Roman font. The text, which is centred and has generous line spacing, reads: "To the Glory of God / In lasting and grateful memory / of those former members / of this School / who by the sacrifice of their lives / for the cause of their Country / in the Great War 1914 – 1918 / and the Second World War 1939 – 1945 / ennobled the traditions / which they had here received."

Plaque on the war memorial

An annual Remembrance Day service on 11 November is attended by the whole school with the headmaster, president of the Old Nottinghamians and the school captain placing wreaths at the war memorial. Scholars attend a morning special assembly usually in the Player Hall, at which a minute's silence is observed. Representatives of the school's Combined Cadet Force mark their respect with a parade around the main school building.

Premises

Location

Since 1868 the school has stood high on Waverley Mount to the north of the city centre, looking down towards its foundation site in St Mary's Church and later building in Stoney Street. The present site has undergone a long programme of building and development.

Main building

Photograph of a Gothic Revival building. The walls are light brown and the pitched roof, which has algae growing on it, is grey slate. There is a wide chimney on each side of the building. There are five large multi-segment windows on each story on the left section, and five large multi-segment windows on each story on the right section. The left and right sections have two and three stories respectively and are separated by a protruding central section, which has a total of five stories. The central section has a two-storey bay window on each side of an arched, wooden door, which is elevated. The door is above an outdoor double staircase, which has a simpler wooden door in the front. Above each bay window is a smaller window. Above the smaller windows is a narrower section with three large multi-segment windows, above which is a yet narrower section, forming a square tower and the highest storey of the building. The tower is crenellated and has one large multi-segment window, a flagpole without a flag in the centre, and a crenellated stone structure projecting from the right corner that resembles a crow's nest in that it could be used as a lookout point. In front of the building is a lawn that separates an embankment from a planted area. Steps lead down from the central part of the building to a war memorial, which is in the form of a bronze statue of a First World War uniformed British soldier looking backwards and pointing up towards the left, standing atop a white stone plinth that has a relief of the heraldic achievement of the city of Nottingham, an inscription on a plaque, and a relief of the lozenge of Dame Agnes Mellers. The war memorial is elevated with stone steps on all four sides, which separate an outer circle of shrubbery. Below the war memorial is a paved stone floor.

War memorial at the south gates

An example of Gothic Revival architecture, the first school building on the present site, built between 1866 and 1867, was designed by Thomas Simpson. It consists of a tower and three wings: West Wing, Middle Corridor, and East Wing. West Wing houses classrooms for mathematics, English and geography. Housed in Middle Corridor are the learning support department, two ICT centres, two language laboratories, religious studies classrooms, two multi-purpose lecture theatres, the school library, and staff offices. East Wing contains the old gymnasium, the Player assembly hall and classrooms for modern languages, history, and classics. The school front and other features are Grade II listed.

File:Nottingham High School Player Hall June 2006.jpg

The Player Hall

Photograph of a Gothic Revival building. The walls are light brown and the pitched, grey-slate roof has algae growing on it. There is a wide chimney on each side. There are five large multi-segment windows on each story on the left section and on the right section. Both sections have two and three stories and are separated by a protruding central section, which has a total of five stories and a two-storey bay window on each side of an arched, wooden door, which is elevated. The door is above an outdoor double staircase, which has a simpler wooden door in the front. Above each bay window is a smaller window. Above the smaller windows is a narrower section with three large multi-segment windows, surmouned by a yet narrower section, forming a square tower and the highest storey of the building. The tower is crenellated and has one large multi-segment window, a flagpole without a flag in the centre, and a crenellated stone structure projecting from the right corner that resembles a crow's nest in that it could be used as a lookout point. In front of the building is a lawn that separates an embankment from a planted area. Steps lead down from the central part of the building to a war memorial in the form of a bronze statue of a uniformed, First World War British soldier looking backwards and pointing up towards the left, standing atop a white stone plinth with a relief of the city's heraldic achievement, an inscription on a plaque, and a relief of the lozenge of Dame Agnes Mellers. The war memorial is elevated with stone steps on all four sides, to separate an outer circle of shrubbery. Below the memorial is a paved stone floor.

The south side of the school, showing the war memorial

Tower

Overlooking the city centre is the school tower, now used as a staff office. A school standard and the Union Flag are raised on it on special occasions, such as Founder's Day and the King's Official Birthday, and when a member of the school community has died.

Additions

To the west, the Founder Hall building was built in 1963 to mark the school's 450th anniversary. It includes the school's swimming pool and the Founder Hall itself, and acts as a performing venue to supplement the Player Hall. A drama studio was added in 2013 to mark the school's 500th anniversary.

The Simon Djanogly Science Building from 1984 is situated to the south west with 13 laboratories for all three sciences. A 25-yard CCF shooting range remains in the basement. The building was opened on 2 March 1984 by the Duke of Edinburgh.

In front of the science building is the music school, completed in 1997. This houses the Lady Carol Djanogly Recital Hall, the Jones Trust Music Room, a music technology studio, a resources centre, seven instrumental teaching rooms, and a larger brass teaching room, a percussion studio and a classroom for Infant and Junior School pupils.

File:Nottingham High School Lady Carol Djanogly Music School June 2006.jpg

Lady Carol Djanogly Music School

In 1989 a sports hall was built on land to the north-east of the site formerly occupied by fives court and a shooting range. It contains an multi-purpose exercise hall and a fitness room for older pupils.

In the north-west corner is the Sir Harry Djanogly Art, Design and Technology Centre. The ground floor was built in the mid-1990s, and a first floor was added in the 2003/2004 academic year to accommodate modern facilities for the Art Department.

A new dining hall and sixth form centre were constructed in the West Quad in 2009.

Lovell House Building

Waverley House School, to the west of the main site, was purchased in 2008. Its buildings were refurbished and renamed the Lovell House Infant School. In 2013, this single-sex establishment was combined with the Junior School to form Nottingham High Infant and Junior School.

Playing field

The school's games field is not on the main site but at Valley Road, approximately to the north. Historically farmland from as early as 1878, namely Harvey's Farm; then briefly Hucknall Road Farm in 1920, it was converted to use as a playing field around 1960. It features a number of rugby pitches and posts during winter, which are converted for athletics in the spring, with a running track and areas for shot put, javelin, discus, pole vault, hurdles and high jump. During the summer, the ground is used for cricket, with nets put up and squares re-established for the season. Tennis courts, netball courts, and an archery range are also located there. The pavilion has several changing rooms on the ground and first floors, and a refreshment area for staff and guests. Until 1897, boys played sports and had their PE lessons at the Forest Recreation Ground.

School organisation

The junior and senior schools both have four houses, each named after a person connected with the school. The house system plays an integral role in school life. House tutors provide pastoral care and support.

Junior school houses

The junior school's four houses are named after former pupils or staff who served with distinction in the First World War and were killed in action or died of their wounds. Ball's House recalls Albert Ball, a fighter pilot in the RFC and pupil at the school in 1907–1909, Hardy's House Theodore Hardy, an assistant master in 1891–1907 and a British Army chaplain in 1916–1918, Tonkin's House FC Tonkin, a former pupil who served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps, and Trease's House Reginald Trease, a pupil at the school in 1898–1905. The houses compete annually for a General Efficiency Cup donated in 1927 by William Crane.

Senior school houses

The four houses in the senior school are Mellers', named after the school's founder, Cooper's, named after Frederick Cooper, an artist who in 1872 donated almost of land to the school, Maples', named after Samuel Maples, a former pupil who bequeathed £3,000 to fund scholarships in 1892, and White's, after Sir Thomas White, who endowed a charity to provide interest-free loans to "young men of good name and thrift" in the Midlands, some money from which was lent to the school in slightly questionable circumstances in the mid-19th century).

Wheeler Cup

Houses compete for the Wheeler Cup, which is awarded on the cumulative performance in competitions throughout the school year. These cover athletics, chess, hockey, cross country, rugby, bridge, shooting, swimming, cricket, general knowledge, verse recitation, singing, and individual music.

Curriculum

Nottingham High School offers a wide range of GCSE, Advanced Subsidiary-Level (AS-level) and General Certificate of Education Advanced-Level (GCE A-level) subjects. Many are also studied by younger pupils at the school in years seven and nine.

Sixth-form subjects include Ancient Greek, art, biology, chemistry, classical civilization, computer science, design and technology, drama, economics, English language, English literature, Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), French, further mathematics, geography, government and politics, German, history, Latin, mathematics, music, music technology, physical education, physics, psychology, religious studies, statistics, and Spanish.

All sixth-form students were expected to undertake the EPQ from 2010, but for students entering sixth form from 2019 it is optional.

Uniform

In years 7 to 11, the uniform consists of a black blazer with a badge bearing the arms of Dame Agnes Mellers (displayed on a lozenge), black trousers or a black skirt, a white shirt, black leather shoes, a house tie, and black or white socks. It is also possible to wear a jumper under the blazer. This is black with the school crest on the right chest. For those who have represented the school in sport, it may be black and red and bear the school coat of arms.

In the sixth form, students wear a black, grey or navy blue suit with a shirt of any colour but black.

File:Nottingham High School ties.jpg

Junior school tie, house tie (Whites), Lovell Order tie

Ties are a feature of the school uniform and used to signify pupils' status within the school.

File:HighSchoolTies.jpg

House ties.

Special ties include:

• Foundation – A black tie bearing a red squirrel holding a ducal coronet (the crest from the school's coat of arms), presented on Founder's Day to pupils who have performed well in public examinations (at least ten grade As at GCSE or three As at A-Level), and to teachers on completing ten years' service
• Lovell Order – Black, bearing the arms of Sir Thomas Lovell, for those who have performed a special service, such as librarians, the choir, orchestra and band secretaries, society officials and the stage staff, and teachers completing twenty years' service
• Sports Colours – White with narrow diagonal black and yellow stripes, for high sporting achievement, such as first-team level (usually for sports, and occasionally chess, bridge and general knowledge teams)
• Music Colours – Similar to sports colours, first awarded in 2007 to mark outstanding contributions to school music
• Third XV – Black with orange stripes to members of the school rugby third XV
• Prefects – no longer awarded
• Officers – Black with red stripes, bordered by white bands with the school coat-of-arms at top, presented since 2005 to Officers of the School (School Captain, School Vice-Captains and House Captains)
• Quincentenary – Black with diagonal stripes and school coat-of-arms, designed by Young Enterprise Team Sterling, sold to pupils and Old Nottinghamians to mark the 500th anniversary of the School

Fees

The school charges admission fees. About a tenth of pupils are supported by bursaries or scholarships giving a reduction of between 10 and 100 per cent, depending on family income.

Media

Some of a 1990 episode of the TV series "Boon", starring Michael Elphick, was filmed at the school, with some pupils as extras. The story was entitled "Bully Boys", the sixth episode of the fifth series, broadcast on 30 October 1990. The main playground, the Bridge Library (now the library reception), and the Valley Road playing fields were shown.

Kevin Fear (the then school's headmaster) and certain boys, were filmed by ITV for a news story shown as part of the news programme "ITV News Central". Filming took place at several school locations, including the headmaster's office, various classrooms and the Lower School Library. The news was that the school had announced it would admit girls – for the first time in its 500-year history – from 2015/2016.

List of masters

List of Nottingham High School masters

Date	Name	College	Notes
1513–1528	John Smith	BCanL (Cambridge)
1528–1539	Robert Calton
1539–1563	George Somer
1563–1565	Henry Cockrame	BCanL (Oxford)
1565–1575	Brian Garnet
1575–1584	John Depup	MA (Trinity College, Cambridge)	*
1584–1587	Robert Ableson	BA (Queens' College, Cambridge)
1587–1592	Christopher Heylowe	MA (St John's College, Cambridge)	*
1592–1607	John Lowe	BA (Caius College, Cambridge)	*
1607–1616	Thomas Soresbie	MA (Queen's College, Oxford)	†
1616–1628	Robert Theobald	MA (Trinity College, Cambridge)	*
1628–1657	Thomas Leake	MA (St John's College, Cambridge)	†
1657–1664	Henry Pitts	MA (Pembroke College, Cambridge)	*
1664	Henry Watkinson	(St John's College, Cambridge)	*
1664–1672	Samuel Birch	MA (Emmanuel College, Cambridge)	*
1672–1688	Jeremiah Cudworth	MA (Christ's College, Cambridge)	*
1688–1691	Gowin Knight	MA (Christ Church, Oxford)	†
1691–1707	Edward Griffith	MA (Queens' College, Cambridge)	*
1707–1720	Richard Johnson	BA (St John's College, Cambridge)	*
1718–1719	William Smeaton	MA (Queens' College, Cambridge)	*
1719	William Saunders	MA (Trinity Hall, Cambridge)	*
N/A	Thomas Miles	MA (Clare College, Cambridge)	‡
1720–1722	John Womack	BA (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge)	†
1722–1731	John Swaile	MA (Cambridge)	†
1731	Edward Chappell	MA (Jesus College, Cambridge)	*
1731–1758	John Henson	(Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge)	†
1758–1793	Timothy Wylde		*
1793–1806	John Challand Forrest	MA (Queens' College, Cambridge)	†
1806–1819	John Toplis	MA, BD (Queens' College, Cambridge)	*
1819–1833	Robert Wood	MA, DD (St John's College, Cambridge)	*
1833–1860	William Butler	MA (Queen's College, Oxford)	*
1861–1868	Frederick Teeling Cusins	MA (St John's College, Cambridge)	*
1868–1884	Robert Dixon	MA, LLD (St John's College, Cambridge)	*
1884–1901	James Gow	MA, LittD (Trinity College, Cambridge)	*
1901–1925	George Sherbrooke Turpin	MA (St John's College, Cambridge); DSc (London)	*
1925–1953	Cedric Lawton Reynolds	MA (Clare College, Cambridge)	*
1954–1970	Kenneth Robert Imeson	MA (Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge)	*
1970–1995	Dennis Trevor Witcombe	OBE; MA, BLitt (St John's College, Oxford); PhD (Manchester)	*
1995–2007	Christopher Stuart Parker	CBE; BA (Bristol); FRSA	*
2007–2025	Kevin David Fear	BA (Southampton)	*

* Resigned or retired
† Died in office
‡ Never assumed postTemplate:Rp

Brian Garnet (headmaster 1565 – c. 1575) is notable as the father of the Jesuit priest Henry Garnet, who was executed for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot.Template:Rp

Notable alumni

All former pupils and staff members are granted the title "Old Nottinghamian". For more than a century, the Old Nottinghamians' Society has existed continuously, with its origins dating back to 1897, at which time it was called the NHS Dinner Committee. Between 1902 and 1961 it was known as the Nottingham High School Old Boys' Society.

Arts

• Michael Eaton (b. 1954), writer
• Christopher Hogwood (1941–2014), classical musician, harpsichordist, scholar and conductor
• Thomas Cecil Howitt (1889–1968), architect responsible for the design of the Nottingham Council House
• D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930), writer and publisher
• Nicholas McGegan (b. 1950), classical musician, conductor
• Geoffrey Trease (1909–1998), author

Academia and religion

• Eric Abbott (1906–1984), Warden of Keble College, Oxford; Dean of Westminster
• Michael Argyle (1925-2002), social psychologist
• Samuel Ayscough (1745–1804), index compiler
• Ben G. Davis (b. 1970), chemist and fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford
• Henry Garnet (1555–1606), Jesuit priest executed 1606 for his complicity in the Gunpowder Plot
• John K. Inglis (died 2011), biologist, writer and lecturer
• Frank Byron Jevons (1858–1936), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Durham
• Robert Mcfarlane (b. 1976), travel writer and fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
• Victor Mundella (1866–1939), Physicist and Principal of Sunderland Technical College
• Thomas Wingate Todd (1885–1938), anthropologist, orthodontist
• R. M. W. Dixon (b. 1939), linguist

Armed forces

• Albert Ball (1896–1917), the first Royal Flying Corps to be awarded the Victoria Cross
• Theodore Hardy (1863–1918), NHS schoolmaster, non-combatant chaplain in the Great War, awarded the Victoria Cross

Media and entertainment

• Kenneth Adam (1908–1978), Controller of the BBC
• Malcolm Balen (living), author and broadcaster
• Raymond Buckland (1934–2017), author and occultist
• Michael Bywater (b. 1953), writer and broadcaster
• Jonathan Charles (b.1964), BBC Foreign Correspondent
• Leslie Crowther (1933–1996), comedian and quiz show host
• Trevor Dann (b. 1951), broadcaster and producer of the 1985 Live Aid concert
• David Leigh (b. 1946), investigative journalist and investigative executive editor for The Guardian
• Arun Maini (b. 1995), technology YouTuber 'Mrwhosetheboss'
• Keith Mansfield (b. 1965), writer
• Simon Miller (living), writer/director
• Chris Moncrieff (1931–2019), Press Association political journalist
• Andrew Nickolds (1949–2022), writer

• Tim Royes (1964–2007), music video director and editor
• Daniel Storey (living), writer and broadcaster
• Jonny Sweet (b. 1985), comedian and actor
• Michael Watts (1938–2018), journalist and broadcaster

Civil and diplomatic service

• Alan Charlton (b. 1952), British ambassador to Brazil
• Peter Gregson (1936–2015), permanent secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry
• Richard Lloyd-Jones (b. 1933), permanent secretary of the Welsh Office
• Lord Richardson of Duntisborne, governor of the Bank of England from 1973 until 1983
• Douglas Wass (1923–2017), sometime permanent secretary of the Treasury and Head of the Home Civil Service
• Geoffrey Owen Whittaker (1932–2015), governor of Anguilla 1987–1989

Commerce

• Jesse Boot later Lord Trent (1850–1931), founder of the chemist chain Boots (now the Boots Group)
• Roger Carr (b. 1946), knight, businessman
• John Player (d. 1884), tobacconist (John Player & Sons), after whom the school's Player Hall is named

Law

• Sir Roderic Wood (b. 1951), High Court judge

Politics

• Ed Balls (born 1967), former Labour MP, secretary of state for children, schools and families, economic secretary to the treasury and shadow chancellor of the exchequer
• Jonathan Bullock (born 1963), former Brexit Party member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands constituency
• Kenneth Clarke (born 1940), independent Member of Parliament, former Conservative Lord Chancellor and justice secretary, chancellor of the exchequer and home secretary
• Ed Davey (born 1965), MP, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament, minister in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and leader of the Liberal Democrats
• David Frost (b. 1965), British politician, diplomat and civil servant
• Geoff Hoon (born 1953), former Member of Parliament, secretary of state for Transport, minister of state for Europe, secretary of state for defence and leader of the House of Commons
• Sir James Lester (1932–2021), Conservative politician
• Piers Merchant (1951–2009), former Conservative Member of Parliament and former general secretary of UKIP
• James Morris (born 1967), MP, Conservative Member of Parliament

Science and technology

• Ben G. Davis (b. 1970), University of Oxford
• Thomas Hawksley (1807–1893), civil engineer and chief engineer at the Nottingham Waterworks Company
• J. P. Knight (1828–1886), inventor of the traffic light
• Frank Nabarro (1916–2006), solid-state physicist

Sport

• Patrick Bamford (b. 1993), footballer
• Charles Caborn (b. 1856, death date unknown), footballer for Nottingham Forest who appeared in their first FA Cup match.
• Anuj Dal (b. 1996), professional cricketer
• Anthony Douglas (b. 1985), Olympic short track speed skater
• Henry Groves (1896–1992), cricketer
• Graham Harding (b. 1966), cricketer
• David Haywood (b. 1945), cricketer
• Sam King (b. 2003), professional cricketer
• Tom Threlfall (b. 2005), Leicester tigers rugby player
• Alex Lewington (b. 1991), rugby union player
• Leonard Lindley (1861–1915), footballer and cricketer, brother of Tinsley
• Tinsley Lindley (1865–1940), international footballer and cricketer, brother of Leonard
• Henry Nwume (b. 1977), professional rugby union player and bobsleigh Olympian
• Anthony Palfreman (b. 1946), cricketer and cricket administrator
• Reg Simpson (1920–2013), England cricketer
• Greig Tonks (b. 1989), rugby union player
• Andy Turner (b. 1980), professional Olympic sprint hurdler

See also

• Nottingham Girls' High School
• Listed buildings in Nottingham (Hyson Green and Arboretum ward)