User:Glanis/RGSTest/Buildings

Grounds and buildings

Plan of the Royal Grammar School's High Street site

The school is split over two sites, the main site located on the Upper High Street, Guildford and the school's playing fields (called Bradstone Brook located a few miles away in the village of Shalford. The main site it home to the Grade I listed Old Building; the New Building constructed in the 1950s which is home to the majority of the teaching rooms and the North Building, home to the sports department.

Old Building

Construction on the old building began in 1557 with the construction of the two main rooms, School Room on the ground floor, and Big School (otherwise known at the Great Chamber) in the first floor. Originally the school was full boarding, and it was on a floor built into the rafters of Big School that the boys slept. However with the conversion into a day only school, this space was no longer required, and the beams of Big School now bear the names of many of the schools benefactors stretching right back to Robert Beckingham and 1509.

The construction of the building took over 29 years due to a legal dispute on the land from which the rents were arising to pay for the school, as a result Ushers House and Schoolmasters House were not completed. A private Act of Parliament in 1563 funded by the MP for Guildford John Austen which resolved the dispute, and so construction started on the two wings of the building. Unfortunately Austen died in 1572 and the construction stopped until William Hamonde continued the building of Ushers House and the gallery to link it to Schoolmaster's House. Hamonde then died in 1575 and so the construction was not completed for a further 10 years funded by Simon Tally and Robert Broadbridge. As a result of all the setbacks the finally completed in 1586. The Gallery connecting Schoolmaster and Ushers Houses is home to the Chained Library and was enlarged by Arthur Onslow in 1650. The Gallery is now the Headmaster's Study.

The building is a square shaped Tudor Style with all the rooms arranged around a central courtyard. Since the building was completed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I it is her arms that are present above the front door. To the rear of the building is a later extension built by Canon Arthur Valpy during the 19th Century which along with the Science Laboratories (which now hosts the Art Department) are built in traditional Victorian Grammar School style. The Old Building and Valpy Wing are now home to the Music department.

On the morning of Sunday 2 December 1962, a fire broke out in the Old Building. It caused widespread damage to a large part of the structure, including the two oldest rooms in the school, School Room and Big School. The main concern was to prevent the books contained within the chained library from being damaged, either by fire or water from the fire brigade's hoses. The damage to the building was so great that rebuilding took over 2 years, with the unusually cold winter of 1962-1963 delaying the restoration. Lessons, however, continued throughout on the Allen House side of the high street.