OLD DERBEIAN SOCIETY
The History of Derby School
The History of Derby School - +800 years and still going strong!
In about 1160 AD the very first mention of a Derby School was recorded and this makes the School one of the earliest to have been created. Mention of the School was included in a Charter of Walter Durdent, Bishop of Chester.
The school has withstood the test of time existing throughout 35 reigns of the English Royal Family starting with Henry III of the Plantagenets, through 6 Tudors, 7 Stuarts, 6 Hanoverians and with 5 Sax Coburg Gotha / Windsor monarchs.
Looking back over that time it is amazing to realize just what has occurred and been invented during these 35 reigns. Certainly there have been major European Wars, two World Wars, and the creation of a Parliament as we know it today. The discovery of the 'New World', the development of a canal system, of the steam engine and the railways, of electricity, of nuclear power, of the airplane, we now have satellites circling the earth and rockets to both the moon and other parts of the universe. To create a "time line" for the school could be a major task in itself.
A significant fact is that in these +800 years the School has known only 4 permanent school sites. These are - St. Peter’s Church Yard, and St. Helen’s Street in the centre of Derby, a site on Moorway Lane, and today's Rykneld Old Hall on Rykneld Road at Littleover. For the duration of WWII pupils and staff were evacuated to Overton Hall and later to Amber Valley Camp which may be regarded as 2 temporary sites although this was an important period in the modern development of the School.
October 2011 marks the centenary of the formation of the Old Derbeian Society formed by the Old Boys of Derby School, and we, the Old Derbeian Society, are keen to see the long history of the School chronicled, with the help of documents already available, to enable completion of this part of our website.
Interested scholars, old and not so old, are invited to contact the Society if they would be interested in volunteering their services.
J. B. Sheard (1945-50)
Click here to e-mail the Old Derbeians
Readers of this section may wish to investigate the 20 or even more A4 pages of relevant historical information and photographs, even including the details of the Derby City Council Planning Permission recently awarded to convert St. Helen's House into a quality Hotel.
All this history including photographs (old and new) is contained within the Wikipedia website entry under "Derby School" and also under "St. Helen's House".
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
