The school was established in December 1903 and opened in 1904 as the Salford Municipal Secondary School for Boys, in the buildings of the Salford Royal Technical Institute (SRTI), now the
University of Salford. In its early years, the principal of the SRTI, Herbert B. Knowles, was also the school's headmaster. In 1909, the two were separated, with Knowles continuing as head of the school only. He remained in post until 1913. In July 1914, the school moved into a new building in Leaf Square, but only a few weeks later the
First World War broke out and that building was requisitioned as a military hospital. The school did not return there until March 1920. The school was renamed as Salford Grammar School in 1932, In September 1939, the
Second World War broke out, and the fear of air raids from Germany led to the school being evacuated to
Lancaster, where it shared the buildings and sports fields of the
Lancaster Royal Grammar School. However, it returned to Salford when the air raids failed to happen. In 1945, the headmaster of the school, C. J. Gill, joined
HM Inspectorate of Schools and later rose to become Chief Inspector of Teacher Training. After the war, in the late 1940s,
Brian Simon taught at the school for three years. He was struck by the success of the small number of boys who passed an exam to transfer from a
secondary modern school and later made much of this in his arguments for comprehensive education. In 1937, the Salford Education Committee had bought a house on Eccles Old Road called Claremont, formerly the residence of
Sir Arthur Percival Heywood, which had large grounds. New school buildings were begun on the Claremont site in 1953, with the main entrance on Chasely Road, and on 12 January 1956 the school moved into them. The new building was officially opened by the Mayor of Salford on 21 March 1956. Demolition of the old school building at Leaf Square began in 1964, and in 1955 the new
Salford College of Technology opened on that site. and the actor
Albert Finney. On 1 September 1969, Salford Grammar School merged with the adjoining Salford Technical High School to form Salford Grammar Technical School on the Claremont site. The new Technical School building became the home of the
sixth form, while the lower forms were taught in the older grammar school range. ==Character==