. The original Elizabethan school is the range on the left of the quad. The school was founded in 1583 by
Edmund Grindal,
Archbishop of Canterbury, who was born in
St Bees, at Cross Hill House. The oldest part of the school, known as Foundation was built in 1587, opposite the Priory Church. Thanks to an agreement with
Queen's College Oxford and the purchase of local tithes, the school prospered both financially and academically. Although specifically incorporated for the education of boys from
Cumberland and
Westmorland, in 1604, pupils from outside those counties were also being educated at St Bees. However, the school only grew gradually. The school enjoyed financial security for many years, but this was threatened from 1742 onwards when
Sir James Lowther fraudulently obtained an 867-year lease of the extensive
mineral rights for a minimal amount on which much of the prosperity of the Lowthers was built. As a result of this fraud being exposed in 1812, the case eventually went to
Court of Chancery. In 1842, compensation was paid by the Lowthers which was used to build the present open quadrangle, which includes the original schoolhouse. Further expansion was facilitated by more equitable mineral revenues. The Royal Hotel was bought and converted into the Grindal house, while the construction of the School House and the headmaster's residence was done on Wood Lane. By 1900, the school's chapel, additional classrooms, library, swimming baths, Gymnasium, science labs, and lecture theater had been built. By the beginning of the First World War, the school had reached three hundred pupils. During the First World War, old boys of the school were awarded the
Victoria Cross. (See
St. Bees V.C. winners for more details). Old boy
Alfred Critchley became one of the youngest Brigadier-Generals, at the age of 27. One hundred and eighty boys and staff died during the war, and a memorial was built overlooking the sports fields where so many had previously played. After the war, in common with many other schools, the numbers decreased, especially in the 1930s. The situation became so critical that the governors attempted to have the school
nationalized. In the end, the old boys put together a rescue package and the school remained independent. Help was at hand, but during the Second World War,
Mill Hill School was evacuated to St Bees after their buildings were occupied by the government. Under-used facilities could now be put to good use, to the financial benefit of St Bees School. The two schools were run independently, and sports teams from each school would frequently play against each other. The cadet corps of the two schools combined with village volunteers to form the St Bees
Home Guard.
Post-war expansion Seventy-two boys died during the Second World War, and the Memorial Hall was established in their memory. During the 1950s, a new science block was built, formally opened by
Barnes Wallis in 1959, and in the 1970s the school became
co-educational. New boarding houses were purchased off-campus for both girls and boys, Bega House and Abbot's Court respectively. To celebrate the school's
quatercentenary in 1983, an appeal was launched which would give the school a new sports hall, opened in 1988. In the 1990s the Whitelaw Building was inaugurated by
Prince Charles. It was a multi-function business centre and teaching area, which was named after the then chairman of the board of Governors,
William Whitelaw, sometime
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. In 2000, Barony House was refurbished entirely and renamed the Fox Music Centre in memory of old St Beghain Bill Fox. To mark the
millennium, a
time capsule was buried in the northeast corner of the Quadrangle. In September 2008, a Preparatory Department was launched, catering for pupils from the age of 8 until they joined the main school. At this time, a nearby independent school with a prep department, Harecroft Hall, had just closed. The school again expanded in September 2010 to include pupils from age four. == Closure and reopening ==