"The grammar school of East Retford had its beginnings
more than 600 years ago. When, in 1551, the King decreed that
thenceforth it should be called the Free Grammar School of King
Edward the Sixth, the name was different, the endowment more
generous, the foundation more secure, but the school itself was not
new. It was grafted on the stock of an earlier school that had
existed for at least two centuries."
| The actual date of the charter, as
recorded in the Calendar of Patent Rolls, was 9 December 1551. It stated
that in response to the widespread demand the king willed, granted and
ordained that
"thereafter there be and shall be one Grammar School in the
said town of East Retford which shall be called 'the Free Grammar
School of King Edward the Sixth' for the education and instruction
of youths in grammar, to be continued at all times hereafter for
ever." | In this sense, in 1551, Retford
Grammar achieved a Founder and a name. When in 1904 the Duke of Portland,
from nearby Welbeck Abbey, donated a painting of its Founder to the
grammar School,
"From the moment a boy entered the school and was taken to
see the copy of the portrait of Edward VI that hung in the
schoolroom, his responsibity for maintaining the school's record of
achievement was impressed upon him."
| A.D.Grounds, "A
History of King Edward V1 Grammar School, Retford."
|