Motto | Disce Prodesse (Loosely translated as "Learn to be of service") |
---|---|
Established | 1509 |
Type | Free school |
Religion | Church of England |
Headmaster | Simon Corns |
Founder | Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby |
Location |
West Park Road Blackburn Lancashire BB2 6DF England |
Local authority | Blackburn with Darwen |
DfE number | 889/6001 |
DfE URN | 141165 Tables |
Ofsted | Reports |
Students | 533 |
Gender | Coeducational |
Ages | 4–18 |
Houses | 6 |
Colours | |
Publication | Q-news, Q-review |
Former Pupils | Old Blackburnians |
Website | www |
Coordinates: 53°45′11″N 2°29′46″W / 53.753°N 2.496°W
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (QEGS) is a co-educational free school in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Founded in 1509 as a boys' school, it is now a coeducational independent Free School with over 600 students from ages 4 to 18. Pupils come from a very wide geographical area, from Bolton to the south and to Colne in the east. It consists of an Infant School (Reception to Year 2), Junior School (Years 3-6), Senior School (Years 7-11) and Sixth Form.
The school was founded in 1509, the first year of the reign of King Henry VIII, by Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby, as a chantry school. It was situated adjacent to Blackburn Parish Church. The school survived the Reformation and in 1567 was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I. It thus became the “Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth in Blackburn in the County of Lancashire”.
In August 1819, the decision was taken to demolish the old parish church and rebuild it (the new church of St Mary the Virgin is now Blackburn Cathedral) and the school moved to a temporary home in nearby Market Street Lane until 1825. Its new site from 1825 was in the Bull Meadow area (“in the fresh air of the country”) but, as Blackburn itself expanded during the Industrial Revolution, the school there became too cramped. In 1884 the Blackburn Grammar School, as it was still then known, made one final move. The new site was on the west side of the town’s Corporation Park, close to Alexandra Meadows, the home of the East Lancashire Cricket Club and also the venue for a number of the early fixtures of the local football club Blackburn Rovers.