Page:A History of Horncastle from the Earliest Period to the Present Time.djvu/110



AVING dealt with the places of worship in the town, we now proceed to give an account of its schools; and among these the Grammar School, from its antiquity, as well as for other reasons, claims precedence.

This Institution, on its present foundation, dates from the reign of Elizabeth, one of whose special characteristics was her warm interest in education, which led her to encourage her nobles, and more wealthy subjects, to promote the cause. The Reformation had given an impetus towards emancipation from the ignorance which prevailed in Popish times, when the monasteries were almost the only centres of enlightenment—if so it could be called.

Henry VIII. did little or nothing towards relighting the torch, which had been held up by the monks, whom he abolished. His successor, Edward VI., founded a few grammar schools; among them being, in our own neighbourhood, those at Spilsby, Louth, and Grantham. During the brief reign of the Popish Mary, the movement was again checked; but Elizabeth, herself a cultivated scholar, rekindled the general interest in educational progress.

The title deeds of the school are unfortunately lost, which would have shewn to what extent it was then endowed, but documents exist belonging to the school, which prove the conveyance of certain lands, by John Neale of Horncastle, in the 17th year of Elizabeth (A.D. 1575); he being one of the first 10 Governors appointed in accordance with the rules of the foundation.

A useful little volume was published in 1894 by the late Dr. Robert Jalland, then Senior Governor of the school, containing its history, from the date of the Elizabethan foundation, gathered from various documents and minute books, preserved in the office of the Clerk of the Governors; from which we cull the following particulars: