A Brief History Of The School
The life and loves of King Henry VIII are well-known. It was in Henry VIII’s reign, in 1527, that our school, Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School, was founded so that ‘people might more happily live.’ At nearly 5 centuries old, we are one of the oldest schools in the country!
It was one of King Henry VIII’s close advisors, churchman, and hunting companions, John Vesey, who founded BVGS. Vesey even taught Henry VIII’s daughter, Mary.
Vesey liked the high life. Despite being Bishop of Exeter, 169 miles away from Sutton Coldfield, Vesey spent most of his time at Moor Hall, not far from the school. He had 140 male servants, who wore the finest scarlet caps.
The School was located near Holy Trinity Parish Church, where you can still find to this day the tomb of Bishop Vesey, and where every October the School still celebrates Founder’s Day.
The first head of BVGS was a man with the fearsome name of John Savage. The first pupils were mainly sons of local farmers or shopkeepers and they studied the standard education of the day: rhetoric, logic and grammar.
The original School sadly fell into disrepair and which is why in 1729 BVGS moved to the current site on the Lichfield Road. In the 18th and 19th Centuries, the curriculum developed with the teaching of Natural History, Natural Science, Modern Languages, Classics, Mathematics, Divinity, English, History, Geography, Holy Scripture, Religious Knowledge, Political Economy, Drawing, Physics, Chemistry, Accounting and Law. By 1896, there was even a ‘beautiful Cricket Ground and Pavillion’ and Instrumental Music, Dancing and Fencing were taught at an additional charge.
The School went through various ups and downs over the years. Under the headship of Charles Barker (1817-1842), Mr Barker’s interest in hunting and shooting, led him to neglect his educational duties and by 1840, the School population had dwindled to just one pupil!
The first half of the 20th Century saw great change at BVGS with the appointment of first female teacher, Madame Le Huray in 1916, as well as the creation of Big School (now the Lowndes Hall) in 1939. Vesey pupils played a significant contribution in the two world wars. The names of the many fallen are inscribed on our two war memorials. Two pupils were awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery in World War 1: Alan Jerrard and Gus Bonner.
In 1944, Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School became a state grammar school, though it remained a boarding school until 1969. Through the second half of the 20th Century the pupil population almost doubled from 500 to 900. In 1983, the school sixth form became co-educational with the admission of girls and six years later the first female head, Marie Clarke, was appointed.
Since 2000, the School has seen lots of new buildings and facilities built with the construction of the Sports Hall, Music Centre and Middle Field. The School has been an Academy since 2012 and has been led by Dominic Robson since that year. BVGS has been inspected twice by OFSTED since 2012 and was graded outstanding on both occasions. The Richards-Randon STEM Block opened in 2016 and our new Learning Resource Centre is set to be ready by Autumn 2025. There are now almost 1400 pupils.
Notable alumni represent a wide range of fields including entertainment, Cat Deeley; diplomacy, Lord Peter Ricketts; journalism, Rohit Kachroo; archaeology, Professor Dan Hicks and music, award-winning saxophonist, Xhosa Cole.
We are proud to be celebrating 500 years as a School in 2027 and continue to be committed to ensuring that the people we serve ‘might more happily live.’
