School History

PRINCE HENRY’S THROUGH MORE THAN 600 YEARS.
Prince Henry’s is one of the oldest schools of any kind in England. Its origins lie in the great Benedictine Abbey which once dominated the town. Like most important abbeys, Evesham had within its precincts a school at which able local boys were taught Latin grammar and prepared for the priesthood. Certainly there is documentary evidence for the School in 1376, and it was probably already several hundred years old at the time of the Reformation when the last Abbot of Evesham, Clement Lichfield, had a new school built just outside the Great Gate of the Abbey. The School therefore survived the closure and destruction of the Abbey in 1539, and that building still stands in Merstow Green.

The School was not well-endowed and had reached a low point in 1605 when the Vicar of Evesham, Dr Lewis Bayley, determined to refound it more securely. He had formerly been tutor to Prince Henry, the eldest son of James I, and through his contacts at Court he secured a new Charter for the town which included mention of the “Free Grammar School of Prince Henry in Evesham”. As the Prince was only 12 years old at the time it is doubtful whether he had anything to do with this decision. Prince Henry died in 1612, depriving the School of its royal patron and the country of a King who might well have proved more able a ruler than his brother, Charles I.

The School continued with inadequate funding until the present site in Victoria Avenue was provided by the County Council, by which time the School had become a Local Authority Grammar School for girls as well as boys. In 1973 the School was reorganised as a Comprehensive High School serving a wide area of the Vale of Evesham including the area around Bredon Hill. In 1993 it achieved Grant Maintained status and experienced six highly successful years before becoming a Foundation School in September 1999.

Prince Henry’s can be said therefore to have served the community and adapted to changing circumstances for most of the past millennium. We are looking forward to the challenges of the next century with great enthusiasm in the belief that the School has never been stronger or more popular