Merchant Taylors' Girls' School

Merchant Taylors' Girls' School is a selective independent girls' school in Great Crosby, Merseyside, England.HistoryMerchant Taylors' Girls' School was established in 1888, having inherited the buildings from the boys' school that had moved less than a mile away in 1874. The then governing body was dilatory in providing for the 'new' school and it was due to the insistence of James Fenning, the Master of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors, that the girls' school was started. At the School's opening all of the female staff were graduates; an impressive feat considering that at the time only four universities granted degrees to women. In June 1888 twelve pupils attended the school, by the 1920s it had grown to 300 and now, in 2014, the figure has almost doubled. The continuing increase in pupil numbers enabled the purchase in 1911 of the adjoining house, 'The Mulberries' which doubled the existing space and still adds to the charm of the school. The jewel of the buildings, the now grade II listed 1620's building (currently housing the library), has always dominated the surrounding area and new buildings. Two generous donations from a former headmistress ensured further development of facilities forming the basis of the network of buildings.The early prefect system was replaced in 1972 with the more democratic system of Sixth Form committees still in place today. In 2008, the House System was reintroduced and the four houses were renamed Minerva, Thalia, Gaia and Selene. The houses still compete in the same way they have always done since 1917 in points, academia, and sports.