Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School

Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School is a comprehensive school in Warrington, Cheshire.HistoryGrammar schoolThe school was founded in 1526 by Sir Thomas Boteler, later to be the Sheriff of Lancashire in 1535. He left a legacy to pay for the education of six "poor boyes of the parishe", and this foundation later developed into the Boteler Grammar School for Boys, serving the whole of Warrington. The original school was located in the town centre, and its nineteenth century building, now used as a council depot, survives at School Brow.This building was demolished some years ago having been allowed to fall into a state of neglect. Attempts to gain access before demolition were prevented by Warrington Borough Council but a photographer was sent out to take some pictures prior to demolition. As far as is known no attempts were made to preserve any of the material of the building but in fact the Council denied that anything was older than Victorian. A niche on the front of the building may have been 18th Century but this is speculation. The location being proximate to the parish church is consistent with the original foundation as many English Grammar Schools both before and after the reformation were linked to churches and monastic institutions as one or more of the clergy often acted as the masters being the most literate and educated members of the local community. School Brow is only a short walk from St Elphin's parish church. By the 1930s, the Boteler school educated girls as well as boys. In 1936 a new school for boys only was planned at Latchford, to be built by the Warrington Education Committee. The new boys' school buildings opened on the school's current site in 1940, while the girls remained at the town centre site. They were later moved to a new High School for Girls, on a site now occupied by Priestley College.