Building record MDR5389 - Former Chesterfield Grammar School, Sheffield Road, Chesterfield

Chesterfield Grammar School was re-established in 1843 and a new school built 1846, replacing that of 1710 [see SMR 3926]. It was often called St. Helen's School or Chapel School rather than the Grammar School. The present 19th century buildings are known as Chesterfield School with no evidence of earlier structures. A plaque commemorated the Chapel site. (1) Chesterfield Grammar School, originally housed in a building of 1710, was closed in 1832. In 1843 a new scheme was drawn up for the government of the School and two years later it was rebuilt at a cost of rather more than £2000, the town Council having been told in 1843 that it was 'likely to tumble down altogether very soon'. The new school was described in 1846 as a 'handsome stone structure'. The reputation of the School improved so that by the 1860s it had almost 100 pupils. (2) The former Grammar School for Boys on Sheffield Road is now in use as an annexe of the Chesterfield College of Art and Design [1979]. It was built in 1846 by Patterson & Hine, in a gloomy rock-faced Tudor style. (3) Map evidence appears to suggest that the mid-19th century Chesterfield Grammar School was rebuilt immediately to the north of the earlier 'Chapel School' [SMR 3926]. (4) A grade II listed former school built in 1846 with later 19th century additions. It was formerly Chesterfield Grammar School. It is built of coursed stone with quoins and a moulded band at first floor level. It has a fishscale and plain tile banded roof. It has coped gables with kneelers, some with finials. The roofs have crestings and stone chimneys. The northern part is the oldest, and is triple-gabled and of three storeys. Famous pupils to the school include, in early 18th century, Thomas Secker, later Archbishop of Canterbury, and later, Erasmus Darwin, Grandfather of Charles Darwin. See list description for more details. (5)