The Millenary is the thousandth anniversary of the granting of a charter. By this charter King Eadwy gave to Oskytel, Archbishop of York, the Manor of Southwell. It is in fact a grant of land in and around Southwell and as a result the Archbishop of York were able to establish their Minster in Southwell and with it the church, the school and the palace. It is rightly our foundation date. Read More...

Tags: 1955-56 Millennium, Millenary, King Eadwy, Southwellian

Very simply put ‘The Southwellian’ is the most important reference document that was ever produced by the school. It was a yearly 30 to 40 page professionally printed publication that covered every aspect of the school life. These included staff, governors, rugby, cricket, athletics, swimming, scouts, leavers, music, drama, the house system, 6th form society, OSS, and occasionally cross words and puzzles. The 1955-56 edition is also the millennium edition that celebrates the 1000 year anniversary of the school being founded. You will also be able to read the transition of the school from grammar to 'Secondary Modern' and all that brought to the school. We would like to complete the whole set but are not sure exactly how many there are; can you help? Read More

Tags: Secondary Modern, 1955-56 Millennium, Southwellian

It was the tradition at school to believe that it was the second oldest school in the UK and I have taken the time to try to verify this. If you believe Wikipedia then they address the matter under 'List of Oldest Schools in the United Kingdom' and they actually list 12 other school, starting with The Kings School Canterbury (founded in 597) and of course The Minster School York (founded 627). This then makes Minster School Southwell the 13th oldest school. I would be interested in any other views on the matter.
What is not in doubt that the school had its millenary celebrations in October 1956 which was patronised by HRH Princess Margaret for evensong.

Tags: Old School, 2nd Oldest School

For some time we have been working to put together a definitive list of all those, who have in the past, been awarded the five OSS trophies. These are the OSS Cup for the head boy (first awarded in 1925 to H Middleton), the Rose Bowl for the head girl (first awarded in 1979 to Anna Brough), the Music Cup (first award in 1985 to Anita Wells), the Dudley Doy Trophy for sport (first awarded in 1960 jointly to Ian Lennard and David Crisp) and the Steve Pulford Cup for mathematics (first awarded in 1968 to J McEwan). These were either awarded at the OSS dinner or on school prize day. Fascinating reading and some very talented people…… Read More...

Tags: Doy, Head Boy, Head Girl, Music, Trophies

Have you ever struggled to remember who on earth was it that got the English prize that you thought that was yours by rights, the head boy or girl 3 years older than you or just what was the 'Rose Bowl'? We have the answer to all of these, and more, in old copies of prize-giving programmes. To all of our surprise we find that copies of prize-giving programmes have been stored and the school has the majority of them. You can see that there are quite a lot of gaps, which we would like to fill, as we know that the programmes went back to at least 1949. If you have any back numbers we would like a copy please.
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Tags: Prizegiving, Head Boy, Head Girl

The New Minster School Southwell was officially opened by his RH Prince Edward on the 16th July 2008 and was set up as a Specialist Humanities and Music College. This event was accompanied by a string quartet and a demonstration of Brazilian dancing to illustrate the new school focus. The actual opening was in September 2007 and was the physical manifestation of the two site school joining. Read More...

Tags: New School

The long awaited New Building for the Minster Grammar School was opened on the 29th October 1964 by the then Bishop of Southwell. It had been delayed by funding issues, disagreement on the design and also the possibility of Roman remains (or was it a plague grave from the middle ages). Its subsequent history was to be eventful!
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Tags: Church Street, Fire, Video

As we know the Old Southwellians Society was formed in 1906 and the first president was General W Warrand and we currently know little of this man except that he seem to serve for six years whereas the norm up until 1978 was a two year stint which then extended to 2 years after this date. The society appears to have had a break in the war years. It is interesting to note that many of the long serving teachers also served as presidents with some of the obvious ones being R Matthews, Doy, Harrison, Rushby Smith, Yates, and Steve Pulford. Read More...

Tags: Mathews, Doy, Harrison, Rushby-Smith, Yates, Pulford

We have come across a range of documents over the years that make fascinating reading and none more than the those that came from school. You can read the Schools first attempts at marketing in such things as a prospectus the the tuck that boarders could receive and the extent of rationing after the war. This section contains fourteen authentic of letters and correspondence from the fifties and sixties. A must read Read More...

Tags: Boarding School Prospectus, Boarding Fees increase, Clothing, Day School Prospectus, National Insurance Act, Beveridge, School Rules, Sickness Insurance, Tuck

Charts the history of the School from the year 955 tracks is development into the modern school of today. She pays particular attention to the history of music within the School and in particular the choir which get its first mention in 1777. We can also see references to the statement that the School is the 8th oldest in the UK. More information can be found in History of the Minster School and The history of the Minster school around WW1

Tags: History, SMGS, Choristers, Minster, 8th Oldest School

The History of the Minster School was written and researched by David Hutchinson, a former history teacher at the Minster School. He writes 'The present Southwell Minster School came into being in September 1976 as an 11-18, co-educational comprehensive. One of our "ancestors" was a grammar school, established in the Middle Ages. No precise date can be given to the grammar school's foundation. It was always a small school - on a number of occasions in danger of ceasing to exist. It did not develop a reputation for producing pupils who became household names, nor did it set any trends in education. Yet, through descent from the Grammar School, the Minster School is part of a line of development which may go back further than that represented by any other English school now outside the private sector. And, precisely because the Grammar School, and the other ancestors of the modern comprehensive, were not too much out of the ordinary, their story is the more important'. Follow the link for a definitive history There is no doubt that this a quite brilliant write-up and represents the last word is how more than half a dozen educational establishments came together to form the modern school. We thank Mr  David Hutchinson.

Tags: Minster School, History, History Book, Hutchinson

My guess is that many of you have not taken an eleven plus test as although they were all the rage in the fifties and sixties they then fell out of favour. If you want to have ago then follow the links and see what you think Read More...

Tags: Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning, Maths, IQ Tests

A program has come to light for the 1960 sports day. It gives a fascinating insight into the nuts and bolts of school life. We have ancient events, like throwing the cricket ball and potato race, new ones like the pole vault and a rather bizarre senior relay that involved 100, 200 and 400 yard legs. Most interesting for me were the school records and the boys that held them at the time. Some of these were serious athletes with the likes of Chris Simey, Malcolm Wharmby, Richard Parker, Doughy Briggs, Trevor Sokell, Harry Luke, Dave Crisp and Read More...

Tags: Records, Sports Day