Centenary Celebrations at Stockport Grammar School
STOCKPORT Grammar will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the school’s move to its current site with a spectacular centenary concert.
The event, on Saturday, 19th March, will be held at St George’s Church in Buxton Road from 7.30pm. Proceeds from the event will support the church’s organ fund.
There will be a varied programme of choral and orchestral music including a selection of madrigals, spirituals and anthems plus renditions of Albinoni’s Oboe Concerto in D Minor and Faure’s Requiem. The school’s Junior Chamber Choir, Chamber Choir, First Orchestra and Chorus will also perform.
Tickets are £5 for adults and £3 for children. Attendees can pay on the door or buy tickets in advance by calling the school’s music department administrator Sarah Johnson on 0161 456 9000 or emailing johnsonsj@stockportgrammar.co.uk.
Founded in 1487 by former Mayor of London, Sir Edmond Shaa, Stockport Grammar School is one of the oldest schools in the country.
In 1608 the school gained a new home in Chestergate. Located on the then outskirts of the town near Adlington Square. The school remained at this location for over 200 years, while the surrounding area became increasingly industrialised.
In 1830 construction of a new building began at Greek Street. Constructed in the Tudor Gothic style, the building opened on the 30th April 1832 with 110 pupils.
By 1910 the School had started to outgrow the Greek Street site and the surrounding area had become noisy due to traffic from the electric tram. Once again the search began for a new location.
The site chosen was the Bramhall Lodge Estate at Mile End, owned by Mr Alfred Bell, a member of a well-known local brewing family.
The foundation stone was laid on the 4th April 1914 by Chairman of Governors Walter Bright Hodgkinson, with the work completed in little over twenty months, on schedule and on budget.
The move to Buxton Road took place during the Christmas holiday 1915, with a formal opening ceremony on Saturday 29th January 1916 by Colonel George Dixon, Chairman of Cheshire County Council. A guard of honour was formed by the School detachment of the Stockport Battalion of the Cheshire Volunteer Regiment.
The new buildings were designed for 250 pupils in ten classrooms grouped in a two-storey block on one side of a quadrangle, on another was the Hall, named after one of the main benefactors of the build, the Ephraim Hallam Trust.
