Nottingham High School

Nottingham High School is a private, coeducational day school in Nottingham, England, consisting of an infant and junior school (ages 4–11), and senior school (ages 11–18). It was founded in 1513 by Dame Agnes Mellers, as a free grammar school for boys, with a charter signed by Henry VIII. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and has been coeducational since 2015.

There were 1186 students enrolled as at December 2025, of whom 262 were in the sixth form.

History

Foundation

thumbnail|left|440px|The original 1512 charter approving the foundation of a free grammar school in Nottingham

In 1513, the "Free School" was founded by Dame Agnes Mellers, after the death of her husband Richard, partly in his memory, but also as atonement for wrongdoings against the people of Nottingham. To do so she enlisted help from Sir Thomas Lovell as governor of Nottingham Castle and Secretary to the Treasury. Through their combined efforts, Henry VIII sealed the school's foundation deed on the 22 November that year. It is unclear whether this was a new institution or an endowment of an existing school, of which records exist back to 1289.

In the foundation deed, Mellers provided for a commemoration service in St Mary's Church in the Lace Market "on the Feast of the Translation of St Richard of Chichester, namely 16 June" each year, With the exception of Nottingham Goose Fair, this is the most ancient ceremonial event still held in the city of Nottingham, and the oldest still largely in its original form (the Goose Fair now being a funfair rather than a livestock fair), although there seems to be no record of it being held between the mid-16th century and its revival in 1923.

Premises

Location

Since 1868 the school has stood high on Waverley Mount to the north of the city centre, looking down towards its foundation site in St Mary's Church and later building in Stoney Street. The present site has undergone a long programme of building and development.

;Main building

200px|thumb|War memorial at the south gates|alt=Photograph of a Gothic Revival building. The walls are light brown and the pitched roof, which has algae growing on it, is grey slate. There is a wide chimney on each side of the building. There are five large multi-segment windows on each story on the left section, and five large multi-segment windows on each story on the right section. The left and right sections have two and three stories respectively and are separated by a protruding central section, which has a total of five stories. The central section has a two-storey bay window on each side of an arched, wooden door, which is elevated. The door is above an outdoor double staircase, which has a simpler wooden door in the front. Above each bay window is a smaller window. Above the smaller windows is a narrower section with three large multi-segment windows, above which is a yet narrower section, forming a square tower and the highest storey of the building. The tower is crenellated and has one large multi-segment window, a flagpole without a flag in the centre, and a crenellated stone structure projecting from the right corner that resembles a crow's nest in that it could be used as a lookout point. In front of the building is a lawn that separates an embankment from a planted area. Steps lead down from the central part of the building to a war memorial, which is in the form of a bronze statue of a First World War uniformed British soldier looking backwards and pointing up towards the left, standing atop a white stone plinth that has a relief of the heraldic achievement of the city of Nottingham, an inscription on a plaque, and a relief of the lozenge of Dame Agnes Mellers. The war memorial is elevated with stone steps on all four sides, which separate an outer circle of shrubbery. Below the war memorial is a paved stone floor.

An example of Gothic Revival architecture, the first school building on the present site, built between 1866 and 1867, was designed by Thomas Simpson. It consists of a tower and three wings: West Wing, Middle Corridor, and East Wing. West Wing houses classrooms for mathematics, English and geography. Housed in Middle Corridor are the learning support department, two ICT centres, two language laboratories, religious studies classrooms, two multi-purpose lecture theatres, the school library, and staff offices. East Wing contains the old gymnasium, the Player assembly hall and classrooms for modern languages, history, and classics. The school front and other features are Grade II listed.

200px|thumb|The Player Hall

335px|thumbnail|The south side of the school, showing the war memorial|alt=Photograph of a Gothic Revival building. The walls are light brown and the pitched, grey-slate roof has algae growing on it. There is a wide chimney on each side. There are five large multi-segment windows on each story on the left section and on the right section. Both sections have two and three stories and are separated by a protruding central section, which has a total of five stories and a two-storey bay window on each side of an arched, wooden door, which is elevated. The door is above an outdoor double staircase, which has a simpler wooden door in the front. Above each bay window is a smaller window. Above the smaller windows is a narrower section with three large multi-segment windows, surmouned by a yet narrower section, forming a square tower and the highest storey of the building. The tower is crenellated and has one large multi-segment window, a flagpole without a flag in the centre, and a crenellated stone structure projecting from the right corner that resembles a crow's nest in that it could be used as a lookout point. In front of the building is a lawn that separates an embankment from a planted area. Steps lead down from the central part of the building to a war memorial in the form of a bronze statue of a uniformed, First World War British soldier looking backwards and pointing up towards the left, standing atop a white stone plinth with a relief of the city's heraldic achievement, an inscription on a plaque, and a relief of the lozenge of Dame Agnes Mellers. The war memorial is elevated with stone steps on all four sides, to separate an outer circle of shrubbery. Below the memorial is a paved stone floor.

;Additions

To the west, the Founder Hall building was built in 1963 to mark the school's 450th anniversary. It includes the school's swimming pool and the Founder Hall itself, and acts as a performing venue to supplement the Player Hall. A drama studio was added in 2013 to mark the school's 500th anniversary.

The Simon Djanogly Science Building from 1984 is situated to the south west with 13 laboratories for all three sciences. A 25-yard CCF shooting range remains in the basement. The building was opened on 2 March 1984 by the Duke of Edinburgh.

In 1989 a sports hall was built on land to the north-east of the site formerly occupied by fives court and a shooting range. from as early as 1878, namely Harvey's Farm; then briefly Hucknall Road Farm in 1920, it was converted to use as a playing field around 1960. It features a number of rugby pitches and posts during winter, which are converted for athletics in the spring, with a running track and areas for shot put, javelin, discus, pole vault, hurdles and high jump. During the summer, the ground is used for cricket, with nets put up and squares re-established for the season. Tennis courts, netball courts, and an archery range are also located there. The pavilion has several changing rooms on the ground and first floors, and a refreshment area for staff and guests. Until 1897, boys played sports and had their PE lessons at the Forest Recreation Ground.

Junior school houses

The junior school's four houses are named after former pupils or staff who served with distinction in the First World War and were killed in action or died of their wounds. Ball's House recalls Albert Ball, a fighter pilot in the RFC and pupil at the school in 1907–1909, Hardy's House Theodore Hardy, an assistant master in 1891–1907 and a British Army chaplain in 1916–1918, Tonkin's House FC Tonkin, a former pupil who served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps, and Trease's House Reginald Trease, a pupil at the school in 1898–1905. However, in 2025, for the purpose of bringing the Junior and Senior school together, the Junior School now uses the Senior School Houses( Mellers', Maples, Cooper's and Whites)

Sixth-form subjects include Ancient Greek, art, biology, chemistry, classical civilization, computer science, design and technology, drama, economics, English language, English literature, Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), French, further mathematics, geography, government and politics, German, history, Latin, mathematics, music, music technology, physical education, physics, psychology, religious studies, statistics, and Spanish.

Media

Some of a 1990 episode of the TV series "Boon", starring Michael Elphick, was filmed at the school, with some pupils as extras. The story was entitled "Bully Boys", the sixth episode of the fifth series, broadcast on 30 October 1990. The main playground, the Bridge Library (now the library reception), and the Valley Road playing fields were shown.

Kevin Fear (the then school's headmaster) and certain boys, were filmed by ITV for a news story shown as part of the news programme "ITV News Central". Filming took place at several school locations, including the headmaster's office, various classrooms and the Lower School Library. The news was that the school had announced it would admit girls – for the first time in its 500-year history – from 2015/2016.

<nowiki>*</nowiki> Resigned or retired<br/>

† Died in office<br/>

‡ Never assumed post For more than a century, the Old Nottinghamians' Society has existed continuously, with its origins dating back to 1897, at which time it was called the NHS Dinner Committee. classical musician, harpsichordist, scholar and conductor

Thomas Cecil Howitt (1889–1968), architect responsible for the design of the Nottingham Council House
D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930), writer and publisher
Nicholas McGegan (b. 1950), classical musician, conductor
Geoffrey Trease (1909–1998), author

Academia and religion

Eric Abbott (1906–1984), Warden of Keble College, Oxford; Dean of Westminster
Michael Argyle (1925-2002), social psychologist
Samuel Ayscough (1745–1804), index compiler
Ben G. Davis (b. 1970), chemist and fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford
Henry Garnet (1555–1606), Jesuit priest executed 1606 for his complicity in the Gunpowder Plot
John K. Inglis (died 2011), biologist, writer and lecturer
Frank Byron Jevons (1858–1936), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Durham
Robert Mcfarlane (b. 1976), travel writer and fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge

Victor Mundella (1866–1939), Physicist and Principal of Sunderland Technical College
Thomas Wingate Todd (1885–1938), anthropologist, orthodontist
R. M. W. Dixon (b. 1939), linguist

Armed forces

Albert Ball (1896–1917), the first Royal Flying Corps to be awarded the Victoria Cross
Theodore Hardy (1863–1918), NHS schoolmaster, non-combatant chaplain in the Great War, awarded the Victoria Cross

Media and entertainment

Kenneth Adam (1908–1978), Controller of the BBC
Malcolm Balen (living), author and broadcaster
Raymond Buckland (1934–2017), author and occultist
Michael Bywater (b. 1953), writer and broadcaster
Leslie Crowther (1933–1996), comedian and quiz show host
Trevor Dann (b. 1951), broadcaster and producer of the 1985 Live Aid concert
David Leigh (b. 1946), investigative journalist and investigative executive editor for The Guardian
Arun Maini (b. 1995), technology YouTuber 'Mrwhosetheboss'
Keith Mansfield (b. 1965), writer
Simon Miller (living), writer/director
Chris Moncrieff (1931–2019), Press Association political journalist
Andrew Nickolds (1949–2022), writer

Tim Royes (1964–2007), music video director and editor
Daniel Storey (living), writer and broadcaster
Jonny Sweet (b. 1985), comedian and actor
Michael Watts (1938–2018), journalist and broadcaster

Civil and diplomatic service

Alan Charlton (b. 1952), British ambassador to Brazil
Peter Gregson (1936–2015), permanent secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry
Richard Lloyd-Jones (b. 1933), permanent secretary of the Welsh Office
Lord Richardson of Duntisborne, governor of the Bank of England from 1973 until 1983
Douglas Wass (1923–2017), sometime permanent secretary of the Treasury and Head of the Home Civil Service
Geoffrey Owen Whittaker (1932–2015), governor of Anguilla 1987–1989

Commerce

Jesse Boot later Lord Trent (1850–1931), founder of the chemist chain Boots (now the Boots Group)
Roger Carr (b. 1946), knight, businessman
John Player (d. 1884), tobacconist (John Player & Sons), after whom the school's Player Hall is named

Law

Sir Roderic Wood (b. 1951), High Court judge

Politics

Ed Balls (born 1967), former Labour MP, secretary of state for children, schools and families, economic secretary to the treasury and shadow chancellor of the exchequer
Jonathan Bullock (born 1963), former Brexit Party member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands constituency
Kenneth Clarke (born 1940), independent Member of Parliament, former Conservative Lord Chancellor and justice secretary, chancellor of the exchequer and home secretary
Ed Davey (born 1965), MP, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament, minister in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and leader of the Liberal Democrats
Sir James Lester (1932–2021), Conservative politician
Piers Merchant (1951–2009), former Conservative Member of Parliament and former general secretary of UKIP
James Morris (born 1967), MP, Conservative Member of Parliament

Science and technology

Ben G. Davis (b. 1970), University of Oxford
Thomas Hawksley (1807–1893),

Sport

Patrick Bamford (b. 1993), footballer
Charles Caborn (b. 1856, death date unknown), footballer for Nottingham Forest who appeared in their first FA Cup match.
Anuj Dal (b. 1996), professional cricketer
Anthony Douglas (b. 1985), Olympic short track speed skater
Henry Groves (1896–1992), cricketer
Graham Harding (b. 1966), cricketer
David Haywood (b. 1945), cricketer
Sam King (b. 2003), professional cricketer
Alex Lewington (b. 1991), rugby union player
Leonard Lindley (1861–1915), footballer and cricketer, brother of Tinsley
Tinsley Lindley (1865–1940), international footballer and cricketer, brother of Leonard
Henry Nwume (b. 1977), professional rugby union player and bobsleigh Olympian
Anthony Palfreman (b. 1946), cricketer and cricket administrator
Reg Simpson (1920–2013), England cricketer
Greig Tonks (b. 1989), rugby union player
Andy Turner (b. 1980), professional Olympic sprint hurdler