Stop 8: The Grammar School

Community & Belief

West St, Yarm, TS15 9BU

About This Stop

The site of the now St Mary Magdalene Church, built in 1730 and still standing, has been home to many buildings, the most notable being The Free Grammar School of Thomas Conyers.

How to Get Here

Cross the road to Bridge Street, following the bend to West Street and down to St Mary Magdalene Church.

The History

As well as the current church building of St Mary Magdalene Church, built in 1730, the site was home to the Free Grammar School of Thomas Conyers. It was founded in 1590 by Thomas Conyers after he sent letters to Queen Elizabeth I to ask for permission to start up the school.

The school moved locations to a site off of The Spital in 1884 and the original building was demolished in 1885 to make room for the growing church. The school moved again in 1977 to the current site of Green Lane, where it became a comprehensive school.

Did You Know?

The origins of St Mary Magdalene Church date back to the Anglo Saxon age. The first church to be built was a wooden building, with no remaining traces to be found. Then, in the late 12th C, a Norman Church was built in its place until it was razed by a fire in 1728.

It was then in those remains that the Georgian Church was built, which is still standing and in use to this day. The Churchyard holds graves for battle hero Tom Brown and a tomb of an unidentified couple who became the True Lovers of Yarm.