Royal Grammar School Worcester

The Royal Grammar School Worcester (RGS Worcester) is a British independent Public School founded before 1291.

School Buildings

The Old School buildings were built in 1868 on a site owned by the school since 1562. The Main Hall, Eld Hall and adjoining buildings were designed by A E Perkins in the Gothic style. It is three bays long with a central lantern. A life-size statue of Elizabeth I by R L Boulton stands above the central window.

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The Perrins Hall is arguably the finest building. Built in 1914 to the plans of Alfred Hill Parker (an Old Boy), it is in a Jacobethan style with an oriel window on the staircase end and balcony looking over the hall. The interior is panelled with fitted bookcases and a plastered ceilling. The organ is on the stage. Two war memorials for the two World Wars are housed in the hall. The hall is named after James Dyson Perrins of the Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce factory and was built by his son Charles William Dyson Perrins, whose life size portrait hangs opposite the fireplace. Portraits of the 20th-century headmasters hang below.

Related Topics:
Alfred Hill Parker - Lea and Perrins

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The Clock Block is connected to the Perrins Hall and was built in 1927. It has a bell tower and clock above the entrance.

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The Science buildings form the third side of the courtyard. These were built in 1922 and opened in that year by the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth).

Related Topics:
Duke - Duchess of York

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Whiteladies House, built in the seventeenth century, is the Headmaster's house and stands opposite Clock Block across the gardens. Its West wall is part of the Whiteladies Priory chapel built in 1255.

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Other buildings include Priory House (17th Century), Pullinger House (1980s), Gordon House (after Adam Lindsay Gordon OE) and Hillard Hall (1961, opened by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on her second visit to the school).

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The Almshouses, built in 1877 in the Arts and Crafts style, were designed by the famous architect Sir Aston Webb and are an example of some of his earliest work. Sir Aston Webb designed the facade of Buckingham Palace, the Royal Naval College Dartmouth and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Related Topics:
Arts and Crafts - Aston Webb - Buckingham Palace - Victoria and Albert Museum

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The school also has a rare Black Pear tree, planted in 1961, in its main courtyard. The tree is associated with Worcester after the visit of Queen Elizabeth I in 1574 (at which a scholar from her school welcomed her to the city) when she commented on the Black Pear trees. Hence the City and the School both have three black pears on their Arms.

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