Over time there have been many schools in Framlingham, but two major philanthropists have been key in supporting the establishment of various schools. These are Robert Hitcham and Thomas Mills (each will be covered by articles later in this series).
Both left substantial legacies on their deaths in 1636 and 1703 respectively, with a significant part for educational trusts. Given that the former was a member of the Establishment (a Church of England man), and the latter was a non-conformist, the two trusts administering the legacies did not always see eye to eye. This led to major disagreements about schooling in Framlingham in the 19th Century.
Robert Hitcham school
Robert Hitcham was Suffolk-born of lowly stock, but became a rich lawyer and parliamentarian. On his death in 1636 he left money and detailed instructions for a school in Framlingham1:
I will , that a School -Houſe be built there at Framlingham , and a Maſter appointed , whom, I will , ſhall have Forty Pounds by the Year, during his life, to teach Thirty , or Forty, or more of the pooreſt and needieſt Children of the ſaid Towns of Framlingham , Debenham , and Coxall [Coggeshall], to write, read , and caſt accounts, as the ſaid College [Pembroke Hall] ſhall think fit. Then to give them £10. a-piece to bind them forth apprentices at the discretion of the four Senior Fellows of the
said College.
(Pembroke Hall Cambridge – now Pembroke College – were he trustees of Hitcham’s will.)
This was to be a new school, but before this there was at least one school in the town, as in 1632 there is reference a parish school which may have been on the site of the Guild Hall2:
It is evident from this that previous to the founding of Sir Robert Hitcham’s trust there had been a parochial or some other Foundation School, and which was in existence as later as 1632, as Shene, the Churchwarden, then enters a payment relative to it thus: “It. to Baldry for removing the old seates [not saying from whence] into the school house, etc., 4s. and 6d.”
Hitcham’s will further stipulated who could send children to the school3:
…none can be admitted but those whose parents belong to the parish and are members of the Church of England.
This later set the Hitcham Trustees on a collision course with the Thomas Mills Trustees.
The school was initially established in an upper room in the Market Cross, a large building formerly standing on the Market Hill, where the Prince of India and Panorama now stand.
However, in 1788 the Trustees ordered it to be moved to a larger School House built at the end of the Almshouses in New Road4. This building was also used for a Sunday School.
This building remains, but is no longer a school.
Thomas Mills
Like Robert Hitcham, Thomas Mills was a Suffolk-born man of lowly stock, but a non-conformist (a Baptist). On his death in 1703, he also left a substantial legacy, including for a school.
It was not until 1751 that the trustees of Mills’ estate established a school. This was initially in a building adjacent to Thomas Mills’ house: what is now known as the Tomb House on the corner of Brook Lane and Station Road (though it was not called Station Road then). The school probably had paying children as well as Charity children. This was common practice for Charity schools at the time, in order to gain more income to pay staff. It was clear that the priority was children of non-conformist families. As mentioned above, at the time many schools would take only children from Church of England families.
The school has taken on different forms in different locations since.
The 19th Century onwards
During the 19th Century the Hitcham and Mills schools continued, but there were other schools. There was a girls school in the Castle (in the North Range, sometimes known as the White House). There were at least two schools in Double Street, according to the 1841 census.
In the 1860s, the “Albert Memorial College”, now known simply as “Framlingham College” was established. This is a boarding and day public school for boys, and since the 1980s for girls.
In 1879, a new Hitcham school was built, behind the previous one and facing College Road.
The ground floor was for boys, the first floor for girls (and the girls school in the Castle was closed).
In order to pay for the running of this, the Charity Commissioners had proposed that the Mills and Hitcham schools should be combined, and the Mills Charity should pay £300 a year towards the new school. This was strongly opposed by the Mills Charity and the local Baptist community felt it unfair that a Baptist charity should pay for what would become a Church of England school. They petitioned the Charity Commissioners to reverse the decision, and eventually they did so in 1891. The Mills Charity continued to run a mainly girls school.
This caused financial problems for the Hitcham school, which now ran at a loss.
The Mills Charity now concentrated on teaching girls, and built the “Mills Grammar School” for 42 girls. (The Albert Memorial College provided for boys.)
Secondary education for all children was established with the creation of Framlingham Modern School in 1937. The 1944 Education Act consolidated arrangements for “Grammar Schools” and “Secondary Modern Schools”. Mills Grammar provided a free grammar school for girls, and free grammar school places for boys were provided by the Direct Grant scheme in Framlingham College. The 1944 Act also enabled government funding for the Hitcham school as a Voluntary Aided primary school.
When the Direct Grant was ended in 1974, Mills Grammar School and the Secondary Modern School were combined as “Thomas Mills High School”.
Sources
- Loder et al, The History of Framlingham in the County of Suffolk, Woodbridge, 1798
- Green, The History, Topography, and Antiquities of Framlingham and Saxted [Saxtead] in the County of Suffolk, 1834
- History of Thomas Mills High School, https://thomasmills.suffolk.sch.uk/about-us/our-history/
- History of Robert Hitcham primary school, https://www.hitchams.suffolk.sch.uk/History-of-School/
- Education in Framlingham, Terry Gilder, The Journal of the Framlingham & District Local History & Preservation Society, 7th series No. 6, April 2018