Berkhamstead School - Herts - Blue Plaques on Waymarking.com

High Clergy of the 16th Century furthering of the educational establishment and, in this respect, Berkhamsted owes much to John Incent. In 1523, he called upon the Brethren of the local Brotherhood of St John the Baptist to divert the funds they had hitherto donated to the monastic hospital (which had closed) to the Brotherhood House, about which little is known. In 1541, however, Incent applied to the King, Henry VIII, in pursuit of a licence "to purchase £40 in land by the year," and was successful. Although Incent was Berkhamsted's most famous descendant, it is considered an act of great piety that he chose to found a School outside what had become his Sphere of Influence.
details takne from the schol web site.
By 1544, Berkhamsted School's first building, now known as 'Old Hall' was complete, later to be described by William Camden as "the only structure in Berkhamsted worth a second glance."
The formal opening is recorded in the Ancient Documents:

When the building of the said Schoole was thus finished, the Deane sent for the chiefe men of the Towne into the Schoole, where he kneeling downe, gave thanks to Almighty God, which had given him life to see the perfection of that work, which both he, the towne and the country had beene about for the space of 20 years as is manifest by the pmisses. First he read his licence. Then he called for Richd Reeve, and placed him in the seate there made for the Schoolemr. and so did ordaine, make and pnounce him to be the first Master of the said Schoole and after that tooke him by the hand and did give him and his successors for ever possession of the lodgings appteining to that office. In like manner he placed John Audley to be Usher , and John East to be Chaplen. This done he did give possession by his deed bearing date the 23 of March in the 36 yeare of Henry the 8 to the said Richd Reeve John Audley and John East and their successours for ever, of all the land to the sd Schoole then appointed, which are expressed pticularly in an act of pliamt. made 2 & 3 Ed 6. Finally the Deane began TE DEUM LAUDAMUS which being finished with certaine other praiers and ceremonies, the whole Companie did there drink together and so depted.

Yet the legal foundation was not nearly so sound. When Incent died some 18 months later, his entire wealth (over £330) became the King's, his documents stating that Berkhamsted's founder, a highly educated lawyer, had died intestate. The authenticity of this claim is rightly questioned: shortly after Incent's death, a complaint was made to the King "by some evill persons that the Deane had laid to the Schoole more revenues than his licence [£40 annually] did permitt him." Furthermore, Henry VIII stood to gain £196 and "a front of pearls" from the Dean's estate. However, there had been no formal incorporation of the School, and records suggest that Incent had spent much time since the opening preparing, but not realising, legal protection. An investigation into the claims that his annual endowment had been exceeded was commissioned and undertaken by John Waterhouse, a favourite not only of the King, but also a confidant of Incent, who had been present at the Opening. His choice of Commissioner suggests the Foundation still had Royal approval, something that had allowed the School to survive the first attack against it. The most enduring legacy of the Foundation nonetheless remains the building itself, "strong and fair".


A Delicate establishment
Incent's death, which itself had created a threat to the School, was followed by that of Henry VIII in January 1547. The Chantries Act 1546, which could have jeopardised the post of Chaplain at Berkhamsted, was replaced by new legislation, and the Foundation was declared "unperfect". A Foundation Act was introduced in parliament to settle the various claims to the Incent estate, but only those concerning the most immediate relatives of John. Thus claims to land of the School's endowment in Sparkford near Winchester were made and tried, resulting in significant loss to the School.

An additional threat came when Edward VI, acting on advice, re-established the School under his own name. In reality, there was both initial benefit and ultimate disadvantage in this. Richard Reeve, the first Headmaster, held strict Protestant views, and was dismissed by the Bishop of Lincoln, acting upon Queen Mary's instructions, in 1555. He was replaced by William Barker, who no doubt offered an alternative religious policy, for he himself was removed when Elizabeth gained the throne.

Fulfillment under Saltmarsh and Hunt
Just like his predecessors, William Saltmarsh was a strongly academic character, but enjoyed a longer Headmastership than either Reeve or Barker. The latter had appointed Leonard Stepney as Usher, but he lost his post in 1571 on charges of harbouring a Catholic priest. His successor, John Bristowe, had a still more colourful end, murdered gruesomely in 1597 by a local yeoman. Although this would no doubt have caused Saltmarsh concern, this was otherwise a most successful period in the history of Berkhamsted School. Pupil numbers continued to increase, and a handful of Berkhamstedians, as they would become known, achieved notoriety.

By 1616, some years after Saltmarsh's death, it was written

Scholae Ludimagister cum 33 annos eidem praefuisset amplam pecuniam testamento suo moriens legavit reficiendis his aedibus.

Quite why the building (by which it is meant Old Hall) had fallen into disrepair under an otherwise successful Headmaster is uncertain, but through his donation Saltmarsh had decisively added himself to Berkhamsted's list of benefactors.

All available evidence, of which there is admittedly little, suggests that the Hunt years were also successful ones for the School. His period in the office probably witnessed greater stability in the School than in his personal life - he was married as many as four times - and there was praise for his leadership, a former pupil recording "much reverence and affect" for Hunt. It also appears that he took as active a part in the life of Berkhamsted as had become and remains a tradition, serving as overseer for the poor and Bailiff as well as contributing to church funds. He died in office, aged 70, in 1636.

Shorter tenures
There were two hereditary Headmasterships in the history of Berkhamsted School, neither of which was successful. The first was that of Henry Hunt, a graduate of Trinity College, Oxford, who died within six months of succeeding his father; the second was to come in the 19th century. Hunt's successor, William Pitkin, was not quite the academic of former Berkhamsted days. Yet he was clearly a prominent member of local society, having served as Member of Parliament for Berkhamsted, and whose descendants included U.S. Supreme Court judges and Oliver Wolcott, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. In England, however, the political environment began to take its toll on Berkhamsted.

Berkhamsted, situated along a route between London and the battlefields of the English Civil War, became the subject of Parliamentary action to preserve the town. Pitkin's death is recorded in the parish register of Fleet Street, London in September 1643; in his history, Williams suggests Pitkin may have visited London in an attempt to obtain protection for the School, instead dying of the Plague. He was succeeded by Timothy Taylor, until then Usher, but the conditions of the period deny history any formal details, except that his death in 1648 was probably also a result of Plague. Ogle (1648-1651/2) witnessed local controversy resulting from the Civil War and it was likely that the School's seemingly relentless decline had begun in earnest by the time of his tenure, with student numbers falling from 80 to under 10 over three decades.

Such was the confusion of the period that it is uncertain whether Peter Berkenhead ever even served as Headmaster, although the weight of evidence suggests that he did (however insignificantly). This series of less distinguished office-holders is no doubt attributable in part to the Civil War; further, since the value of money had for so long been falling, the annual pay, having been set at the Foundation, was insufficient for such a post by the end of the 17th century.

The Fossan saga
Thomas Fossan, a friend of Samuel Pepys, petitioned the King for the Berkhamsted job in December 1662. His motive in doing so is unclear, himself recognising that "by reason of its small salary" it was not highly sought, but mostly since, having realised his ambition, Fossan so neglected his duties. Indeed, such was the strength of feeling against Fossan that the very same people who had recommended him in 1662 wrote to the authorities six years later in the name of "the trust imposed in [them] by the founders of the schoole" that the Headmaster be removed. When the charges were put to him (that both he and his Usher had spent much time away from the School, that the boys' knowledge of grammar was minimal and that the townspeople had taken to lodging the scholars in light of the School's failure so to do), Fossan replied that "he cared not whether he had any scholars or not, for the fewer he had the less trouble he should have." His forced resignation followed shortly after.]

Blue Plaque managing agency: Berkhamstead Heritage Walk Individual Recognized: The Berkhamstead School Physical Address: Berkhamstead Scool Castle Street Berkhamstead, Herts United Kingdom None Web Address: [Web Link]

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