Important characteristics: school building from the 1400s William Shakespeare studied

Despite the reference to William Shakespeare and the impression given by the present name, King Edward VI Grammar School in Stratford-upon Avon, the origins of the wooden building that is there now can be traced back to the XVI century when it was a medieval corporation. This school, different from a business corporation, was a religious brotherhood in Stratford. The Corporation of the Holy Cross, which was founded in 1269 by Robert of Stratford, was concerned also with the material wellbeing of its members. It managed a hospital and a hospice in the city organizing regular banquets and, interesting to us, educated young people. The first headmaster, in 1295, was "Richard, Rector Scholarum"; a priest that, even if bound to the parish church, was probably supported by the brotherhood to teach Latin grammar to the member's children. Latin was required, not only to enter university and the professions, but also to enter business or local administration in order to keep the books. At the beginning of the XV century, the brotherhood started a substantial plan to build the Guildhall, today, used as the school, but originally built as a banquet hall. The Schoolhouse was added in 1427. Now, know as Pedagogue's House, it is the oldest school building built in wood in the country. The cost of construction was only 10 pounds. More important than the Schoolhouse was the equipment given to the school in 1482 by a priest in the brotherhood and one of the students, Thomas Jolyffle. The income from the land and property inside and around Stratford contributed to insure the school's future. A salary of 10 pounds was paid annually to "a priest trained to teach grammar freely to all the scholars who went to him". Some of the teachers who took advantage of this equipment were very intelligent and gifted. Richard Fox was nominated headmaster in 1947 and later became Prime Minister under Henry VII, Bishop of Winchester and founder of Corpus Christi College at Oxford. In addition, Brasenose College was founded by one of the first headmasters of the school, William Smyth.

The Brotherhood of the Holy Cross survived until 1547. Six years later, in 1553, the buildings, assets and many of its civil functions, including maintaining the school, were transferred to the Commission of King Edward VI and to a newly started Bourough Corporation. The school was renamed, "The New King's School of Stratford-upon-Avon.

One of the first students to be educated by the King's school was William Shakespeare. He entered at the age of seven. The school day must have been very tiring for these boys; they started in the summer at 6:00 a.m. and finished at 5:00 p.m. with a two-hour lunch break. In winter, the boys had to bring their own candle and the lack of light shortened the day to from 7 to 4.

The school continued to concentrate on teaching Latin. The boys learned the fundamentals with the help of Tudor textbook known as Lily's Latin Grammar before studying the work of the grand classics. William was described a whimper that trudged along towards school like a snail. Even if he might have been witty and intelligent, as he showed later, he probably did not enjoy his days at school. Certainly, the regime was very difficult; the boys were punished if they talked between themselves in English instead of Latin.

The boys usually left school when they were 14. Some studied at Oxford or Cambridge. William probably was removed a year early by his father due to financial problems with the reason that poets never attended university.

This education model continued for more than two centuries. The school's reputation slowly declined despite the number of renowned teachers.

In 1811, following a change in the society where education based exclusively on Latin started to be inadequate, the school's textbook was changed to English. Subjects like writing and arithmetic were paid 3 guinea (£3.15) per subject and per year when the students were paid 2s 6d (1/2 pence) per year to work in the mines.

Presently, the school has more than 400 students and teaches acting, swimming and technological subjects.

It could be difficult to predict the future of the school, but, from the evidence of the past, it seems certain that it will continue to confront and satisfy modern needs.