TMVC New Headquarters

This page is being constructed as we go, to build a record of the work done to restore the building.

What a wonderfully atmospheric picture of the Old School—one almost expects
Miss Haversham to emerge from the shadows!

Owing to the extraordinary generosity and community spirit of our principal sponsor, M. Markovitz Ltd, a unique, historical building in Tideswell is being rescued from incipient dereliction, having been neglected for many years—indeed, its 450th anniversary in 2010 seems to have slipped by unremarked. The school is now being renovated, in accordance with the requirements of its being a Grade II Listed Building; the renovation involves the replacement of the roof, floors, wiring, plumbing and plastering, much of which dates from the 18th century.

Members of the choir are pleased to be able to contribute to the unspecialised parts of the work, which has already started—with gusto!—with a considerable amount of preparation: ground clearance, demolishing plasterboard partitions, stripping out old furniture and equipment, and so on. When it is finished, the building will be leased to the choir for use as its headquarters.

This page is being constructed to record the whole operation as work proceeds, and on completion will become an archive of, we hope, some historical significance.

Each of the pictures on this page can be clicked to show a bigger version. The small gallery pictures are only 120 by 160 pixels (to reduce page loading time) and the bigger ones about 1200 by 1600. We have the originals at about 2400 by 3600; if you’d like a copy of one of these please contact the webmaster.

The Building as We Found it

Some pictures showing the state we found the building in
(thanks to Thomas Eccles):

Carved on a stone that used to be over the door of an outbuilding on the east side of the old Grammar School are the initials GB, TM, TR and TH with the date 1658. It seems that they refer to George Bower, Thomas Middleton and Thomas Redfearne, who were Churchwardens in 1658–1660 (no record of TH). Apparently their names are also on the 5th bell in the church tower.
The stone is no longer in its original position, having been moved at some date to be incorporated into the boundary wall of the courtyard. Perhaps this was done at the time of the rebuilding in 1742?

Thanks to Bill Preece for the historical note—Ed.

A History of The Old Grammar School, Tideswell, Founded on 18 June 1560

(Thanks to Bill Preece)

It all started with Robert Pursglove. Robert Pursglove was born in Tideswell in 1504, son of Adam Pursglove and his wife Mudwina Bradshaw. He lived in Tideswell as a boy and went to School here. His uncle William Bradshaw lived in London and took young Robert there to St Paul’s School to study under Dean Colet. Robert then spent 14 years at Corpus Christy, Oxford, and was described as “a clerk of learning great”.

He entered the Church and became Prior of the Augustine Monastery of Guisborough where he founded a school in 1561 and a charity house for 6 men and 6 women. (This School is still there today as a 6th-form college and is still called The Pursglove School.)

Robert Pursglove went on to become Bishop of Hull, before retiring back to Tideswell in 1559, where he decided to establish another school under a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth 1st. When completed the School became what is now the 4th-oldest in Derbyshire (Lady Manners was built in 1636).

The first school house was erected on the present site with a ground-floor schoolroom, and two rooms above where the master lived. It was to be known as the “School of Jesus Christ our Saviour of Tiddeswall for ever”. It soon established an excellent reputation, attracting boys from other districts. Gentry of the Peak District sent their sons and they boarded in the village.

The original building became dilapidated and it was rebuilt in 1742, largely by subscriptions raised from principal parishioners. A new, enlarged first floor was added in 1824, as it was no longer a requirement for the headmaster to remain unmarried and to live above the School.

The School continued to operate until 1930, when the governors sold the building to Tideswell Church, which bought it using money left by one John Harrop. The Governors then gave £3,500 to Derbyshire County Council towards the building of the Pursglove School, a new Central School for boys and girls. This school has since been converted into dwellings [in one of which our webmaster was privileged to live for a time—Ed] and a new, larger primary school built nearby.

Since 1930 the Old Grammar School has had a variety of uses, most recently as a field study centre for The Charterhouse School. When that ceased around 1999 the building fell into disuse and has generally deteriorated to the point of being unusable.

Today, thanks to the efforts and generosity of the Hopkins family, it is on the brink of complete restoration to become the permanent home of the Tideswell Male Voice Choir.

And it’s available for other community uses too.