St Philip's School

St. Philip's Grammar School for Boys

Motto	Pietas
Established	1887
Closed	1976
Type	Grammar school
Religion	Roman Catholic
Location	Hagley Road Edgbaston West Midlands B16 8UF England
Local authority	(Birmingham)
Gender	Boys
Ages	11–18

St. Philip's Grammar School, in Hagley Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, was a Roman Catholic grammar school for boys. It was closed in 1976, with the introduction of comprehensive education.

History

St Philip's was founded when two priests of the Birmingham Oratory took over an existing Catholic Grammar School in 1887. It should not be confused with the Oratory School founded by Cardinal Newman in 1859 and later moved to Pangbourne, near Reading.

The school started in the Little Oratory on 19 September 1887 until the main building was completed on 13 December 1887. The longest-serving teacher in the school's history was Francis Thomas Leighton,who served as "Second Master" (Deputy Head) from 1911 until 1945, having served as Headmaster when the School was evacuated to Ludlow in 1941. His two sons, and later, grandson, also attended the school. FT Leighton finally left to found an independent Preparatory School, Leighton House School, serving as a "feeder" school for St Philip's. The school ceased to accept new entrants as a boys' Grammar School in 1976, while the 1975 cohort progressed through to 1980.

Sixth form college

It became St Philip's Roman Catholic Sixth Form College in 1976, with around 800 sixth formers. In October 1992, due to only 30% of the intake being Catholic, the board of governors unsuccessfully attempted to change it to an 11-16 boys' secondary school, resulting in the Hagley Road site closing in August 1995. It temporarily became a site of South Birmingham College from 1995 but was vacated within a few years. The main school buildings were demolished in the early months of 2012.

Notable alumni

• Eamon Duffy, Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Cambridge
• Patrick Gallaher CBE, Chairman of North West Gas from 1974–82, and of Wales Gas Board from 1970-74, and President of the IGasE from 1977-78
• Sir Francis Griffin, Director of the NEC from 1970-74, 1976–80
• John Jenkins, Ambassador to Iraq since 2009
• Paul Keenan, composer
• Alfred Knight VC, OBE served in WW1 and later at Ministry of Labour
• Squadron Leader Peter Latham, later Air Vice-Marshal, Station Commander of RAF Tengah from 1969–71
• Paul Francis Leighton, Broadcaster and BBC Radio 2 Newsreader, 1981-2000.
• Jim McCarthy, CEO of Poundland
• Don Maclean, entertainer and presenter of Crackerjack.
• Daniel Moylan, banker and Conservative politician
• Stephen Nash, swimmer
• Anthony E. Pratt, inventor of the board game Cluedo
• Terence Rigby, actor
• William Slim - Between 1903 and 1910, William Slim attended St. Phillip's and King Edward's. As Field Marshal Slim, he served as the British commander-in-chief in Southeast Asia during World War II.
• J. R. R. Tolkien and his brother Hilary Tolkien: In 1902, the Tolkien family moved to a house in Edgbaston next door to the Birmingham Oratory and the school. Tolkien had been attending King Edward's School but was moved to St Philip's. Later, he won a Foundation Scholarship to King Edwards and returned to his former school.
• John Warnaby, Actor

See also

• Saint Philip Neri
• A History of St Philips, from Beginning to Beginning, Margaret Worsley, Wine Press, Tamworth, 1997, ISBN 1-86237-078-8

External links

• Tolkien Trail
• Discussed in Parliament in October 1993