George Heriot's School


George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. It was established in 1628 as George Heriot's Hospital, by bequest of the royal goldsmith George Heriot, and opened in 1659. It is governed by George Heriot's Trust, a Scottish charity.

Architecture

The main building of the school is notable for its renaissance architecture, the work of William Wallace, until his death in 1631. He was succeeded as master mason by William Aytoun, who was succeeded in turn by John Mylne. In 1676, Sir William Bruce drew up plans for the completion of Heriot's Hospital. His design, for the central tower of the north façade, was eventually executed in 1693.
The school is a turreted building surrounding a large quadrangle, and built out of sandstone. The foundation stone is inscribed with the date 1628. The intricate decoration above each window is unique. A statue of the founder can be found in a niche on the north side of the quadrangle.
The main building was the first large building to be constructed outside the Edinburgh city walls. It is located next to Greyfriars Kirk, built in 1620, in open grounds overlooked by Edinburgh Castle directly to the north. Parts of the seventeenth-century city wall serve as the walls of the school grounds. When built, the building's front facade faced the entrance on the Grassmarket. It was originally the only facade fronted in fine ashlar stone, the others being harled rubble.
In 1833 the three rubble facades were refaced in Craigleith ashlar stone. This was done because the other facades had become more visible when a new entrance was installed on Lauriston Place. The refacing work was handled by Alexander Black, then Superintendent of Works for the school. He later designed the first Heriot's free schools around the city.
The north gatehouse onto Lauriston Place is by William Henry Playfair and dates from 1829. The chapel interior is by James Gillespie Graham, who is likely to have been assisted by Augustus Pugin. The school hall was designed by Donald Gow in 1893 and boasts a hammerbeam roof. A mezzanine floor was added later. The science block is by John Chesser and dates from 1887, incorporating part of the former primary school of 1838 by Alexander Black. The chemistry block to the west of the site was designed by John Anderson in 1911.
The grounds contain a selection of other buildings of varying age; these include a wing by inter-war school specialists Reid & Forbes, and a swimming pool, now unused. A 1922 granite war memorial, by James Dunn, is dedicated to the school's former pupils and teachers who died in World War I. Alumni and teachers who died in World War II were also added to the memorial.

History

On his death in 1624, George Heriot left around 25,000 Pound Scots - equivalent to several tens of millions today - to found a "hospital" to care for the "puir, faitherless bairns" of Edinburgh.
The construction of Heriot's Hospital was begun in 1628, just outside the city walls of Edinburgh. It was completed in time to be occupied by Oliver Cromwell's English forces during the invasion of Scotland during the Third English Civil War. When the building was used as a barracks, Cromwell's forces stabled their horses in the chapel. The hospital opened in 1659, with thirty sickly children in residence. As its finances grew, it took in other pupils in addition to the orphans for whom it was intended.
By the end of the 18th century, the Governors of the George Heriot's Trust had purchased the Barony of Broughton, thus acquiring extensive land for feuing on the northern slope below James Craig's Georgian New Town. This and other land purchases beyond the original city boundary generated considerable revenue through leases for the Trust long after Heriot's death.
In 1837 the school founded ten "free schools" in Edinburgh, where several thousand pupils across the city were educated. These were closed in 1885. One of them, which was designed with several features of the original Lauriston Place building, is at the east end of the Cowgate..
In the 1880s, Heriot's School began to charge fees. But it still serves its charitable goal, providing free education to fatherless children, students who are referred to as "foundationers". In 1846 there was an insurrection in the hospital and fifty-two boys were dismissed.
In 1979 Heriot's became co-educational after admitting girls. In the early 21st century, it has around 1600 pupils. Today, the school is ranked as Edinburgh's best performing school by Higher exam results. Its leavers attended the country's most selective and prestigious universities, including St Andrews, Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland; and Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and King's College London in England.
, 1844.
The school also provided funds for the establishment of an institution that later merged in the 1870s with the Watt Institution. It formed Heriot-Watt College, a technical college that developed by 1966 into what is known as Heriot-Watt University.

Headmasters and principals

Chronological list of the headmasters of the school, the year given being the one in which they took office.
Thereafter, the title of Headmaster was changed to that of Principal.
Pupils at the school belong to one of four houses:
George Heriot's School has a wide range of extra-curricular activities in which pupils participate.
Academia and Science
Media and Arts
Law and Politics
Sports
Military
Religion
Other