Kepier Grammar School
Kepier Grammar School
HER Number
265
District
Sunderland
Site Name
Kepier Grammar School
Place
Houghton-le-Spring
Map Sheet
NZ34NW
Class
Education
Site Type: Broad
School
Site Type: Specific
Grammar School
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Elizabethan 1558 to 1603
Form of Evidence
Extant Building
Description
The free grammar school of Kepier was founded in 1574 by Bernard Gilpin, the famous rector and John Heath of Kepier who had purchased from the Crown the estates of the dissolved hospital of Kepier, near Durham. The foundation included the school and an almshouse or hospital which was not established until later. Sited on the east end of the churchyard, the L-shaped centre survives from 1574, despite later repairs. The school had a celebrated library: of the books surviving in 1907 40 were pre 1600 in date. LISTED GRADE 2*
Easting
434240
Northing
549880
Grid Reference
NZ434240549880
Sources
<< HER 265 >> W. Hutchinson, 1787, History of…Durham, II, pp. 554-561
R. Surtees, 1816, History of…Durham, I, pp. 158-162
Anon. 1899, Houghton-le-Spring,Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, 2, VIII (for 1897-98), p. 202
R.W. Ramsey, 1907, Kepier School, Houghton-le-Spring, and its library, Archaeologia Aeliana, 3, III, pp. 306-333
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, 1917, Pelaw, Co. Durham, 3, VII (for 1915-16), p. 231
N. Pevsner, revised E. Williamson, 1983, The Buildings of England: Co. Durham, p. 331
E. Mackenzie & M. Ross, 1834, Historical View of…Durham, Vol. II, grangerised version, acc. No. 94126, opp. P. 345; Department of National Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural and Historic Interest, 7/21; Paul Lanagan, 2012, The Royal Kepier Grammar School, www.houghtonlespring.org.uk; Whellan, W, 1856, History, Topography, and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham; Peter Ryder, 2008, Kieper Buildings, Houghton-le-Spring - Archaeological Watching Brief
R. Surtees, 1816, History of…Durham, I, pp. 158-162
Anon. 1899, Houghton-le-Spring,Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, 2, VIII (for 1897-98), p. 202
R.W. Ramsey, 1907, Kepier School, Houghton-le-Spring, and its library, Archaeologia Aeliana, 3, III, pp. 306-333
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, 1917, Pelaw, Co. Durham, 3, VII (for 1915-16), p. 231
N. Pevsner, revised E. Williamson, 1983, The Buildings of England: Co. Durham, p. 331
E. Mackenzie & M. Ross, 1834, Historical View of…Durham, Vol. II, grangerised version, acc. No. 94126, opp. P. 345; Department of National Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural and Historic Interest, 7/21; Paul Lanagan, 2012, The Royal Kepier Grammar School, www.houghtonlespring.org.uk; Whellan, W, 1856, History, Topography, and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham; Peter Ryder, 2008, Kieper Buildings, Houghton-le-Spring - Archaeological Watching Brief