Old Grammar School c.1900 ⁷⁾

Pilkington Picture⁸⁾ with transcript

School House, on far right, former Post Office left, now private. ⁹⁾

The Rivington school was created as the Free Grammar school of Queen Elizabeth In Rovington,¹⁰⁾ and was at first located in the English village now known as Rivington. The founder of Rivington School was James Pilkington (1518–1576). The charter of foundation by Royal Patent¹¹⁾ of Elizabeth I dates to 1566. A separate page is located on this site with the full transcript of the Founding Charter 1566. The Bishops family motto was 'Virtue lives after death'. Rivington Grammar School was founded for the children of ordinary locals.¹²⁾ A copy of the founding charter is held at the Lancashire Archive, with Statutes and grant of an annuity from James Pilkington, Bishop of Durham, to Trustees c.1570.¹³⁾ In 1856 a copy of the School Charter of 1566 was quoted in the argument about Belmont people voting in the recent election of the Rev.T. Sutcliffe.¹⁴⁾

At Rivington the first schoolmaster was appointed on the 10th July 1572. The first Governors, George Pilkington being one of the first appointed, appear to have begun their duties in August 1574. A month later Bishop James Pilkington confirmed the endowments to them and their successors. The land was leased leased to the school from 1587 by George Pilkington.¹⁵⁾ The List of Pupils 1575 contains 114 pupils of all walks of life, from poor and rich alike. The school commenced teaching nine years after the founding charter. A list of pupils for 1575 and governors to 1807 can be viewed here.

The original building at Rivington Village, rebuilt 1714 has continued to remain in use as an infants school. Its date stone is carved with the initials of its Governors in 1714, William Breres, Alexander Waddington, John Morris, James Anderton, Thomas Bromiley, and Richard Brownlow. In 1789 a house for the Master was built near the School on a piece of land known as the Goosehey, adjoining Mill Hill, a portion of which had already been occupied by the Unitarian Chapel.

The School seal was subject to correspondence between John Pilkington of Bolton and Roger Gerrard, Lister Mill in 1836, the original seal was very badly damaged and recreated in an artists impression for the book 'The Pilkington Family of Lancashire 1066 - 1600', the most recent original publication being in 1912. ¹⁶⁾ The original seal would have used the name 'Rovington' in keeping with the Charter of 1566, comparisons with other seals used in the period also indicate the artist impression may be the wrong shape.¹⁷⁾

School Badge

School Badge, depicted on stained glass Window inside chapel, installed 2004.

The school badge as illustrated on the old Rivingtonians window in the chapel and is the Pilkington Cross with the emblem on top that is now a crown, the crescent moon has been retained that indicates James Pilkington was a second son.

School Coat of Arms

At Lancaster Castle the Pilkington Cross is displayed within the Heraldry Shields of the High Sheriffs of Lancashire. The cross is within the seal of 1290 of Alexander Pilkington of Pilkington (b.1225 to d.1291) The Seal of Sir Roger Pylkynton displays the cross with a Squirrel above on an Indenture of 1306. The design of the school coat of arms was introduced in 1907 by Rev. W. Ritson, Vicar of Rivington. The design is based on one of the alter pieces at the Rivington Church, the Pilkington Picture, a memorial to the Pilkington family of Rivington in the Elizabethan period.

The Pilkington Painting is thought to have been presented to the Church in the lifetime of James Pilkington, the founder of the school. The original was destroyed by fire in 1834. A copy had been made in 1821 by Ann Pilkington and from that another copy was made in 1835 for display at Rivington Church. It was recorded at the time the original had greatly darkened with age.

Columns in the painting are a stylised representation of Durham Cathedral. On the left column is the family escutcheon, Argent a cross patonce Gules voided of the field, with the mark of cadency of second son, a crescent azure, in the dexter chief, surmounted by the crest, a mower with his scythe.

The Mower first appeared on the Pilkington family arms in heraldry in 1424, it is the emblem of the Rivington branch. An ornamental shield carrying the arms of the see of Durham impaling those of the Bishop of Durham dominates the right hand column, with the Bishop preaching above in his robes with a cap peculiar to that time.

The Augmentation was granted to James on the 10th February 1561, by Sir Gilbert Dethicke, Garter King of Arms. 'Argent a cross patonce Gules voided of the field, on a chief vert, three suns Or, with the mark of cadency of a second son. 'Beneath the shield is a triple carved Elizabethan frame. Below this, on the bottom right are the arms of the Bishop impaling those of his wife, Alice, daughter of Sir John Kingsmill, of Sidmanton. 'Argent, semee of cross-crosslets fitchee. Sable a chevron ermines, between three millrinds of the second, a chief ermine.' The left panel is inscribed, “Thus shall the man be blessed yet fears ye Lord. Be trusting unto death and I will give thee life to come”. The right panel,” What God hath joined let no man separate. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Grouped round the table at the bottom left of the painting are Richard and his seven sons, and across the table, Alice and her five daughters. James, the bishop is depicted in his rochet, red gurnard and gown.

The School badge worn by students on uniforms depicts the Pilkington family coat of arms as seen on the left column in the Pilkington painting, the school arms are styled on the right²⁷⁾ 

^{The original arms of James Pilkington granted by Sir Gilbert Dethick, Garter 1551 were an Argent a cross patonce voided gules, on a chief vert three suns. There was no crescent as appears in the painting.}

The House System

A tradition from the early 20th century is the division of Pupils into Houses who's names reflect the founders Pilkington, Holmes (Pilkington founded Rivington and Homes founded Blackrod) and Queens. The Houses compete in sports for Trophies and the House Challenge Shield started in 1910 bearing the Bishops Mitre and school motto. The Shield itself was filled and now has a plaque with the names of later winners of the award.

Rivington Founding Endowments

In the Rivington schools earliest days no formal arrangement existed for the land on which the original grammar school now sits, until an endowment of a one thousand year lease granted from 21st March 23rd year of Elizabeth c.1581, by George Pilkington, the Bishops brother. Most of the property owned by the Original Grammar School in the early period was within the diocese of Durham and provided by the founder, James Pilkington, Bishop of Durham. The schools initial properties were in Lindake, Wolsingham, Wickham, Heighington, Stanhope, Stockton, Auckland, Silksworth, and Hetton-Le-Hole bringing income to the school of £30 per year from rents.¹⁹⁾ By an Act of Parliament lands in Durham were exchanged for lands locally. The local lands included an annual rent received from Higher Knowles and Lower Knowles and Grut Farms in Rivington, and a house known as Jolly's in Heath Charnock. Further lands were also donated to or bought by the School. On 3rd May 1919 the school sold off properties in Chorley and Wheelton; these were Flash Green Farm, 36 acres, Spout Fold Farm, 23 acres, Wheelton Lodge Farm 21 acres and two cottages, Wheelton House Farm, 45 acres and the Rosebud Inn.²⁰⁾

Rivington and Blackrod

Rivington & Blackrod Grammar School, now the High School, was built on the current site in 1882 with provision for about fifty boys and perhaps an equal number of day boys. The level pitch at the front was created between 1883 and 1884, at a cost of £210 raised by a Bazaar. The school was opened on the “Founder’s Day,” 23rd January, 1882, with no flourish of trumpets, the first roll containing the names of 19 scholars and ten boarders. Until the new school opened pupils boarded at School Houses in the village, now known as Mill Hill Cottages. Two aspects of the school were to change over time, item 22 stated this to be a 'School for boys' and at item 44, Latin must be taught, neither apply today. Amongst those present at the schools opening were John Longworth, Esq. ,Ridgmont, Horwich (Governor), Mrs. Longworth, W. L. Longworth, Esq, W. Greenhalgh, Esq. The Governors in 1883 were James Eckersley, Esq., Burnt House, Adlington (Chairman); Earl of Crawford and Balcarres ; Rev. W. Ritson, M.A., Vicar of Rivington ; Rev. R. C. W. Croft, M.A., Vicar of Blaekrod ; Rev. C. W. N. Hutton, M.A., Rector of Standish ; J. W. Crompton, Esq., J.P., Rivington ; Ben. Davies, Esq., J.P., Adlington Hall; Joseph Howorth, Esq., J.P., Moor Platt, Horwich ; John Longworth, Esq., Ridgmont, Horwich ; C. E. Middleton, Esq., Heath Charnock ; E. Pilkington, Esq., Clifton House, near Manchester; H. Rawcliffe, Esq., J.P., Gillibrand Hall, Chorley ; R. O. Spencer, Esq., Belmont, Bolton ; John Unsworth, Esq., Barker-de-lane House, Black- rod ; and E. Widdows, Escp, Adlington ; Clerk to the Governors was J. Kevan, Esq., Acresfield, Bolton. ²¹⁾

Current High School (Map 1904)²²⁾

Rivington School Chapel

The Dantzic Oak paneled chapel was build in 1892 to accommodate around 100 by a donation from Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Marshall, in memory of their son Frederick. The Chapel was designed by Mr. R. K Freeman. The Anglican School Chapel is to the left of the school and has regular morning worship. The original Chapel referred to within the founding charter is Rivington Church and the Grammar School, now the infant school. The Rivington and Blackrod High School is located at the Lancashire side of the Horwich and Rivington boundary. A boundary that has become the River Douglas, the rivers course has changed, The Platt of Horwich drawn by William Senior Professor of Mathematics 1620 indicates the original course. (BCL) The original boundary was Pearlbrook River according to this map.

Memorial Windows

In the East Window is a stained glass window installed in 1912 that commemorates James Pilkington, Bishop of Durham and donors to the Chapel. The side lights illustrate for events in the career of the Bishop, on the left his Mastership of St John's College, Cambridge under which is a depiction of the Bishop taking his ship to Europe. The top right picture depicts him teaching protestant children in Zurick, and the bottom right he is depicted revising the Book of Common Prayer with Matthew Parker, the then Archbishop of Canterbury. In the 18th century Richard Pilkington, a leading figure in Horwich and Rivington was for many years a school governor, his sons went on to form Pilkington Glass.²³⁾ William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, founder of Lever Brothers was a School Governor between 1901 and 1905 and also amongst others contributed toward the Chapel Windows installed in 1912.

Belgium refugees attended the school soon after the outbreak of the Great War.

War Memorial Window, ²⁴⁾

To the west is a window memorial to those killed in the Great War 1914 to 1918. Dedicated by Henry Henn, Bishop of Burnley on 11th March 1922²⁵⁾.Chorley Guardian, 11th Mar 1922)). The west window was unveiled on the 8th March 1922 by R. T. Johnson, a past headmaster between 1894 and 1904. The window is of three lights, the laurel crowned figure representing Victory, on the left is a Knight in full armour, depicting faith, while central is three Mary's kneeling before the Angel at the tomb of the risen Christ. The inscription reads in Latin and translates to English as 'They Sought Glory of Liberty ; they see the Glory of God' also inscribed are the names of 24 of the Schools War Dead. (Over 150 fought in WW1) Both Windows were produced by Messrs John. Hardman & Co. Ltd. The windows were restored and cleaned by Andrew Seddon of Classical Glass, Bolton, in 2004.

Two additional windows were also installed at the chapel in 2004. One was in memory of Mr. Jenner a former head master and the second to celebrate the Association of Old Rivingtonians centenary in 1904 to 2004.

Names from the Great War Memorial Window, the Christian names are recorded below, these appear as initials only on the stain glass.

W. Leonard Billington, Ernest Cotton, John S. Griffiths, Geoffrey R. Johnson, Richard Nelson, Richard Denham Scholfield, Harold Briggs Arthur Chippendale (NB), Charles Grundy, Henry Norman Johnson, Harvey St George James Pulford, Harry Tatlow, Frederick H. Brown, John Entwistle, John Ellis Harvey, Richard Miller, J. Alec Ross, Denham Walker, Joseph O. Carter, Leonard W. Gastall, Ralph Hough, Norman Myers, Frank Savage, Percy Wilkinson.

Corrections were made to the above roll on 02/03/2014 after receiving details of research from Mary James after visual inspection of the window. Arthur Chippendale had gone missing but had survived the war, details on BBC, The Missing Man, 2015.

World War II Roll of Honour

After the end of the second world war old pupils placed a memorial book in the school chapel bearing the names of those of their number who lost their lives, this reads as follows:

Roll of Honour to those who laid down their lives in the war, 1939-1945 names Richard Cecil Butterworth
Maurice Donkersley, Frederick Arthur Easthope, Eric Harper, John Lawrence Ellison, Fred James
Ted Atherton, Ian Lamb, Tony Atherton, Arthur Lee, Derek Booth, Norman Owen and John P. Dickinson

Cricket

The Cricket Pitch was laid and drained in 1907, by a bequest in memory of T. Heaton of £100 made by his Grandson Mr. William Heaton of Lostock. Rev. W. Ritson, Vicar of Rivington met much of the additional cost, along with providing the Coat of Arms. (Rev Ritson died in the Headmasters Study) Traditionally the School Bell was not rung whilst a good game of Cricket was being played. The grounds were in the past maintained by the scholars.