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Nottingham High School
Nottingham High School is a private, coeducational day school in Nottingham, England, consisting of an infant and junior school (ages 4–11), and senior school (ages 11–18). It was founded in 1513 by Dame Agnes Mellers, as a free grammar school for boys, with a charter signed by Henry VIII. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and has been coeducational since 2015.
There were 1186 students enrolled as at December 2025, of whom 262 were in the sixth form, studying for advanced certificate examinations. The school was inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in 2019, where it achieved a rating of 'excellent' in all categories.
In 1513, the "Free School" was founded by Dame Agnes Mellers, after the death of her husband Richard, partly in his memory, but also as atonement for wrongdoings against the people of Nottingham. To do so she enlisted help from Sir Thomas Lovell as governor of Nottingham Castle and Secretary to the Treasury. Through their combined efforts, Henry VIII sealed the school's foundation deed on the 22 November that year. It is unclear whether this was a new institution or an endowment of an existing school, of which records exist back to 1289. Almost 20,000 boys are estimated to have attended between 1513 and 2013.
In the foundation deed, Mellers provided for a commemoration service in St Mary's Church in the Lace Market "on the Feast of the Translation of St Richard of Chichester, namely 16 June" each year, although the service "is now held on the nearest Saturday to that date." With the exception of Nottingham Goose Fair, this is the most ancient ceremonial event still held in the city of Nottingham, and the oldest still largely in its original form (the Goose Fair now being a funfair rather than a livestock fair), although there seems to be no record of it being held between the mid-16th century and its revival in 1923. The formal procession seeks to symbolise the ancient links the school has with the Crown, the city and the church. The foundation deed also provides for distributing (out of a total sum of 20 shillings) certain monies to the lord mayor of Nottingham, vicar and others. and for the purchase of bread, cheese and ale for consumption by officials attending the service. Any balance remaining is required to be given to the poorest scholar, but now is given to a representative scholar of the school.[citation needed]
The College of Arms granted the school a coat of arms in 1949, the full blazon being:
Ermine, a lozenge argent charged with three blackbirds rising proper. On a chief gules, an open book also proper, garnished or, between two ducal coronets of the last. And for the crest, on a wreath argent and gules, a squirrel sejant gules holding between the paws a ducal coronet or. Mantling, argent and gules. Motto "Lauda Finem".
The motto, Lauda finem, is Latin for "praise [to] the end".
The arms incorporate those of the founder: the arms of the Mellers family were three blackbirds (or merles – an example of canting arms) – on a white field; Dame Agnes, being a woman, would have displayed them on a lozenge, not a shield. In 2007 the school unofficially introduced a new logo for more general use, a modified version of the shield that omits the lozenge and ermine field.
Nottingham High School
Nottingham High School is a private, coeducational day school in Nottingham, England, consisting of an infant and junior school (ages 4–11), and senior school (ages 11–18). It was founded in 1513 by Dame Agnes Mellers, as a free grammar school for boys, with a charter signed by Henry VIII. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and has been coeducational since 2015.
There were 1186 students enrolled as at December 2025, of whom 262 were in the sixth form, studying for advanced certificate examinations. The school was inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in 2019, where it achieved a rating of 'excellent' in all categories.
In 1513, the "Free School" was founded by Dame Agnes Mellers, after the death of her husband Richard, partly in his memory, but also as atonement for wrongdoings against the people of Nottingham. To do so she enlisted help from Sir Thomas Lovell as governor of Nottingham Castle and Secretary to the Treasury. Through their combined efforts, Henry VIII sealed the school's foundation deed on the 22 November that year. It is unclear whether this was a new institution or an endowment of an existing school, of which records exist back to 1289. Almost 20,000 boys are estimated to have attended between 1513 and 2013.
In the foundation deed, Mellers provided for a commemoration service in St Mary's Church in the Lace Market "on the Feast of the Translation of St Richard of Chichester, namely 16 June" each year, although the service "is now held on the nearest Saturday to that date." With the exception of Nottingham Goose Fair, this is the most ancient ceremonial event still held in the city of Nottingham, and the oldest still largely in its original form (the Goose Fair now being a funfair rather than a livestock fair), although there seems to be no record of it being held between the mid-16th century and its revival in 1923. The formal procession seeks to symbolise the ancient links the school has with the Crown, the city and the church. The foundation deed also provides for distributing (out of a total sum of 20 shillings) certain monies to the lord mayor of Nottingham, vicar and others. and for the purchase of bread, cheese and ale for consumption by officials attending the service. Any balance remaining is required to be given to the poorest scholar, but now is given to a representative scholar of the school.[citation needed]
The College of Arms granted the school a coat of arms in 1949, the full blazon being:
Ermine, a lozenge argent charged with three blackbirds rising proper. On a chief gules, an open book also proper, garnished or, between two ducal coronets of the last. And for the crest, on a wreath argent and gules, a squirrel sejant gules holding between the paws a ducal coronet or. Mantling, argent and gules. Motto "Lauda Finem".
The motto, Lauda finem, is Latin for "praise [to] the end".
The arms incorporate those of the founder: the arms of the Mellers family were three blackbirds (or merles – an example of canting arms) – on a white field; Dame Agnes, being a woman, would have displayed them on a lozenge, not a shield. In 2007 the school unofficially introduced a new logo for more general use, a modified version of the shield that omits the lozenge and ermine field.
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