The story of our building
The building we are in has a rich and interesting history. The
present 'Grammar' school was built in 1867. But before this,
the school was a lot closer to the centre of Tamworth, in fact
on the very site where Seams and Dreams stands today. It is
widely believed that it was Edgar the Peaceful, great-
grandson of Alfred the Great, who founded the first school in
Tamworth, at the same time as he built the church, around
960AD. In 1384 there is reference to a Schoolmasters Lane
and, presumably, this would indicate that some form of
school was by then well established. Documentation exists to
prove that there was a grammar school at the time of Edward
VI, who reigned from 1547 until 1553, financed by the Crown,
through Stafford County. In 1588, the same year the English
navy trounced the Spanish Armada, Queen Elizabeth I
granted her second charter to Tamworth, part of which
ordained that there should be a grammar school in the town,
to be known as 'The Free Grammar School of Elizabeth,
Queen of England in Tamworth', to serve local boys. The
school at that time was situated in Lower Gungate, exactly
where our building is. A larger site was needed.
Demolished - for houses!
With many people having vested
interests as to where the new location
should be, an almighty row erupted,
culminating in questions being asked
in the House of Commons by Robert
Peel, the 3rd Baronet and MP for
Tamworth. Many people were to have
their noses put out of joint, but a
solution had to be found. Upper
Gungate was known in those days as
Stony Lane and the Fountain Junction
was called 'The Hand'. On the eastern
side of the junction was a field known
as 'The Swan's Nest', the site that was
finally agreed upon. It was completed
and opened in 1868, and so began a
new era in Tamworth's education for
boys. The original school was then
demolished. However, part of it
remains and is incorporated in the
light coloured building you see today. On the original
building you can see pillars on the front. The upper section
of these pillars, narrow plaster bricks, together with a plaster
emblem, were included in the replacement building. Look at
Seams and Dreams, then slightly to the left, at the level of the
first floor window sill. You will see the school emblem. The
others then become obvious at the same level.
Thomas Guy
Thomas Guy was born born in 1644 in Southwark, South-East
London. His father, Thomas Guy Senior, was a Lighterman,
Coalmonger and Carpenter with a wharf on the banks of the
river Thames. His mother, Ann Vaughton, originated from
Tamworth. In 1652 when Thomas was just eight years old and
the eldest of three children, his father died suddenly.
Thomas’s mother returned the family to her home town of
Tamworth. Thomas Guy was educated at Tamworth’s Free
Grammar School, located where Seams and Dreams stands
today. In 1660, at the age of 16, he was apprenticed to John
Clark, a bookbinder in London. Completing his 8 year
apprenticeship, he set up business as a bookseller and
publisher, success and fortune soon
followed. In 1677 Thomas paid for the
refurbishment of Tamworth’s Free
Grammar School. The Almshouses
were built in 1678 opposite the
Grammar School, at a cost of £200. He
also funded the Town Hall in 1701.
Thomas Guy was elected to Parliament
in 1695 and served the town as MP
until 1708. When the people of
Tamworth failed to re-elect him, angry
at their ingratitude, he threatened to
demolish the Town Hall and banned
the people of Tamworth from his
Almshouses. Rejecting Tamworth, he
turned his attention back to London where he personally
financed the building of Guy’s Hospital, Southwark in 1722.
Thomas Guy died at home on December 27, 1724 after visiting
the hospital site. He never got to see the project completed.
He never married and left his £220,000 fortune to Guy’s
Hospital, which opened in 1725.
01827 61553 hello@seamsanddreams.co.uk
31 Lower Gungate, Tamworth, B79 7AT
/// total.sums.hopes