BICESTER County School (later Bicester Grammar School) opened in September 1924 in what was originally Bicester Hall (now Hometree House).

The building is situated on the corner of Launton Road and London Road.

It was built in first half of the 19th century, supposedly paid for by Thomas Davis, an apothecary.

If so, then it is evidence of how, in the hundred years before the National Health Service, some successful doctors became very wealthy from the private treatment of rich clients.

By 1874 the building had passed into the hands of Baron Schroeder, a London merchant banker whose bank, Schroeder’s, still exists. He used the house as a country retreat and hunting box.

Twenty years later it was owned by Kenelm Charles Pepys, 4th Earl of Cottenham. The Earl was Master of the Bicester Hunt between 1895 and 1899. He added a large stable block to the rear, which is now known as the Courtyard Centre.

During the First World War the whole building was converted to a convalescent hospital run by the Bicester branch of the Red Cross.

Soon after the war, it was purchased by Oxfordshire County Council to house the County Grammar School. The school also occupied the neighbouring Claremont House, the stable block, and a wooden hut built in the back garden.

Mr John L Howson became the first headmaster. He was succeeded by Mr E T Clothier in 1941. Mr Clothier had joined the staff in 1925 as a mathematics teacher. He retired in 1963.

Mr J N Davies was appointed as the French master in 1930. His responsibilities included teaching singing and producing dramatic productions. The staff performed annual plays for public entertainment.

Mr Davies retired in 1966. The woodwork master Mr L E Windsor was appointed in 1934 and retired in 1963. Miss G H Dannatt joined the staff in 1938 as the history mistress and later became the senior mistress.

She was a well-known local historian and a founder member of the first Bicester History Society. She retired in 1963. Many teachers came and went during these years but the staff listed above formed the core of the School during this time.

In 1939 50 boys from The London School of Photo Engraving were evacuated to Bicester. School facilities were established in the stable block of Bicester County School for their use. The headmaster of the evacuated school was Mr B O’Shaughnessy.

The evacuated boys were billeted with local families. Among the evacuees was Kenneth Williams who later became a well-known comedy actor. He was billeted with a retired vet, Mr Chisholm, in Sheep street.

In 1963 the school premises closed at the London Road site. New facilities were built at the Highfield School. Mr S Percival was appointed headmaster. In 1966 the Grammar School was amalgamated with the Highfield School to become a comprehensive establishment, now Bicester School.

The Bicestrian, the county school’s magazine, was first published within a few years of the county school opening and continued until it was succeeded by a new joint school magazine, Cornbrash, in 1965. Bicester Local History Society holds most editions of ‘The Bicestrian’ from 1927 to 1962, as well as a number of early ‘Cornbrash’ editions from 1965 to 1971.

This month’s BLHS talk is Pagans and Puritans: The Story of May Morning in Oxfordshire, by Tim Healey. It starts at 7.30pm on Monday, May 21, in the Clifton Centre, Ashdene Road.

For further details on this and the rest of Bicester’s history please visit our website: blhs.org.uk