The foundation of the school in 1877 was inspired by a group of
public-spirited Bolton citizens. Housed in a room of the Mechanics'
Institute, the Young Ladies Day School, as it was first known,
opened its doors to twenty-two girls on October 1 1877. Pupil
numbers steadily rose during the school's first three decades and
by the 1890s it had moved to larger premises on Park Road.
In 1913 Sir William Hesketh Lever, the first Viscount
Leverhulme, gave a generous joint endowment to the High School for
Girls, as it had become known, and the Bolton Grammar School for
Boys on condition that the two should be equal partners known as
Bolton School (Boys' and Girls' Divisions). In order to bring them
together onto one site, a new building was proposed but the First
World War intervened and it was not until 1928 that the School
began the move onto its current campus.
As a result of Viscount Leverhulme's vision, the girls and boys
of both Divisions now enjoy fine buildings and grounds, an
increasing number of joint activities, often in shared facilities,
and a strong tradition of academic excellence. This is the
"goodly...heritage" to which our School Prayer refers.
Read a more detailed account about the history of
Bolton School.