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'{{Infobox UK school | name = Fairfield Grammar School | image = | size = | latitude = 51.46916 | longitude = -2.58244 | dms = | motto = ''Quanti est Sapere'' | motto_pl = | crest = On a gold shield, the letters FGS in black | image = | established = 1898 | approx = | closed = 2000 | c_approx = | type = [[Grammar school|grammar]] | religion = Secular | president = | head_label = | last head = | r_head_label = | r_head = | chair_label = | chair = | founder_pl = | specialist = | street = Fairlawn Road, Montpelier | city = [[Bristol]] | county = | country = [[England]] | postcode = BS6 5JW | LEA = Bristol | staff = | enrollment = | gender = [[Co-educational]] | lower_age = 11 | upper_age = 18 | houses = | colours = | publication = | free_label_1 = Architect | free_1 = [[William Larkins Bernard]] | free_label_2 = | free_2 = | free_label_3 = | free_3 = | website = | website_name = }} '''Fairfield Grammar School''' was a [[secondary school]] in [[Bristol]], [[England]], founded in [[1898]] as '''Fairfield Secondary and Higher Grade School'''. It became a [[grammar school]] in 1945 and closed in 2000, to be replaced by a new [[comprehensive school|comprehensive]], [[Fairfield High School (Bristol)|Fairfield High School]], at first on the same site, but now located in Stottbury Road, Bristol. == History == The school began its life under the name of '''Fairfield Secondary and Higher Grade School''', in an imposing new building by the architect [[William Larkins Bernard]] which was described as having a "towering collection of gables". Coeducational from the beginning, it was intended for children who would stay at school until the age of sixteen or seventeen.<ref name=about>[http://www.about-bristol.co.uk/mnt-04.asp About Bristol Suburbs Montpelier Fairfield School] at about-bristol.co.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> Its aim was stated as being to give {{cquote|"a methodical and progressive course of education, physical, mental and moral, of a wider scope and more advanced degree than that given in Elementary Schools, combined with workshop and laboratory practice in general, scientific and commercial subjects."<ref name=about/>}} When the Higher Grade School opened in 1898, it had one hundred and eighty pupils. There were fees of [[pound sterling|£]]1 per term, but a quarter of the places in the school were available to non-fee-paying students, who were selected by an annual competition.<ref name=about/> [[Image:Cary Grant Statue.jpg|thumb|right|Bronze statue of [[Cary Grant]] in Millennium Square, [[Bristol]] ]] In March 1918, the school's most notable son, Archie Leach, was expelled at the age of fourteen for sneaking into the girls' lavatories.<ref name=bbc>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1615229.stm Fight to save Cary Grant's school] dated Tuesday, 23 October, 2001, at bbc.co.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.carygrant.net/trivia/dates.htm CG TRIVIA: IMPORTANT DATES] at carygrant.net, accessed 25 November 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.ad629.dial.pipex.com/bristol.htm The Frenchay connection] at dial.pipex.com, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> He went on to become the film star [[Cary Grant]], and reported that Fairfield had given him "a sketchy education". In 2001, Bristol erected a life-size [[bronze]] statue of him.<ref name=burrell>Burrell, Ian, ''[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bristol-finally-unveils-statue-to-its-most-famous-son-archie-leach-619451.html Bristol finally unveils statue to its most famous son: Archie Leach]'' in ''[[The Independent]]'' dated 8 December 2001, at independent.co.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref><ref>[http://visitbristol.co.uk/site/things-to-do/cary-grant-statue-p24451 Cary Grant Statue] at visitbristol.co.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> His contemporary at the school, [[Archibald Russell|Sir Archibald Russell]], was deputy to the French designer of the [[Supersonic transport|supersonic airliner]] [[Concorde]].<ref name=rpec>[http://www.rpec.co.uk/engineerswalk/ar_walk.html Sir Archibald Russell, Aircraft Engineer (1904-1995)] at rpec.co.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> In 1945, the school became a [[grammar school]].<ref name=about/><ref>Stiles, Sharon, ''[http://www.oldfairfieldians.org.uk/video.asp Fairfield, the First 100 Years]'' (video, Applecart Television Facilities, 1999) at oldfairfieldians.org.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> The school occupied a triangular site in Montpelier, Bristol, being bounded by Fairlawn Road to the west, Fairfield Road to the south east, and Falkland Road to the north west. To the north was an area of railway land. There were no on-site playing fields, but there was a hard-surfaced playground to the north of the main school. This building was [[listed building|listed Grade II]] in January 2002, at a time when the [[local education authority]] was planning to move the new Fairfield High School to a new site.<ref>[http://www.bristol.gov.uk/committee/2002/wa/wa001/0710_6-1.pdf Report on planning application 02/01233/FB/C] to Development Control (Central) committee meeting on 10 July 2002 at bristol.gov.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> To mark the school's centenary in 1998, Ross Gilkes, a former Fairfield history master, wrote a school history which was published by the Old Fairfieldians Society.<ref name=book>[http://www.oldfairfieldians.org.uk/book.asp FAIRFIELD - The Life of a School] at oldfairfieldians.org.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> In 2000, against a background of opposition by Bristol City Council to selective education and declining academic results,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/education/school_tables_1998/england/8014101.html Education: School League Tables 1998 Fairfield Grammar School] at bbc.co.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> Fairfield closed as a grammar school and reopened as a comprehensive, being renamed Fairfield High School. In 2006, the new school moved to new purpose-designed buildings at Stottbury Road, Bristol.<ref>[http://www.oldfairfieldians.org.uk/new-fairfield.asp The new Fairfield High School] at oldfairfieldians.org.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> One reason for the move was that the existing site had room for only some five hundred pupils, a number which was considered to be too low.<ref>[http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/198016 ST5974 : Fairfield School, Montpelier, Bristol] at geograph.org.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> In 2007, the former Fairfield Grammar School buildings in Fairlawn Road were used by the new Redland Green [[comprehensive school]], after more than £20 million was spent on upgrading them,<ref>''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/england/bristol/6142414.stm New schools' costs 'keep rising' / Three school-building projects in Bristol have gone £2m over budget]'', story at bbc.co.uk, dated Monday, 13 November 2006, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> but in September 2007 this was reported to be a "temporary home",<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-14812576.html Flagship schools on the horizon Two new secondary schools have opened in Bristol this month], article dated September 11, 2007, from ''[[Western Daily Press]]'' at highbeam.com, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> and by 2008 the school was no longer on site and was located at [[Cotham, Bristol|Cotham]].<ref>[http://www.redlandgreen.bristol.sch.uk/Contact/ Redland Green School, Bristol, Contact Details] at redlandgreen.bristol.sch.uk, accessed 25 November 2008: "Please note that we are no longer located at Fairlawn Road, Montpelier, Bristol BS6 5JW"</ref> == Notable Old Fairfieldians == * Prof John Barns, Professor of [[Egyptology]] at the [[University of Oxford]] from 1965-74 * [[Norman Frederick Frome|Sir Norman Frome]], ornithologist of [[British India]]<ref>'Frome, Sir Norman Frederick CIE DFC', in ''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who's Who 1982]]'' (London: A. & C. Black, 1982)</ref> * [[Cary Grant]] ([[Expulsion (academia)|expelled]], 1918).<ref name=bbc/><ref name=burrell/> * [[Ben J. Green]], Cambridge mathematician * [[Robert Lang (actor)|Robert Lang]], character actor<ref>''[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1476764/Robert-Lang.html Robert Lang]''(obituary), 17 November 2004, at telegraph.co.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> * Jack Leslie Gardiner, Local Government Expert * Sir James Joint CMG OBE, [[List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to Colombia|Ambassador to Colombia]] from 1955-60 * [[Jill Knight, Baroness Knight of Collingtree]] (briefly), Conservative MP for [[Birmingham Edgbaston (UK Parliament constituency)|Birmingham Edgbaston]] from 1966-97 * Morgan Matthews, documentary filmmaker * Dame [[Mary Perkins]], business woman, co-founder of [[Specsavers]] * Sir [[Archibald Russell]], aeronautical engineer, one of the designers of [[Concorde]]<ref name=rpec/>, Managing Director of [[British Aircraft Corporation|BAC Filton]] from 1966-7 * Albert Wilcox CBE, Chief Constable of [[Hertfordshire Constabulary]] from 1947-69 ==See also== * [[:Category:Old Fairfieldians|Category:Old Fairfieldians]]. * [[Fairfield High School for Girls]] (Manchester) ==Bibliography== * Gilkes, Ross, ''Fairfield &mdash; The Life of a School (Bristol, Old Fairfieldians Society, ISBN 0 9534403 0 3)<ref name=book/> * Stiles, Sharon, ''Fairfield, the First 100 Years'' (video, Applecart Television Facilities, 1999)<ref>[http://www.bristolindex.co.uk/fairfield/ Centenary Video] at bristolindex.co.uk, accessed 25 November 2008</ref> ==References== {{reflist|2}} == External links == * [http://www.oldfairfieldians.org.uk Old Fairfieldians Society] - official web site * [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/198016 Fairfield School, Montpelier, Bristol] - photograph at bristolindex.co.uk * [http://www.bristolindex.co.uk/fairfield/fairweb-a.jpg Main school building in Fairlawn Road] - another photograph at bristolindex.co.uk [[Category:Schools in Bristol]] [[Category:Grade II listed buildings in Bristol]] [[Category:Defunct grammar schools in England]] [[Category:Educational institutions established in 1898]]'