History
History of St Bees
St Bees School and the surrounding village boast a rich and varied history. The school was founded in 1583 by Edmund Grindal, who was born in St Bees and went on to become the Archbishop of Canterbury in the United Kingdom.
Following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1535, there would have been little opportunity for formal education in this area. As a result, the Archbishop petitioned Elizabeth I to establish a school on the basis that:
“Cowpland (now known as Copeland, the area around and including St Bees) is the ignorantest part in religion and most oppressed of covetous landlords of any part of this realm to my knowledge.”
St Bees School has been an integral part of this picturesque coastal village for many centuries. Parts of the original buildings are still in use, following significant expansion in 1844, and above the door of the famous Quadrangle you will find the Latin school motto, “Ingredere Ut Proficias: Enter so that you may make progress.”
We’ve had many students come through our doors here at St Bees over the years, many of whom have gone on to do amazing things. Rowan Atkinson, William Frankland, Stuart Lancaster and Owen Lattimore are just some of the proud alumni of St Bees School.
Our past students are so proud of our school that they have their own society – the St Beghian Society. Our Old St Beghians (OSBs) still play a huge role in our School and help us plan the future of its future.
History and heritage provide firm foundations – leading the way for the innovative future ahead at St Bees School.
In 2014, Laurence Gribble, an Old St Beghian and a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, embarked on an extraordinary expedition. Alongside two friends, he cycled over 17,000 kilometers from London to Hong Kong, a journey that took 262 days and crossed 20 countries. This "Journey to the East" faced immense challenges—from being held at gunpoint in Turkey to enduring sandstorms in Uzbekistan and temperatures of -40°C in the Pamir Mountains.
Upon his arrival in Hong Kong, Laurence met with his Cambridge friend, Danny Wang. Their conversations about the future of education sparked the concept of a "school without borders," inspired by the spirit of Laurence’s continental journey—which he considers the best schooling of his life. This vision led to the founding of the St Bees Global Campus, a pioneering global-campus model that now flourishes with locations in the UK, mainland China and Hong Kong, embodying a free flow of education between East and West.
Today, both Laurence and Danny play key roles in the development of St Bees School and its Global Campus vision.
