It started with 500 gold marks and one man’s vision: this is the story of Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School, and the legacy, of Sir Thomas Boteler.
The name Boteler is rooted in the Old French translation of “bouteiller,” meaning a butler in charge of a noble household’s wine cellar. The actual family name was originally Pincerna – meaning cupbearer in Latin.
The covered cup, featured in the Boteler crest, symbolizes the family’s historic role as royal cup-bearers.
Over time, bouteiller evolved into the surname Butler, with variations in spelling and pronunciation, including Boteler.
Sir Thomas was born at Bewsey old Hall in 1461, and as a young man, witnessed the transition from medieval to Tudor rule.
He was a Justice of the Peace for Lancashire, and fought in the War of the Roses, being part of the troops who marched south to help in the overthrow of Richard III at the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Sir Thomas was knighted by the new King, Henry VII: the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty in England. Sir Thomas was re-appointed a Justice of the Peace by the new King, and in 1505, made a knight of the king’s bodyguard.
In 1520, Sir Thomas made his last will, which provided for the Foundation of a free grammar school in Warrington.
“And whereas I, the said Sir Thomas, have delivered by a three-part legal agreement into the custody and keeping of the Right Reverend Father in God, John, the present Abbot of Whalley, the sum of five hundred marks in gold, to be safely kept for my use and disposed of according to my wishes, it is my full will and intention that my executors shall have control and responsibility over the said sum of five hundred marks.”
The foundation was intended to be permanent.
The Will was sealed with Sir Thomas’ signet, which bore a single covered cup and the initials T.B. The actual standing cup and cover, a gift from Lord Derby, he left to his son Thomas, “upon condition that he shall be kind and loving to his mother.”
Sir Thomas died in Bewsey on April 27th, 1522, at the age of sixty-three. He was buried in the Boteler Chapel of St Elphin’s Parish Church. His father’s tomb already stood, and still stands there. Over Sir Thomas’ grave was placed a marble slab, with the symbols of the Evangelists, in brass at the four corners, and the names of his wife, son, and eight daughters. This slab has now vanished, yet some of the brass is preserved in Warrington Museum.
Four years later, in April 1526, the school formally came into existence.
The foundation deed set out detailed conditions for how the school was to operate.
The schoolmaster was required to be a priest, trained in grammar and religious instruction. A Founders Day Service was to take place annually every April in St Elphin’s Church.
The school was originally intended for six boys from the local parish, who were to receive their education without tuition fees. Small quarterly payments were allowed, largely to support local customs rather than the running of the school itself.
Over the following centuries, the school underwent periods of decline, rebuilding, and reorganisation. New buildings were constructed as the town expanded, including a Victorian Gothic school in the 1860s.
The school magazine Pincerna was introduced in 1882 – named after the historical Boteler family surname.
During the first quarter of the 20th century the number of students doubled.
In 1924 sixteen acres of land were purchased at Latchford, and the architects of Lancashire and Cheshire were invited to submit competitive designs for a new School. The successful designs were proposed by architects S.P. Silcock and H.S. Silcock, both former students of the Boteler Grammar School. And, notably, the father and brother of P.B. Silcock, also a Boteler Old Boy who sadly lost his life during the first world war.
With the estimates for the cost of the new school to hand, the inevitable had to be accepted: the independent status of the school would have to come to an end. Responsibility was transferred to Warrington Borough Council – then called County Borough of Warrington, in 1933.
Rev. Edward Downham, Chairman of the Warrington Education Committee and Chairman of the school Governors, officially opened of the new school on 16th September, 1940, with 350 boys on roll. The newly appointed Headteacher, Mr Clapton, wrote a piece in the Pincerna magazine, ending by quoting the new Prime Minister Winston Churchill: “We must guard against expecting too much as a right. The honour and responsibility of representing the School must never be treated lightly. We hope for an opportunity to found a sound tradition of work, play and spirit; in the meantime to quote that now famous phrase – let us “Go to it.'”
The opening event was later commemorated in 1960, belatedly – owing to the circumstances prevailing in 1940, with the unveiling of the plaque in the entrance hall to the School. The plaque reads: This school, founded in 1526 under the will of Sir Thomas Boteler KT, Lord of the Manor of Warrington, and originally built at School Brow, was removed to its present site in 1940 when its members were joined by the boys of the Warrington Secondary School. The premises were officially opened on September 16th 1940 by the Reverend Edward Downham BA, Chairman of the Governors.
While the location changed, the school continued under the same historic foundation.
The Old Boys Union, founded in 1902 and made up of former Grammar School students – can document their heritage back to those first students at the school from its opening day in 1526. The Union’s Annual Dinner was revived by Headmaster Mr Jackson during his time of Headship from 1951-1973. The Old Boys Union still stands strong today.
The late twentieth century brought significant change.
In 1979, the sixth form transferred to Priestley College, and the school became a fully mixed comprehensive school, with a name change from the Boteler Grammar School to the Boteler School. On the neighbouring site was Richard Fairclough High School. In 1983 the Boteler and Fairclough schools were amalgamated and given the name Victoria Park County High School. The split-site had a footbridge over Wash Lane linking the upper school, in the Fairclough building and the lower school in Boteler building. With roll numbers falling, Headteacher at the time, Mr John Higgins proposed to close the Fairclough building – a proposal that was accepted by the governors and Local Education Authority – and the staff spent the summer of 1988 moving onto the Boteler site. John Higgins also proposed that the move should be marked by a change of name to Sir Thomas Boteler High School to reflect the school’s long history.
Cheshire County Council, who were now the LEA, had taken over as trustees. However, in 1995, the Boteler Trust was reinstated by Headteacher John Higgins. The newly-formed Trust was officially inaugurated at the first Inauguration Service – which was devised to replace the Founder’s Day Service – at Warrington Parish Church on 24th September 1996.
In 2002, the school formally became Warrington’s Church of England secondary school. This placed Christian values at the centre of its ethos, shaping governance, pastoral care, and community life, while continuing to operate within the state education system.
In June 2017, the school converted to academy status and joined The Challenge Academy Trust. This marked another administrative change, enabling stronger collaboration and opportunities, while retaining the school’s historic identity.
To date, the school has been served by 27 headteachers. Mrs Beverley Scott-Herron became Headteacher in 2014.
Today, Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School remains a central part of the Warrington community. Five centuries on, it continues to provide a place for learning, growth, and opportunity in the place it was created to serve. From its Tudor origins to the current classrooms of the present day, the school stands as a lasting institution — adapting with the times, serving its students, and shaping the town it has called home for generations.