CLASS ROOMS AND LABORATORY.
The additions to the Hostel, rendered necessary by the increase in numbers, were sanctioned by the Charity Commissioners in 1874, and a sum of £10,000 was named to provide for the same, and for the provision of further accommodation in the Laboratory. The Hostel already provided accommodation for forty-nine boys, but with the additions, which included, besides other buildings, the whole of the South Wing, and on the North the present Dining Hall and the Dormitories above it, room was made for about sixty-six more boys. From this time also the three-term system was adopted. Previously the School had assembled in the middle of August until Christmas, after which they came back for a long term extending from January till July, with only a short holiday at Easter. The holidays were now lengthened from eleven or twelve weeks in the year to fourteen.
In 1876 the numbers had increased to such an extent that it was found necessary to build new Class-Rooms. Teaching had been still carried on in what is now known as the Old School, and the accommodation for some time had been so inadequate that rooms in the Hostel itself had been utilized. The Governors therefore determined to build rooms sufficient for one hundred and twenty boys, and to add a Lecture-room to the Laboratory. A difficulty arose about the site. It was at first proposed to lessen the expenditure by adding to the Old School, where there was a sufficient space, but such an addition would have permanently divided the life of the School, and apart from the question of finance, it was clearly of the utmost importance that the Class-rooms should be adjacent to the Hostel. This course was finally decided upon, and six Class-rooms were built. The total cost of these buildings and of the Hostel additions reached over £13,000, and the Governors were empowered to sell certain of their North Cave Estates, and to borrow £6,000 from the Governors of Sedbergh. This debt was finally paid off in 1881 out of surplus revenue, which was so great that in 1878 Fives Courts were built out of it, and three years later £1,100 was spent in alterations and additions to the Headmaster's House. In spite of this considerable expenditure the Governors were still able to put aside each year the sum of £800.
CHEMISTRY LABORATORY.
THE MUSEUM.
The numbers continued to increase rapidly, and in 1884 the Charity Commissioners agreed to the proposal of the Governors to extend the Class-rooms. Those already standing had been built in such a way that it was an easy undertaking to add to them. The road up High Rigg alone stood in their way, but permission was obtained to divert it and make a better road further South. On the ground-floor two new Class-rooms were built and connected by a corridor on the West side, while above it Big School, eighty feet long by thirty feet broad, absorbed one of the former Class-rooms, and supplied what had previously been a great defect in the arrangements of the School. It was capable of holding between three and four hundred people, and was thus of the utmost use on Speech Days and other great occasions, besides providing a fit place for assembling the whole School for Prayers and Concerts. At the southern end of the building a transverse addition was built, of which the lower half was to serve as a Library, and above were two Class-rooms opening into the Big School. Thus in addition to the Science Block, the School Buildings now consisted of Big School and nine large Class-rooms, each of which was capable of holding from twenty to twenty-five boys. Another long-felt need was also supplied. A large Covered Playground was erected on the West side of the Class-rooms. It was one hundred and five feet long and fifty feet broad, with a height of forty feet; its floor was paved with wood, and its walls were cemented. There a large proportion of the School could amuse themselves on days when the inclemency of the weather made out-door pursuits difficult. The cost of these buildings was defrayed out of the Trust Funds, but at the same time a Gymnasium and Changing Room were added by money provided by the subscriptions of Old Boys and other friends of the School, and in particular of Mr. John Birkbeck, one of the Governors. The cost of this part alone amounted to over £1,300.
The twenty years from 1866 to 1886 saw the whole character of the School transformed. A complete set of new buildings had been erected with boarding accommodation for one hundred and fifty boys, and Class-rooms for two hundred and forty, all within one central space. Over twenty thousand pounds had been expended, and yet it had been found possible to meet these many claims without unduly depleting the total revenue arising from the Estates in the possession of the Governors in the East-Riding. The rental in 1894 was over £700, and shewed a decrease of a little less than £500 a year. That such a sudden and swift development should have been possible reflects the greater credit on the foresight of Sir James Kay Shuttleworth and his fellow Governors and on the energy and enthusiasm of the Headmaster.