With the Reformation there came in 1548 what was called the Chantries Act. This, by confiscating their revenues, put an end to all such chantries as that founded by Bishop Alcock. It proved also a death-blow to all Song Schools and to many Grammar Schools. Their ancient endowments were seized by the Government, which engaged itself to replace the endowments of the Free Grammar Schools with fixed annual payments; but as it promptly forgot all about its engagements these did not prove of much value.
A Boys’ Play-Ground in the Seventeenth Century.
Under these circumstances the inhabitants of Beverley made known their grievances to King Edward VI. Their town was, they said—
a market towne and the greatest within all Estryding of your Majesties countie of York, having a grete nombre of youthe within the same, and fife thowsaund persons and above, whereof some of them be apte and mete to be brought up in learning, whiche are not, for so much as there is neither gramer schole, or any other schole, as yet founded, wherewith they might be brought up in any vertuous studdie.
No satisfactory reply was forthcoming to the inhabitants’[inhabitants’] petition that the King would, out of the confiscated revenues of the Minster of St. John, found ‘one Fre Gramer Scole’ in their town. So it was left to the Town Governors to take over the finances of the old school. The school which had its origin in the Minster was thus re-established by the Town—an historic event which is embodied in its modern coat-of-arms.
The town records contain mention of many interesting payments made on behalf of the school by the Town Governors. In 1567 there occur the following:—
| Item gyven to the Schole maister his players | 17s. | |
| Item payd to the waits for playing when the Schole maister’s players played | 3s. | 4d. |
In 1606 a new school was built in the Minster Garth, and during the following years there are several records of the purchase of books for the school:—
| Item for a dictionary for the Schollers | 3s. | 4d. |
| Item for another booke bought at Crossfaier, and for bringinge one fro Cambridge | 6s. | 6d. |
| Item for a booke and for chaines for two other bookes in the schole | 18s. | 10d. |