John Hampden Grammar School

In the early 1890s a fund was set up to raise money for an art and technical school in High Wycombe to help support the traditional skills in the town of cabinet making, carving and polishing. Early donations to the fund included a grant of £575 from the School of Art in Kensington Gardens and a further donation from Buckinghamshire County Council's education fund which had benefited from proceeds derived from an unpopular tax imposed on wines and spirits. To make up the shortfall needed to pay for the building the schools' trustees and general committee ran a three-day fair in the grounds of Wycombe Abbey, the home of the then Lord Carrington. The fête took place in July 1892, with Lady Carrington arriving by a special train from Paddington. The Great Western Railway also ran excursions from Maidenhead, Thame, Aylesbury and Chinnor and the revelries were led by the band of the 17th Lancers. By the end of the event the committee had raised £800.[5]

The school was originally built on 530 square yards of land in Frogmore Gardens (now known as 'Frogmoor' or 'Frogmore') purchased from Lord Carrington for £325. The building work cost £1,964 and when the school opened there was still a shortfall of £230, some of which was met by a further bazaar. The original building was designed by Arthur Vernon who also designed the RGS building and was the first man to own a car in High Wycombe. In 1901 the trustees allowed girls to be taught in separate classes and teachers and this arrangement continued until 1906 when the girls moved to buildings in Benjamin Road, ultimately becoming Wycombe High School. Courses were run at the school at all times of the day but most were in the evenings and weekends so that pupils could also work in the local furniture trade.

Soon after the Schools of Science and Art opened the Frogmoor building, it became clear it was too small and a new site was discussed. In 1915 the Royal Grammar School moved to new buildings on Amersham Hill and it was suggested that the school (now usually referred to as Chepping Wycombe Science and Art Schools and Technical Institute) moved into the now vacated buildings in Easton Street (also designed by Arthur Vernon). Unfortunately the outbreak of the First World War meant that the Wycombe High School buildings were needed as a hospital so the girls moved into Easton Street and the boys had to wait. The Institute finally moved to Easton Street in 1919 and soon there was a significant expansion. Firstly the 1918 Education Act raised the school leaving age to 14 and it was decided to set up a Junior Day Technical School as part of the institute. This would be a full-time school. At the same time the Institute set up a training school for ex-soldiers and sailors who had become disabled in the war to prepare them for the furniture trade. The Easton Street buildings also soon proved too small and were significantly expanded and a series of wooden huts were installed to be used as classrooms. The Frogmoor school continued to be used after the move to Easton Street and was finally sold in 1928 (for £3,500).[6] It has since been used for a number of different purposes including a swimming pool and is now a dentist's practice.

In 1920, the Day School opened and technical classes in metalwork and woodwork were introduced – the first in the country. The schools changed their names to Wycombe Technical Institute and tuition was offered in most subjects (except French). Although the School of Art continued to be part of the Institute it was often considered a separate entity and it moved to Amersham in 1973 becoming part of Amersham and Wycombe College. In 1927 land was rented from Lord Carrington to become the school's playing fields – until then the boys had used the Rye for sports fixtures.[7] The boys had to change in an open fronted pavilion – close to where the present one is located – and the girls had to change behind the large roller. The school motto Quit Ye Like Men, adapted from I Corinthians 16 v13, was adopted in 1924. It remained the motto even during the co-ed period – girls were admitted in 1925 mainly to study commercial subjects.

Following the introduction of the Education Act 1944, the Institute became the town's new technical school taking children at 11 and 13 plus. In 1946 it was decided to split the school and college although both still operated in the same building. By 1954, the combined school and further education centre had become vastly over-subscribed and unwieldy. Consequently, the High Wycombe College of Further Education was set up on its present site (now Bucks New University) although the final separation of pupils did not come about until 1963. In 1956 the girls transferred to the old Wycombe High School buildings in Benjamin Road to form Lady Verney High School. Lady Verney High School then moved to Wellsborne before finally merging with Wycombe High School.

Carved set of 12 lockers, saved from a bonfire.

The boys remained at Easton Street as Wycombe Technical High School for a further 10 years before moving to the present site, the school playing fields at the top of Marlow Hill in 1966. Most of the valuable historic reminders of the early days of the Technical Institute ended up on a bonfire in the massive clearing out operation when the school moved to Marlow Hill. The only exceptions to this were the headmaster's chair, the headmaster's table, engraved with the school motto, and a carved set of 12 lockers. The lockers were designed in 1919 by Mr Shaw Wilson, head of the wood carving department and created by wounded soldiers who had returned from the war. Inscribed on the cornice are the words "They counted not their lives dear unto themselves."[8]

The school in 2008, before the addition of the sixth form block in 2013.

The name was changed to John Hampden School in 1970 and John Hampden Grammar School in 1984. More recent developments gave the school a new façade in September 1995 and the following January work was completed on a sixth-form block to provide specialist teaching rooms, private study rooms, a common room and a new library. In 2002, funding from the Wolfson Foundation allowed a new language teaching facility and science laboratory to be opened.[9]

In 2006 a new classroom block, used mainly for mathematics teaching, and a sports hall were opened by former Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson.[10] This in turn allowed for an extension of the music department and development of a music studio.

On 4 November 2010, a gas explosion occurred in the caretaker's house on the premises. In the incident, the school's caretaker was airlifted to hospital with serious burns and the school evacuated.[11] After the explosion the school raised money for the caretaker in his recovery by means of a Mufti Day where pupils came to school in their own clothes as opposed to the standard uniform.[12][13]

The Main Hall at the school

On 1 June 2011 Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, approved the school's application to become an Academy.[14] Also in 2011, a food technology room was opened, following a successful planning application the previous year.[15] A proposal was made to relocate a Synthetic Turf Pitch, which was at the time located at the Handy Cross leisure centre, to the JHGS site as part of a wider redevelopment of the leisure centre.[16] Construction work was underway as of October 2013,[17] and was in use by late January 2014.[18]

In 2013, an extension to the Sixth Form block incorporating a new library was built.

In May 2019, a planning application was submitted for the construction of a new three storey classroom block on the front of the site.[19] The project was initially announced in December 2018, when the school received around £3m of funding from the Department for Education's selective school expansion fund, which proved controversial.[20][21] The new building, named the "Innovation Hub", was opened in October 2021 by football executives David Dein and Karren Brady.[22]

• Arthur Gardham (1920–1931)
• William John Davies (1931–1958)
• Harold Ward (1958–1982)
• Andrew MacTavish (1982–2000)
• Stephen Nokes (2000–2016)
• Tracey Hartley (2016–present)