Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby

The school was founded in 1620 under the instruction of the estate of John Harrison, a citizen and Merchant Taylor of London, who was born in Great Crosby, and was run under the auspices of the Merchant Taylors' Company until 1910. In 1878, the school moved to its present site, some 1,000 yards from the previous, which now forms part of the Merchant Taylors' Girls' School, with whom the school shares a Governing Board and Bursar. The first Headmaster was the Revd John Kidde who was also at the time the ‘Minister of Crosby’ and a farmer of 3 acres (12,000 m²) to support his family of eight children. Kidde was apparently sacked from the post in 1651 on the grounds of mismanagement although it is thought he was forced out by Roman Catholic Sympathizers on account of his Puritan/Presbyterian ways.

The Clock Tower in Summer

Until the 1970s, Merchant Taylors' was also a boarding school. It currently caters for over 700 day pupils between the ages of 11 and 18 (with an additional 120 in the Junior School). Lessons run Monday-Friday, 08:40-16:00 (A Saturday working day was abolished in 1981). As a result of these longer school days, holidays are frequently several weeks longer than local education authority dates.

The school is independently run, and, as such, charges tuition fees. Fees were partially subsidised by the Government under the Assisted Places Scheme until the closure of that scheme in 2001. The Schools now run their own means tested Assisted Places Scheme under which about 20% of pupils benefit from free, or reduced-fee places. The schools offer around £1 million a year in bursaries. About 17 per cent of pupils at the two senior schools receive assistance, worth up to 100 per cent of the £11,394 annual fees.[3]

Academically, the School sees around 60% of grades awarded at A* and A at GCSE and, consistently excellently at A-Level, where 80% and above of grades have been recorded at A*-B. 2012 saw record results at A Level, with the percentage of grades awarded at A* and A 62.3%. The School also enters students for a range of other public examinations, including Extended Project Qualifications, which have been offered since 2011.

In 2013, Merchant Taylors’ was Crosby’s best performing school with 98% of pupils at the boys’ school achieving five Cs or above in any subject at GCSE.[4]

The primary sports played by the school are rugby union, field hockey and cricket, however association football as well as samoan cricket have both recently been introduced as an 'official' school sport and looks set to challenge the more established sports over the coming years.

The school also has a boat house which is currently on loan to Southport Dragon Boat Club, in the nearby town of Southport for its rowing team. The rowing team compete in national races with a number of boys competing at national level every year.

The rugby coaching staff includes former Scottish international Ian McKie, and included Mike Slemen, former England and British and Irish Lions international and England team selector until his death in 2020.

The school also has a Combined Cadet Force, run in conjunction with Merchant Taylors' Girls' School, headed by Contingent Commander, Major (CCF) Helen Irwin. Her predecessors include Lieutenant Colonel (CCF), Mike Slemen, Squadron Leader Mark Stanley RAFAC (formerly RAFVR(T)) and Lieutenant Colonel (CCF), Paul Irvine. The Army section of MTS CCF is badged as Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Regiment until July 2006). In 2015, Merchant Taylors' CCF celebrated its centenary year. A new banner was presented in the nearby St. Faith's Church, with The Duke of York in attendance.[5]

In December 2011, the £5.5m Ian Robinson Sports Centre was opened. Facilities include a climbing wall, fitness suite, sports hall and dance studio. The Sports Centre is named after ex Head of Rugby, Ian Robinson, who died on a school sports tour in Australia after a white water rafting accident in 2007.[6] Other facilities include a heated indoor swimming pool on site (which has been emptied and eventually closed permanently in 2020 due to leaking and other maintenance issues so substantial that the cost of rectifying same remains prohibitive), a language laboratory, extensive playing fields, fully equipped science laboratories, an art and design suite, cricket nets, a self-contained music block and a share of Northern Club's facilities.

Alumni of MTS Crosby are known as "Old Crosbeians"

• James Allen, (Formula One commentator)
• Professor John E. Baldwin, FRS, pioneering radio astronomer and fellow of Queens' College Cambridge
• Tony Barrow, the Beatles' press officer 1962–1968
• Matthew Baylis, novelist and screenwriter
• Alan Blackshaw, mountaineer
• James Burnie, Liberal MP for Bootle
• John Culshaw, record producer and television executive
• Gordon Ellis, painter
• George Kruger Gray, designer
• Dick Greenwood, rugby international and Captain of the England team
• Professor Anthony Heath (1942–), sociologist, fellow of Nuffield College
• Professor Philip Ingham FRS, developmental geneticist, Toh Kian Chui Distinguished Professor, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore
• Simon Jack, BBC finance reporter
• Ben Kay, of the England Rugby World Cup winning side of 2003
• Bruce Kenrick, founder, Shelter housing charity
• Matt Kelly, founder and editor-in-chief of The New European
• Prof Robert Legget, civil engineer
• Spencer Leigh, journalist and popular music historian
• Sir Hardman Lever, accountant
• Charles James Mathews, actor
• Thomas Eric Peet, Egyptologist
• Nigel Rees, broadcaster and author
• Samuel Roukin, actor
• Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury 1980–1991
• Phil Sayer broadcaster
• William Snowden, cricketer
• Sir John Walton, barrister and politician
• Sir Charles Kingsley Webster, historian
• Barrie Wells, insurance entrepreneur and sports philanthropist
• Donald J. West, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Criminology, University of Cambridge
• Ronald White, amateur golfer[7]
• Bertie Wilson, Second Engineer on RMS Titanic[8]
• The Witty brothers: Arthur Witty and Ernest Witty, footballers

• Dame Jean Davies, Director of the Women's Royal Naval Service
• John Pugh, Liberal Democrat MP for Southport
• Mike Slemen, former England and British and Irish Lions international and England team selector

• Listed buildings in Great Crosby

• School website
• HMC inspection report, 1998
• Independent Schools' Inspectorate report, 2004