Stockport Grammar School is a co-educational private day school in Stockport, England. Founded in 1487 by former Lord Mayor of London Sir Edmund Shaa, it is the second oldest in the North of England, after Lancaster Royal Grammar School, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History Foundation The school was founded in 1487 by Sir Edmund Shaa, the 1482 Lord Mayor of London whose will provided for a school and a small chapel in St Mary's Church in Stockport and funds to maintain a priest to chant masses and teach grammar. Alexander Lowe, the mayor of Stockport, left the school a permanent home in Chestergate in his will. The school became increasingly successful with pupils being accepted at the ancient universities of Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews, while the curriculum became increasingly broad with the rudiments of Greek joining a study of Latin, the Christian religion, writing in English and arithmetic. Five years after the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths met to discuss the possibility of transferring the school to a different site, new buildings open where Greek Street meets New Wellington Road. As well as paying for the building, the Goldsmiths also increased the salaries of the headmaster and usher and paid the running costs. Current site on Buxton Road The Greek Street building became unsuitable for the demands of a modern school, and the school was relocated in 1915 to its present site and was inaugurated on 29 January 1916 by the chairman of the Cheshire county council. Move to coeducation In 1980, girls were admitted to the school. Following the government’s decision in 1974 to phase out the direct grant status of schools such as Stockport over a seven-year period commencing in 1976, the school would become independent and the Stopfordian Trust was launched to provide bursaries that were increasingly being requested by entrance exam candidates. By 1978, the school had over 600 pupils and in 1979 the convent site was acquired. The school site The Mile End buildings 1916-1980 The construction of the present buildings took twenty months. The exterior of the West Front has remained virtually unchanged since the time. The Hallam Hall, seen from across the Old Quad below was named after the Mayor of Stockport and major benefactor Ephraim Hallam. This was originally the School’s Assembly Hall and later the main library but due to the expansion of the School site,