from France and Germany and setting up arrangements for foreign study during holidays. The resulting academic success, scholarships and local goodwill enabled Shaw Jeffrey to expand the school buildings, inspired by the designs of local rivals, such as Ipswich School and Earls Colne Grammar School. First, Mansfield House was purchased in 1903 and renamed Gilberd House. In 1908 Shaw Jeffrey convinced the governors and local education board to build a new school building for £4,000 on land previously used as kitchen gardens. The new buildings were designed by architects Newman, Jacques and Round and were opened by Lord Rosebery, the former Prime Minister, in May 1910. In 1911 the school was given of playing fields and opened tennis courts and a small rifle range. Until 1908 the school blazer was green, but other schools in the area had adopted the same colour. Wanting the school to be distinct and recognisable, Shaw Jeffrey approached the a tailor and asked what the most expensive dye was. Told that it was purple, he chose it as the new colour for the school's blazer, which it remains to this day. By 1912 numbers had grown to 144 pupils in the main school, split into four houses (School House, Parr's House (formerly North Town), Harsnett's House (formerly South Town) and Dugard's House), and 169 younger boys in the preparatory school. Growth continued through the world wars, with 700 boys by 1947 and five scholarships for pupils to pursue university education. An outdoor swimming pool was constructed in the 1920s and remains in use. In 1966 Labour-controlled Colchester Borough Council put forward proposals to close Colchester Royal Grammar School and Colchester County High School and move to a comprehensive system, but this was rejected by Essex County Council. The educational expansion of the 1960s allowed the construction of new classrooms and a gymnasium. Expansion continued into the 21st century, with a new art building opened in 2003 and the technology block upgraded. In 2006 a new extension to the science building was completed and two new chemistry laboratories were opened. The school became grant-maintained in the 1980s and converted into an academy in 2012. Buildings and facilities The school's main site on Lexden road houses classrooms, science and technology facilities, school hall, library, gymnasium, cafeteria and offices. The site also contains: Gurney Benham House, acquired in 1934 and named after William Gurney Benham, a former pupil;