in c. 1963 when the two staff who ran it retired. Sport As with the curriculum, there are no references to sports being played at Carre's before the 19th century. In 1835, the Marquis of Bristol allowed the school to use an acre of land, which probably functioned as a playground. Sports fields were not added to the grounds until 1908, but the earliest reports of the school participating in sporting events pre-date this by half a century. In the 1860s, the Sleaford Gazette reported on cricket matches with local schools, namely the rival academies run by Mr Boyer and Mr Dibben in Sleaford; by the 1890s, these matches were being organised with more distant schools, like the grammar school at Grantham. Athletics were practised at the school as early as 1871 when a sports day was held; the 100 yards and half a mile races, hurdles, the pole jump and throwing the cricket ball were activities in which forms competed. Football was played at the school as early as 1895. Glebe land was acquired in 1908 for sporting purposes and levelled in the early 1930s. A cycling club was formed in the 1940s and badminton was informally organised by pupils by the 1950s; between 1957 and 1960, a portion of land was converted into tennis courts for the school and rugby was introduced in the 1966–67 academic year. In 2014–15, the school pitched football, rugby union, basketball, cricket, golf and netball teams. In football, the under 12, 13, 14 and 15 football teams won the Kesteven and Sleaford District leagues in 2013/14, while the under 13 and 14 teams won the Lincolnshire Schools' Cup. In rugby, the under 14 team was county champions for the same season and the school competes on a national level. On 8 May 2019, the school was represented by 16 year 11s in the English Schools FA Boys Under 16s Premier League Elite Schools Cup, they proceeded to win against Shropshire school Thomas Telford at Manchester City's FA Academy Stadium in which the win was decided by a penalty shootout. “In truth the whole squad did their job on the day,” said Carre’s head of sport, James Offer. “All 16 players played their part in the win." Site and property The original location of Carre's School is not known. From 1653, it operated in buildings on Eastgate, adjacent to Carre's Hospital. After these fell