Portsmouth Grammar School

Portsmouth Grammar School opened in 1750 in Penny Street, Portsmouth by William Smith, a philanthropic Mayor of Portsmouth. Although initially successful, by the mid nineteenth century it had declined and was refounded in 1873 with a new building at the top of the High Street being opened in 1879. This is now the Lower School. The school has subsequently flourished, taking over Clarence Barracks in 1926 and further buildings adjacent to the site in Museum Road in the 2000s. It is Portsmouth’s oldest school.