South Wilts Grammar School for Girls, Salisbury

The school was opened on 14th September 1927 with accommodation for 300 girls aged from 10 to 18 years. Of the initial intake of 207 girls all but the youngest age group came from Bishop Wordsworth's School, which then reverted to a boys' school. The original building was only partly two-storeyed with open corridors but as the school grew during the 1930s the buildings were enlarged twice by 1955. During the Second World War the premises were shared with the Southern Secondary School from Portsmouth with the Salisbury girls attending school in the mornings. In 1948 there were 520 pupils on the school roll and this number remained fairly constant during the 1950s with 28 mistresses at the school. In 1955 the school was on a 7 acre site and included 3 laboratories, 2 art rooms, rooms for cookery, needlework and geography, a library, a gymnasium and a canteen. The building was still inadequate for the number of pupils and the range of subjects covered but in 1958 a new home economics block was built and the open corridors were finally glazed.

In the 1960s the numbers on the school roll increased and major extensions were needed. These included science laboratories, a new assembly hall, and a new classroom, office and staff room. In 1964 a swimming pool was opened. There was still insufficient space in the 1970s and mobile classrooms had to be used but these have been largely replaced by new extensions in the 1980s and 1990s. The school is a local education authority selective secondary school which is open to all children within a reasonable travelling distance of the school. In 2002 the number of girls on the school roll was 875.