Will It Survive?
In April 2026, the Thetford Grammar School, where Thomas Paine was a pupil from 1744 to 1749, announced its closure effective August 31, 2026. This poses more questions than answers about the future of the historic structure and potential archives that must be resolved.
Thetford Grammar School is among the oldest schools in England and, according to the school’s website, “traces its origins to AD 631 when it is likely that Sigbert, King of the East Angles, provided a school for his court in Thetford.” Less conjecturally, the school’s Roll of Headmasters traces back to 1114, although the school has been dormant for long periods since that time.
The “Old School,” a former chapel, comprised the entire school at the time Paine attended. According to Paine in Rights of Man: Part the Second, “my parents were not able to give me a shilling, beyond what they gave me in education; and to do this they distressed themselves.” The curriculum included reading, writing, and arithmetic. He was also exposed to poetry for the first time, surely having great influence on his later work as a poet. At age 13, he left school to begin a corset-making apprenticeship with his father. That his formal education ended then was later weaponized by his political enemies.
The current Headteacher, Amanda Faye, told the BBC that the closure of the school was due to “the 20% VAT tariff on school fees, the removal of business rates relief, increased employer pension contributions, and the rising of the minimum wage and operating costs.”
In an unusual twist, in 2017, the school was sold for an undisclosed sum to China Financial Services Holdings, a company registered in Hong Kong and accused in the press of “direct links to both the CCP and the Chinese state.” This comes as part of a trend where dozens of private schools in the UK have been purchased by Chinese government-linked investors.
Former students, current staff, and local officials are currently trying to save the school. Readers of the TPHA Beacon may wish to subscribe to that group’s mailing list and ask how to help their cause. Most vital is that the landmark, or at least its records, be preserved and celebrated for its historical value, including its important connection to the immortal Thomas Paine.