School History

The Friary School can trace its history back to 1892 when a committee led Sophia Lonsdale opened Lichfield Girls' High School in Market Street, moving to St John Street shortly afterwards. Lichfield Girls' High School was renamed The Friary School in 1926, having moved into the old Friary building in 1921. An extension was opened in 1928 - a building now known to locals as the Old Library (below right).

The school was relocated to its current site from 1973.

This tablet (below), dated to 1935, is now restored to display in school reception. Incredibly, the school had just four different Headteachers in the 80-year period between 1892 and 1972.

You can learn more about our school’s history here.

School History Project

As part of celebrating our rich past, we are calling out for help from local families to help gather and collate documents and photographs related to the school’s long history. The documents could include reports, letters, magazines or schoolwork; photos could be formal school ones, or informal snaps like those taken on the first day of ‘big school’, or it could be a personal account of what it was like to be a Friary student.

We are equally happy with originals or scanned copies – which we can arrange – so that the history of the school is not lost, and the thousands of students who have passed through the school’s doors, at the various school sites, will know that their experience and journey is being retained.

We have already gathered materials from the past and you can view a sample of them here.

If you can support this project, or wish to obtain more information about our School’s History project, please contact Sam Sullivan, Assistant Headteacher, via office@friaryschool.co.uk.