• In 1175, the first room used as a schoolhouse was the chancel of the chapel of St. Thomas finished by Abbot Benedict (1177-93). The Chapel of St. Nicholas over a gateway, also built by Abbot Benedict, was used for an extra schoolroom.
• In 1511-12 a 'schole house' existed in DeadmansLane or Dedemanslane (Cross Street). It was the Abbey's school for novice and orphans whose parents had left legacies for their upkeep and education.
• On September 4th 1541, the late abbey was made the cathedral church of the newly created Bishopric of Peterborough. The new foundation included a grammar school with two masters and twenty scholars. John Chambers was made the first bishop.
• In 1541, the Statutes of Peterborough said there should be two grammar teachers, one to be Preceptor, the other sub-Preceptor. The boys should be taught grammar the number of whom varied with the place, being 50 at Canterbury and 20 at Peterburgh."
• In 1541, it was one of the seven schools established, or in some cases re-endowed and renamed by Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries for the education of 'poor boys'.
• In 1541, it was not accommodated in Deadmanslane but in what is now the Song School. Robert Ratcliffe was the first headmaster of the new foundation. He was succeeded by John Cheyne (Chayne), alias Waypole, who was one of the six prebendaries appointed when the cathedral was established in the first place.
• In 1548, Thomas Hare was the headmaster. Simon English became his predecessor.
• In 1559 the boys had to attend cathedral at 5am before prayers in school at 6am.
• In 1561 Richard Stevenson became the head master.
• In 1596 Edward Wager, a minor canon of the cathedral, was appointed and suspended on January the 24th 1600.
• In 1605, Mr. Edward Morrey (a friend of Wager) became a 'master of the Free School O Peterborough," he was a graduate of Trinity College.
• In 1607, Mr. Humphrey Rowe became a minor canon and succeeded. The entire time he was in charge of the school he had some ecclesiastical appointment as well, Vicar of Warrington (1608-9) and Vicar of Croft in Leicestershire (1609-23), where he died and was buried.
• In 1614, Mr. Robert Thurlbye, after a year or two on probation, was appointed headmaster.
• During 1628 to 1636, Mr. William Dixon (or Dickson), a lecturer at the Cathedral succeeded. James Wildbore was Headmaster for the next ten years.
• On the 5th of December 1636, scholarships were established and were in administration until 1673.
• In 1685 to 1707 the school was run by Mr. Waring or Warren.
• In 1707 David Standish was appointed headmaster and his son, David Standish took over after his father died in 1710. David himself died in 1728. At the restoration, Benjamin Laney filled the Bishopric after being vacant for twelve years and Edward Rainbow was made a Dean. The Mastership of the grammar school was given to Richard Bunworth.
• 1725 was the first time the school was known as the King's School, Peterborough.
• In 1726 Mr. Thomas Bradfield was appointed and resigned in 1736.
• In 1731 a preference for King's scholars were given to the boys, 'who lived in the town before the boys that came out of the town'.
• In 1733, Mr. Ed Wortley gave £50 to the school, which was employed in building two rooms adjoining it, which became the nucleus of the headmaster's house.
• In 1736, Master Rev. Thomas Marshall, was sacked by the chapter for not attending the services every Sunday morning and evening at the Cathedral Church. He held office until 1747.
• In 1736, two ladies named Dawson and Walsham had each given the Dean and Chapter £100 for the augmentation of the master's salary, and they were directed to invest it in land which was not done.
• In 1749, Thomas Mirehouse (Mierhouse or Myrehouse), a Rector of Etton, followed and was allowed to appoint an usher for the school.
• During 1756-1767, Thomas Marsham mastered the school.
• In 1767 the Rev. Charles Favell was appointed head as well as minor canon until 1773.
• During 1773-1776, Robert Fowler mastered the school.
• During 1776-1796, Henry Freeman mastered the school.
• In 1785 the scholarship foundation came to an end.
• During 1796-1812, William Loftus mastered the school.
• In 1800, the city's grammar school, King's had already 250 years of recorded history and for nearly a century its work had been augmented by two charity schools, Deacon's and Ireland's.
• During 1812-1815, Hinde mastered the school.
• In 1814, the Dean Kipling and Chapter made Kings into an elementary school.
• During 1815-1818, Christopher Massey mastered the school.
• During 1818-1829, Thomas Garbett mastered the school.
• In 1829, after Thomas Garbett's resignation, the Dean and Chapter took matters in hand with determination to improve the school.
• In 1829, the headship was advertised as open to graduates of Oxford or Cambridge and William Cape of Corpus Chrisy College, Cambridge was elected. He imposed a strict discipline on the pupils and the half-hearted way of teaching changed.
• In 1850, Cape resigned but was asked to continue at the school until his successor could be appointed. After hearing his resignation, the Dean and Chapter took advantage of the change in the headmastership to make some alterations in the conduct of the school.
• Cape was appointed as one of the examiners whom the Dean and Chapter asked to examine the whole school in classics and mathematics every year.
• In 1850, the policy of external examinations started.
• In 1852 the chapter estates were taken over by the Ecclesiastical Commission and the school no longer remained entirely at the mercy of the canon's income.
• In 1853 the headmaster's, William Ameers White, income was fixed at £150 per year. He introduced a proper admission register to record the details of the boys. White was asked to resign from his position by the Dean and the Chapter due to numerous disagreements.
• In 1856, after returning from his war service as a chaplain to the forces, James Wallace succeeded White. He had no teaching experience but had graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge. He persuaded the Dean and the Chapter to repair and redecorate his house as well as appointing a third master. His request for financial assistance to form a school library was immediately granted.
• In 1856 the Old Petriburgians' Association was formed.
• During 1860 to 1875, the second Master to Wallace, Rev. Edward Bower Whyley took over as head master. He was not only a scholar but also a musician. The Rev. Walter Debenham Sweeting was appointed second Master. Whyley used a lot of his spare time to teach the choristers. Both masters were enthusiastic games players and organised matches with other schools in Stamford and Grantham. Sweeting was born in London and educated at St.Paul's School. He went up to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1857 and graduated with a degree in classics and mathematics.
• By 1865, there were 44 boys and 20 King's scholars.
• In 1869, the Endowed Schools Act set up an Endowed Schools Commission, which had power to approve new schemes for the management of endowed schools. These powers were later transferred to the Charity Commission and afterwards to the Board of Education. The successor of the Board namely the Department of Education and Science now administer them.
• In 1879, the turn of Peterborough Cathedral Grammar School arrived and Sweeing prepared a memorandum outlining issues at the school - size and poor quality of the buildings, insufficient scholarships, low income for all Masters, and the Union of the Grammar School and Choristers School.
• In the 1880's, the library was at the end of school with six main classrooms and smaller rooms.
• In 1882, the Endowed Schools Commissioners reported on the school and on 30th November, Queen Victoria in council approved a scheme for its management. This provided for the creation of a separate governing body for the school and the charge of £400 per annum on the Cathedral income was to be paid to them for use of the school. The Dean and Chapter were to remain as sole governors and the Headmaster was to still attend the cathedral and services but did not have to be in holy orders. The office's usher was abolished and the '20 poor scholars' were reduced to ten king's scholars - six subject to competition and four reserved for choristers. It was made a 'first-grade public school' and its intention was to prepare boys for the universities, profession and business.
• After Sweeting's resignation in 1882, Rev Edward John Cunningham, a graduate of Corpus Christi College, Oxford became head master under the new scheme.
• In 1884, the Governors adopted his idea of moving the school from the Precinct and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners contributed three acres of land in Thorpe Road and £5, 500 in recognition of the school's claims on the cathedral foundation. However, the school was moved due an accident where a schoolboy was knocked down by an engine on the railway line from King's Cross to Peterborough.
• In 1885, fortunately, the school was able to exchange lands for a bigger site and moved to Park Road. A mortgage of 50 years was obtained. It was formally opened on 13th October 1885.
• In 1886 the team board was created.
• In 1886 a pupil, A.H. Copeman launched "The Petriburgian" magazine. He was the founder and the first editor. It was printed at a small shop by the main gateway of the cathedral and sold for 6p/copy.
• In 1897 the Rev. Edward John Bidwell who was a scholar of Bradfield College and House Master of Wadham College, Oxford took over. He started the teaching of science even though there was reluctance from the Governors who wanted to spend the money on repairing the buildings. He doubled the size of the school during the six years of his headmastership.
• In 1899 a new assistant Art master was appointed after a visiting teacher was used from the local School of Art.
• In 1902, the Education Act was passed abolishing the old School Boards and was replaced by the Local Education Authorities.
• In 1903, Mr Bidwell went to Canada as headmaster of the Church of England College, Lennoxville, and his successor at Peterborough Mr. Ernest Samuel Thomas Badger (M.A of St. Catharine's College) Cambridge continued.
• In 1905, formalities to make King's a grant aided secondary school were completed. There were 113 boys at this time.
• In 1906, King's faced bankruptcy and complete re-organisation was put in hand.
• In 1909, the Governors asked for and obtained Badger's resignation.
• In 1909, Walter Ernest Cross, the Senior Science Master of Whitgift School, Croydon, was selected. He self funded a huge amount of work and turned the school around. He resigned and was replaced by Archibald Walter Annand. The Governors sold £1,000 Consols to clear the bank overdraft. Annand and the Dean, Page, didn't get on and Annand resigned.
• In 1914 the Governors sold the Becket Chapel and the adjoining house to the Dean and Chapter for £860. The Charity Commissioners allowed the Governors to spend £300 on repairing the roofs of the three houses in the Precincts provided it was repaid to the Trust Fund within twenty years.
• In 1919, the County Council's grant was £400 and doubled a year later.
• The Rev. Herbert Baxter, a graduate of Jesus College, was chosen but was considered to be one of the weaker masters and problems started to arise. The second Master, W.F.F Shearcroft was then appointed acting headmaster when Baxter resigned.
• In 1922 there were 225 boys despite the building having been built forty years earlier to accommodate 140 pupils.
• In 1925, the County Council's grant rose to £1,900.
• In 1931, the boarding establishment was closed down to relive the pressure of the shortage of accommodation, and other schools housed them. The remaining were accommodated in a house opposite the school and cared for by the Matron, Miss Seton, until the new headmaster had been appointed. Mitchell was the next appointed Headmaster and implicated the policy of bringing the school before the public.
• In 1932, the Junior School was moved from Aberglaslyn in Park Road and accommodation in the dormitories vacated by the boarders.
• In 1938, the Board of Education incorporated the headmaster's house into the school premises.
• In 1938 December, the pianist Pouishnoff gave a recital at the school on a new piano, which had been acquired, from the John Saunders Memorial Fund.
• In 1939, Mitchell left for service and the second master; W.F.F. Sheacroft took over as acting -headmaster until 1945. Part of the park field was dug up to make a vegetable patch for the Boarders and six shelters were erected. When Mitchell left the number of boys raised from 135 to 288.
• In 1940, the new headmaster was Harry Reginald Hornsby, a graduate of Brasenose College. He concentrated on making the building sustain a war and introduced female staff to compensate the lack of teachers sent to war.
• In 1944, the Education Act abolished all the junior schools of the grammar schools and Bidwell's creation of a Preparatory Class for boys under the age of eight to prepare them for entry into the main school was closed. Propositions of Deacon's and King's amalgamating were dismissed numerous times. In 1956, 13th July, the Centenary Dinner of the Association was held.
• In 1945, the Peterborough Joint Education Board was set up. Deacon's and King's chose to be voluntarily aided.
• In 1945, Hornsby was demobilised from the army and returned to Peterborough in the autumn as headmaster once more. Teachers at the school were of the highest calibre and boys started leaving to go to Oxford, Cambridge and other universities.
• In 1946, March, T.F. Ford the architect to the National Society drew two plans to extend the buildings so they would be acceptable to the Ministry and at the same time involve them in the minimum expense. Neither were adopted. Consideration was given to selling the existing site on Park Road and to building an entirely new school on land at Longthorpe but the Planning Committee of the County Council refused it.
• In 1946 the king's scholarships were abolished.
• In 1947, the Governors formally decided that they would prefer independence to voluntary aided status and approaches were made to Canon Woodford. They had to prove that they could meet half of the cost of rebuilding the school.
• In 1948, the newly created Ministry of Education formally intimated to the Governors that they were prepared to grant voluntary-aided status to the school. The junior school, under the direction of Miss R.D Wigner, was closed with its eighty boys and was incorporated into the senior school.
• In 1949, a special badge and gown for cathedral services were awarded to boys with outstanding service.
• In 1950, October Hornsby resigned even though the school was at its peak of prosperity.
• In 1951 Cecil Marriott Harrison was appointed. He was Headmaster of Felsted School. Around this time the ban on accepting boarders was lifted and allowed the school to run a boarding site, which could become an economic unit.
• In 1961, two buildings were built and provided an additional six classrooms together with an art room and a physics laboratory.
• On the 11th of May 1962, H.R.H Duchess of Gloucester performed the formal opening of the new buildings.
• In 1976 the school became comprehensive and co-educational as girls joined the school. However it retained facilities for male students to attend as boarders for a further 21 years.
• In June 1999 the school was recognised with the award of Beacon status.

Architecture:

The houses, formerly known as The School Houses were built for Earl Fitzwilliam as dormitories for the Kings School; the modification of the terrace house plan, to permit access across the houses, reflects this use.

Built in 1726 originally for Earl Fitzwilliam, there is a terrace of 3 x 3 storey houses made out of yellow brick with redbrick and ashlar dressings. Each house with attics and basements has a Colleyweston slate M roof with end stacks. There is a nine window range in the entire sash and glazed bar windows, which sit under the red brick segmental arches. The door cases have semi-circular broken pediments on reeded pilasters and 6-panel doors; of which some are partly glazed.

Steps with iron railings lead to the front gardens, which were formerly a school playground. It is raised on brick barrel vaults formerly used for storage.

The interiors have dogleg staircases with turned balusters and raised and fielded dados. There is full panelling in halls, on staircases and in many rooms. Corner fireplaces are still situated in several of the rooms.

The building was listed as Grade II on 7th February 1952.

The Great Gate, Chapel of St Thomas, Archway to Dean's Court and Numbers 1 to 10 forms a group.

During the 1860's, the school buildings stretched from the main gateway to the Precincts as far as the 18th century houses that overlooked the lawns of the west front of the Cathedral. These were at that time the dormitories and other accommodation for the boarders. They were not subdivided into three private houses until the school moved from the Precincts to its present site in Park Road.

The new design of the school was one that was adopted of schools of this kind. The headmaster's house was at one end of the building, with an assembly hall at the other, they were joined by a corridor from which classrooms were entered. On the first floor were the dormitories and other accommodation, which would be required for the boarders. Naylor of Derby was the appointed architect but his original plan had to be modified, as it would have proved too expensive. Eventually the Charity Commissioners approved the building of the new school by Messrs. John Thompson.

Towards the end of the 1890's, the old gymnasium, which had been made on the site of the first studies to be built for the boarders, was converted into a laboratory at a cost of £300 borrowed from the National Provincial Bank.

From the 1950's the designs of the extensions were entrusted to a local architect, Mr. Stanley Dodson. By general consent he produced plans which have harmonised the Victorian structure of 1885 with the requirements of the modern age. The rebuilding and extensions were carried out in two stages. A new assembly hall and gymnasium was put up at a cost of some £39,000 (half if which was met by a Government Grant) and the second; five laboratories, four classrooms, an art room, dining room, and a kitchen, which cost a further £86,000 (75% of which were met by Government Grants).

The now reception was originally the Heads house. The library was considered the 'big school' and had a stage. All the windows and wood are original and a Roll of honour are hung in the library of people who died in war.

Social history:

• When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, he was only continuing an existing foundation by making provision for a boy's school to be attached to the Cathedral. " Whereas we have lately founded and erected a cathedral church.in place of the late monastery there called the monastery of Peterborough and have.ordained in the same.. eight choristers, a schoolmaster for the choristers, a schoolmaster for a grammar school, an usher for the same twenty children at ye grammar school".
• The grammar school was to be for '20 poor boys with no friends to support them but with a gift and disposition for learning'. They were to be maintained by the church and, to enter the school, had to be able to read and to have some knowledge of grammar. It was a four year course, five maximum, and it was envisaged that others would attend in addition to the foundation scholars because the Commission included 'the 20 boys of our school but also all others in attendance there for the purpose of learning grammar'.
• Kings is one of only two cathedral schools to be funded within the state system.
• Choristers could be elected after the age of nine and remain until their voices had broken. They had their own school, whose master is now the Master of Music.
• The appointment of the masters in the school was a responsibility of the Dean and Chapel. The master of the grammar school was to be 'learned in Latin and Greek, of good character and able to teach'. The first appointment was by the King to Robert Ratcliffe at a salary of £16. 8s. 4d. a year; John Choyne, the usher, had £8. The Second Master was required to have all of these qualities but he needed only to be learned in Latin.
• The right of the election of scholars was divided between the Dean and the prebendaries; the dean could nominate four choristers and four King's scholars, while each prebendary could name two. The definition of 'poor boys with no friends.' was taken out of context when Dean Fletched (1583-91) nominated three of his own sons and so did some of the Canons. Queen Elizabeth reminded them that they should elect the poorest suitable boys who were likely to become ministers of the church.
• Kings was modelled on two colleges, Winchester and Eton, where the king's scholars were to be lodged, boarded and clothes at the cost of the cathedral foundation. The school met in the Becket Chapel and as it grew, it overflowed into the room over the Minster Gate.
• The salaries paid to the teaching staff and masters gave way to the necessity of having other employment which led to educational neglect. However, after Cape's years of teaching, both the Headmaster and the Second master were allowed a house free of rent in addition to their stipends and allowed to take in boarders; whose fees supplemented their incomes.
• In 1800, King's was still a Tudor grammar school concentrating on Latin, while both Deacon's and Ireland's taught little more than the '3 Rs'. The Bible constituted their only reading book in 1867.
• The main purpose of the 1902 Education Act was to provide greater facilities for secondary education by allowing to build secondary schools in which the curriculum was similar to that of the existing grammar schools. At the same time the old endowed grammar schools could be brought within the state education system. A government grant was given in exchange for the admission of a number of 'free' scholars from the local elementary schools.
• In 1909, the school internal 'house' system was reorganised by giving permanent names to three houses; into which the school was divided, instead of naming each after the master who had charge of it. The Anglo-Saxon saints, St.Oswald and St.Chad were the names given to two and the other was called School House which included the boarders. In 1993, due to the increase in the size of the school, a fourth house appeared called St.Peters.
• Today there are approximately 960 pupils.