John and Joan Cooke and the Crypt School, Gloucester: Its foundation and early development c.1500-1600

The Crypt School in Gloucester is now 482 years old. The school began its life in a tiny building adjacent to St Mary de Crypt church in Gloucester. Today the modern thriving school although on a different site is still sited on land provided through the bequests of John and Joan Cooke.

John Cooke, four times mayor, sheriff and alderman of the town, a wealthy brewer and mercer died in 1528. He became the wealthiest man in Gloucester in his lifetime and experienced the domination and gradual decline of the monasteries. As a civic leader he witnessed and dealt with disputes between the civic and ecclesiastical authorities over land, trading, taxes, and education. The Church and the laity in Gloucester were powerful entities, whose influence and wealth had developed over centuries and who had held fast onto rights conveyed by royal charters. Education was one component of Gloucester life that was in the grip of the Church. St Peter’s Abbey ran an almonry and song school, Llanthony Secunda Priory defended its rights in the court as the sole provider of grammar education in the town. John Cooke died before realising his ambition to open the school, in his will he left instructions for his wife Joan who was to continue his plans, surrounded by influential men of the town. With full control over John Cooke’s fortune, Joan forged ahead and with help from those around her the school was opened in 1539.

Though an examination of the documentation ranging from wills and rental documents to conveyances this thesis contributes to the understanding of the reasons for the foundation of the Crypt School of Gloucester and the school’s survival through the Tudor age; as well as the influences that may shaped the decisions of John and Joan Cooke.