Thetford Grammar School's formation is shrouded in mystery, but it may date back as far as 631. First re-founded by the Bishop of Norwich in 1114, the school was revitalised following the dissolution of the monasteries, and firmly re-established by an Act of Parliament in 1610 and then by a new foundation document in 1876. A Girls' School was set up alongside the ancient Boys' School in 1888 and both schools spent the middle years of the twentieth century as county council grammar schools, before their re-foundation as a co-educational independent school in 1981.

Written to coincide with the 450th anniversary of Thetford Grammar School's re-founding and drawing on the school's archives, David Seymour discusses four and a half centuries of governance, pupils, headteachers, ushers and assistant teachers, phases of building, and the development of the curriculum.