Carol Singing

Every year, Gresham’s School hosts a small craft fair featuring local artisans and also treats the visitors to some beautiful Christmas songs performed by members of the school choir.  The standard of the singing is always excellent and is held in the school chapel.  We always go along, it seems to start Christmas off beautifully.
 
Holt is home to Gresham’s School which was founded in 1555, by Sir John Gresham, who converted Holt’s Manor House into a Free Grammar School.   Sir John went on to become Lord Mayor of London and forged close ties with the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, leaving the School in their care upon his death; strong links with the City of London remain to this day. The School remained in the heart of Holt for 350 years, surviving the great fire of 1708, which destroyed most of medieval Holt. The building was extensively enlarged and refurbished in Victorian times, and still exists today renamed ‘Old School House’ and currently serving as home to Gresham’s Pre-Prep School.  At the turn of the twentieth century, Gresham’s was refounded under the direction of headmaster George Howson. Under Howson, the School moved to the existing site on the edge of Holt.