HISTORY OF ALLEYNE’S

Our school was founded in 1558 and named after Thomas Alleyne (c. 1488 - 1558) who was rector of Stevenage and was buried in Stevenage at St Nicholas' Church. In his will, Thomas Alleyne left money which lead to the foundation of three schools, at Uttoxeter and Stone, both in Staffordshire, and at our site in Stevenage.

The Thomas Alleyne School in Stevenage was known as Master Allen's school, then Alleyne's Grammar School, and it acquired its present name when it was amalgamated with the former Stevenage Girls' School. The school became an academy in 2013, in partnership with the Hart School Trust. The school is still on the site it has occupied for four and a half centuries, a short walk both from Thomas Alleyne's Church and from his home.

FORMER HEAD TEACHER - FRANCIS CAMMAERTS

Francis Charles Albert Cammaerts, DSO, was headmaster from 1952 to 1961. He was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe and Asia against the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. Cammaerts was the creator and the organiser (leader) of the Jockey network (or circuit) in southeastern France in 1943 and 1944. He recruited and supplied with arms and training a large number of resistance networks.

Francis Cammaerts was the author Michael Morpurgo’s uncle. Morpurgo wrote a fictional story based on his Uncle’s experiences in WWII ‘In the Mouth of the Wolf’.

VINCENT MOTORCYCLES

The Vincent motorcycle factory was based in the current Thomas Alleyne Academy reception between 1928 and 1955. In fact, some fans still ride in pilgrimage to the former factory! The Holy Grail for collectors is the world-beating racer the Vincent Black Lightning, of which only 30 or so were made. In 2008, one fetched a record £221,500 at auction.