Old Grammar School

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free to enter, donations welcome: MNH suggests a voluntary 5.00. Children aged 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Opens on Wednesdays, Saturdays and selected days only; the guided Castletown Heritage Tour that starts here is ticketed separately. English Heritage members need no ticket.

ParkingFree parkingFree for all visitors

No charge for anyone.

Parking details

Free parking. Castletown is a parking disc zone: on-street spaces and the town car parks are free for the time shown on the signs (2 hours in some areas, up to 24 hours in others) with a parking disc displayed; Blue Badge holders get double the allotted time but may not park on double yellow lines on the Isle of Man. Discs come from any Isle of Man Post Office (there is one in the town centre), the airport and the Welcome Centre at the Douglas Sea Terminal. Manx National Heritage's access guides (read 17 October 2026) describe two free-of-charge car parks near Castle Rushen and the Market Square and say the Old House of Keys and the Old Grammar School each sit next to a free-of-charge car park, between Parliament Square and the harbour; the guides do not name the car parks and none has dedicated disabled bays. Castletown Commissioners' 2019 off-street parking consultation lists the Chapel Lane (Grammar School), George Paddock and Malew Street car parks; no current tariff is published.

Driving pin: the MNH page pin (54.072874, -4.652174) beside the harbour on Quay Lane (the access guide's address; the page says Castle Street), which reverse-geocodes to Parliament Lane, IM9 1LA; the Google listing is 9 m away. The access guide says the school is next to a free car park with a drop-off point in front.

Buses 1, 2, 2A, 8, 11 and 11A stop in the Market Square (about 25 minutes from Douglas); the Isle of Man Steam Railway has a Castletown stop. Coaches use the Farrant's Way coach park behind the Market Square, 5 to 10 minutes' walk from the sites.

About

The Old Grammar School, Yn Chenn Scoill Ghrammeyoys, is the oldest roofed building in the Isle of Man, built around the 1200s as St Mary's Chapel for the town growing up around Castle Rushen. Around 1710 Bishop Wilson converted it into a grammar school for boys, mostly from wealthy families, and lessons ran there for nearly two centuries; in 1950 it was saved from demolition as the old streets around it were cleared. Cared for by Manx National Heritage, it is dressed as a Victorian schoolroom: stand beneath the arches where medieval families and the castle's stonemasons worshipped, sit up straight on a bench with a slate in hand, and look out over the harbour to Langness lighthouse and the Scarlett peninsula. Reviewers find it small but atmospheric, well presented on boards, with knowledgeable volunteers and original furniture. Tips from visitors: it opens only on certain days, so check before you come or book the Castletown Heritage Tour; entry is by donation; three stone steps lead down into the building.

Check today’s timesSee all times

Old Grammar SchoolOpen today (Wednesdays and Saturdays); no hours published
Castletown Heritage Tour12:00 and 14:00meets here

Opening times may change at short notice.

2026 season Friday 27 March to Sunday 1 November 2026, opening Wednesdays and Saturdays and on selected days in the season; MNH publishes no daily hours, and the 2021 access guide says it opens for events and pre-booked groups by request. Closed over the winter until the 2027 season.

Castletown Heritage Tour: a guided tour of the Old Grammar School, Old House of Keys and Nautical Museum on Wednesdays and Saturdays through the season, meeting at the Old Grammar School at 12pm or 2pm (the Nautical Museum and Old House of Keys pages also say 'from 10am'); the page's online ticket link returned 'Page not found' on 17 October 2026, so book at the Castle Rushen shop or 1 Market Square. No joint Castletown ticket is published.

Tickets for every MNH site, and bus and heritage railway passes, are sold at the Castle Rushen shop and at 1 Market Square, MNH's visitor hub on the Market Square (open daily 9.30 to 4.30, admission free).

Access: a paved path to a 76 cm door, then three large stone steps down with a single handrail and no level alternative; two further wooden steps without handrail into the schoolroom; rush matting, floorboards and stone floors; hearing loop at the counter; written interpretation; traditional toys and games; a grassed picnic area behind the building. No toilets: the nearest accessible toilets are at the Civic Centre (radar key) and Castle Rushen. Drones are not permitted.

Photo: the whitewashed Old Grammar School, built as St Mary's Chapel, with its blocked arches and gable. Manx James, CC0 1.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Grammar_School,_Castletown.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/. Resized and cropped for display.