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www.thomasmills.suffolk.sch.uk
Thomas
Mills (1623-1703)
came to Fram from Grundisburgh to
learn wheelwrighting.
He made a
 fortune by hard work, inheritance and a good
marriage and then left it to help the needy and elderly, and to educate
the children of the town and district.
Under
the terms of his will, the Mills Almshouses (which Pevsner describes
as a 'stately range') were built in 1704-5 to provide homes for eight
old people. Still maintained, modernised, by the Mills Charity, the
homes have been continuously in occupation ever since. Thomas decreed
that any income left over each year should be used for the education
of children. The first Mills School was established in 1751 and existed
for over a century. In 1891, the endowed Schools Commissioners published
a Scheme to establish Mills Grammar School using the charity's money
(and a sum taken from the Hitcham Trust). The School, originally for
girls aged between 8 and 16, but with a kindergarten which also accepted
boys, opened in 1902. It began with just 25 pupils, but eventually
grew to 470, including (after 1974) boys of secondary school age.
In 1979, this second Mills school joined with Framlingham Modern School
(established 1937) to form the Thomas Mills High School situated on
Saxtead Road. Family names associated with the castle are used for
the school's five houses, while the school motto originally belonged
to Mary Tudor, who became Queen at Framlingham
Castle in 1553.
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