[6] Chartered by Edward VI in 1549 as a grammar school for boys, for much of its history it offered a largely classical curriculum of Greek, Latin and arithmetic under the governance of the Wisbech Corporation.

[15] The first record of a schoolmaster dates from 1407 when one Maurice Plank was given leave to study at Cambridge University for two terms on the understanding that he would appoint an usher to teach in his absence.

A record from 1446 details how master Jacob Creffen was granted leave by the Bishop of Ely to collect an "adequate salary" from each scholar according to the "praiseworthy, ancient and approved custom".

[21][22] In 1638 a benefactor, William Holmes, gave £400 to the burgesses of Wisbech to be invested in land, and the rest applied for the maintenance of two scholars at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

[24] Crane's estate included land in Fleet, Lincolnshire and an inn on Market Hill called the Black Bull.

[25] In 1793, property developer Joseph Medworth purchased the site of Wisbech Castle, including John Thurloe's 1660 mansion (supposedly in a very poor condition) and the land surrounding it from the See of Ely, building the Georgian Circus along the bailey walls.

[27] The Corporation refused (it is usually assumed that the other burgesses intended to purchase the mansion for the same purpose after Medworth's death at a reduced price).

[29] The inspector suggests that the reason for its decline may have been a nearby commercial school, and hints that the feeling in the town was that the largely Classical curriculum was "irrelevant".

[30] The school continued to use the former guildhall site in Hill Street until 1898, by which stage the medieval building was much altered and in a dilapidated condition.

[18] A fundraising campaign was launched to pay for the house, but after insufficient funds were donated, the cost of purchase was met by Alexander, Baron Peckover.

[31] The house and its grounds was originally intended to be the headmaster's residence and provide lodgings for a few boarders, but soon expanded to accommodate the entire school with the construction of classrooms and a hall.

[32] The new building included spacious school-room, class-rooms, laboratories and workshop, all furnished in a modern manner and was formally opened on 20 January 1898 and the key presented to the Headmaster Mr A.W.Poyser.

[33] In his 1939 history of the school, headmaster H. Lawrence White opines that the purchase of this 18th-century house was a "grave mistake", as it was "constantly needing repairs" and was "difficult to warm".

[52] In 1991, a major extension to the school site added 19 classrooms, four laboratories, two computer rooms, a sports hall and library.

[57] A new charity, under a board of trustees, was proposed in 2020 to oversee the freehold of the school and its associated buildings and land.

[59] 2019-2020 Senior school fees were £4,579 per term, with means tested bursaries available at Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 known as governors' assisted places.

The school has a wide catchment area encompassing King's Lynn, Peterborough, Whittlesey, March, Chatteris, Hunstanton and Long Sutton.

[11] Other subjects offered include art, music, resistant materials technology, food and nutrition, textiles, physics, chemistry, biology, French, German, Spanish, history and geography.

[68] The school stages theatrical productions regularly, either in the Russell Hall or the Dwight Centre drama studio.

Recent productions include She Stoops to Conquer, The Recruiting Officer, My Fair Lady, Amadeus, The Duchess of Malfi, Pride and Prejudice, Oh, What a Lovely War!

[5] Pupils participate in various stages of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and the school runs expeditions to a variety of locations in the Lake District, Snowdonia and the Yorkshire Dales.

[72] The school has a long-running exchange scheme with the Willibrord Gymnasium in Emmerich in North Germany, as well as a château trip for second formers and a study visit to France.

[38] The Southwell family, incidentally, once owned Bevis Hall, the manor in Wisbech St Mary which once held jurisdiction over the land on North Brink on which Harecroft House is sited.

[80] Beatrice M Sparks MA (Oxon) was the first headmistress of Wisbech High School, she left in 1913 and was appointed principal of Cheltenham Ladies College in 1922.

He subscribed to his brother's abolitionist cause, and became the first governor of the free Sierra Leone colony, founding the country's capital city, Freetown.

[89] Other figures from this era include General Sir Charles Wale (1765–1845), the last British governor of Martinique, and The Hon.

[90] Victorian composer and organist W. H. Jude (1851–1922) was a prolific lecturer and hymnodist, and opened over 1,000 organs across the UK and Australasia during his career.

[93] Sir Frank Stockdale (1883–1949) was a Holmes Scholar, and during his career as an agriculturalist played a leading part in establishing rubber, tea, and coconut research institutions.

[98] In sport, George Russell drives for Mercedes in Formula 1, Ali Price plays Rugby Union for the Glasgow Warriors and internationally for Scotland.

[100] Other alumni include author John Gordon (1925–2017), known for his children's novel The Giant Under The Snow;[101] economist Professor Stephen Littlechild, who developed the price-cap system of electricity regulation;[102][103] Denys Bullard (1912–1994), MP for South West Norfolk,[104] Ray Palma (later known as Ray DaSilva), founder of the Norwich Puppet Theatre;[105] Richard Blakesley, joint inventor of the Kymera wand, which won £200,000 backing on Dragons' Den,[106] Mike Stevens, musical director and record producer and Will Millard, writer, explorer and presenter of BBC2's Hunters of the South Seas.