 The original decree stated that "these lands and properties should... hereafter be governed, ordered and employed towards the maintenance and erecting of a Free School within the said town of Hales-Owen and of a Schoolmaster to reach and instruct within the said School the children of the inhabitants of the said town and parish of Hales-Owen to read English Grammar and other Literature..."
This is significant as the free school was one of the earliest grammar, as distinct from elementary or petty schools, to have been founded for instruction in English.Most grammar school instruction of the time was in Latin, Greek and Hebrew to facilitate knowledge and learning of Ancient History, Classical Literature and the Scriptures.Earls High School was created in September 1972 as a result of a re-organisation of education in Halesowen which saw the grammar school merge with the adjacent technical school on Furnace Lane.