Education has had an undeniable influence on the development of Bedford, and the Grammar School in St Paul's Square was where the history of Bedford's Harpur Trust Schools began. Sir William Harpur bought the land in St Paul's Square for the school in the late 1540s and  provided an endowment to pay teachers, provide for the classical education of boys living in Bedford, and maintain the building. The Grammar School used the site until 1892 when it moved to the premises of Bedford School. Today the building has been subsumed by the Town Hall and houses the Mayor's Parlour and the Civic Theatre. The engraving by Rock & Co shows the original building with a  facade dating from 1767, while the 1880 photograph includes the northern extension built 1859-1861. The statue in the niche above the doorway is of Sir William Harpur, by Benjamin Palmer.