A Short History Church Interior Church Outside The Hermitage The School Coquet Island The Vicarage The Vicars

This used to be in the little room above the proch called the Parvise. It was reached by a circular staircase. The blackened walls in one corner show how the children and the teacher kept themselves warm in winter. The smoke escaped by a hole in the roof. In 1663 we read 'No schools - no papists', but in 1670 we hear of a legacy of £50 left to the school by George Warwick. At the time of the Battle of Waterloo, a Mr.Wanless was schoolmaster and taught the children their letters for £7 per annum. Mr.Richard Downey taught the children to sing for £1 per annum. Writing was taught to 'those who had conducted themselves well' for 10s. Teachers' salaries thus amounted to £8.10s.

In 1819 the deoartureof the vicar to be headmaster of Westminster School inspired fresh developments. Sixty farmers and gentry subscribed to make the school a day school. Mr.Wanless was sent to learn a system of mass eduction invented by a Dr.Bell for use in Madras for teaching Indian children. His salary was increased to £40 and a schoolmistress, Mrs.McGee, was appointed to teach the girls sewing for £25. Prices of some articles at around tis time were:

Men's coarse shirts, 5d;
Ladies' Night-caps with double border, 4d;
Frocks, stitched and tucked, 1s;
Pocket hankerchiefs, ½d.

To accommodate this new school the Duke granted a site by the riverside below the bridge for a boys' schoolroom., together with the necessary stone. The building was completed in 3½ months and cost £400. Late, in 1852, wings were added on either side to provide a girls' schoolroom and an infants' room. Children were admitted by nomination; subscribers of a guinea were entitled to nominate one child. In 1829 it was ruled that each child pay one penny per week. There was an elaborate system of rewards and punishments; rewards for 'constancy at church and school - clean hands, face and hair'; punishments for 'not minding the teacher - cruelty to human being or brute creation - telling lies or stealing'. The new school building, on Guilden Road, was dedicated by the Bishop in May 1971.