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In 1760, Abigail Bailey and Ann Levett of Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, purchased 23 acres 36 pole of land in Hargrave for £260, the income from which was to fund the education of the children of the parish through a free school.
By 1849 the income provided £28/yr and in 1869 this had risen to £48/yr, but had dropped to £30/yr by 1890, so in 1908 the Trustees sold the land for £500.
The first dedicated school building was dated 1820 and can be seen on the middle of the image below, to the right of the old almshouses. Both the old school and almshouses have been demolished.
Left: Approx 1940’s image of old school. Middle: 2009 image of (former) new school. Right: 1864 dedication plaque.
The new school building was built using materials provided by Henry Christopher Wise in 1864 whilst Lord of the Manor. It was built to school up to 100 children and provided an adjacent dwelling for the schoolmaster. The architect was E.E.Law & Sons of Northampton and it was built by J.Ball of Wellingborough.
The building is owned by the Educational Foundation of Abigail Bailey and Ann Levett. The Trustees appointed the majority of the School Managers (the Parish Council also appointed one), who employed the teachers and caretakers. The school adopted the national syllabus in 1895.
The Education Act 1944 gave voluntary schools a choice of funding – either “Controlled”, whereby all the costs were paid by the State, but the school was controlled by the Local Education Authority (LEA) or “Aided”, where 50% of the costs were paid by the State, but the Trust retained control of the school. In 1951 the Trustees chose to become a Voluntary Aided school and in 1956 successfully applied to the Peterborough Diocese Education Committee to pay the other 50% of the costs.
With falling numbers, the school was closed by the Northamptonshire LEA in December 1967 (the following year they abandoned the policy of closing rural village schools!) and remained empty until re-opened as the Village Hall in 1972 (following the collapse of the former Village Institute building in heavy snow in March 1970). The former Schoolmaster’s house is now a private dwelling.
Click here for names of the School Teachers (updated 30/01/11)
The “class of 1947” reunion held in 1998. Click on the images to enlarge.
Click here for the names. Photographs by kind permission of Noel Morris. |
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The Village School |
