The History of North Curry

History of North Curry Schools

The formal education of the children of North Curry tithing was started in 1809 with the opening of the Sunday school at the Church of St Peter and St Paul. A master and a mistress were engaged whose united salary was £4.3s. (£4.15).  It had an attendance of 24 boys and 34 girls. The boys were instructed in the vestry room and the girls at the house of the mistress. A rudimentary education of alphabet learning, spelling and bible understanding was given.

In 1820 the Improved Day School was established. The boys were taught reading, writing and the common rules of arithmetic and the girls the same, together with needlework and knitting. The pupils paid two pence a week, and one penny for books, slates and pens and ink. Children were removed from the school if they were found guilty of lying, swearing, stealing or Sabbath-breaking .

In the mid-1800’s a number of private schools flourished in North Curry.

The North Curry Parochial School was built in 1848. The land for the schoolroom was conveyed from the Dean and Chapter of Wells and Mrs. Sarah Gould to the Vicar and Churchwardens of North Curry in trust. The school educated the poor children of the parish. In 1868 it changed its status to the North Curry National School, and as required by the Board of Education it was funded together with the children’s school pence and a government grant of £45.17s.10d (£45.89), by means of voluntary subscriptions of parishioners. School attendance to the age of ten was made compulsory in 1880. In 1889 County Councils were empowered to levy rates to provide a wider education to include history, geography, drawing, algebra and geometry. In 1891 elementary education was provided free. It wasn’t until 1918 that the leaving age was raised to 14 but many children were absent to help with farming, withy stripping and domestic chores. Schools were required to keep log-books of daily happenings from 1863 and at that time James Sheppard, headmaster, recorded an average daily attendance of 135 pupils. In the 1891 Census return 300 children were listed as attending school. In 1955 158 pupils were attending. The school moved into new premises in the village of North Curry in 1988.

In 1879 a school was built in Wrantage which accommodated the younger children of Wrantage. It was destroyed by bombing in 1941, but fortunately by a random bomb during the night, so with no loss of life.

For more information on the history of North Curry why not buy a copy of  "North Curry - A Place in History" by Angela Dix.  For details go to http://www.dixuk.com.