National School, Purton

By 1842 there was a school conducted on the National System with James Woodward and Elizabeth Woodward as master and mistress. In 1852 the master was John Hawkins and the mistress was Leah Tilley and it was recorded in 1858 that the master taught 50 boys on the upper floor of a building and the mistress taught 50 girls on the lower floor. The building was 25 feet by 17 feet, with wall desks, and the ventilation was said to be poor. From 1859 there was a fund raising effort for a new school with much money raised locally, aided by a small National Society grant.

The new school was completed in 1861 at a cost of £1,569. There were three schoolrooms, the largest being 50 by 28 feet, and a classroom that could accommodate 240 children. There were 150 on the roll in 1861 and this had incresed to 258 in 1883. This was a mixed elementary school, with children from 5 years and upwards and it had become very overcrowded. In 1884 a separare infants' school was built but despite this there were 150 boys and 152 girls at the school in 1889. A new school was built at Purton Stoke in 1898 and 47 children transferred from the Purton schools. In 1903 the school was taken over by Wiltshire County Council as the local education authority and it was then known as St. Mary's School, under which name further information can be found.