National School, Ludgershall

The school was built in Butt Street, on the corner of Crown Lane, in 1856 for 100 children. The brothers Everett gave it in memory of their sister. The building was used for older children and one of the earlier schools was retained for the younger children. In October 1858 there were between 50 and 60 infants in the old school, which was described as being an unsuitable building, with a brick floor, no playground, and standing in the street. By contrast the new school with 60 children, was said to be a handsome building standing in large enclosed area. It was built of flint and brick, had a good schoolroom (35 feet by 17 feet), with large end windows, a wooden floor and a few good desk. Unfortunately ‘a large ill contrived gallery occupies most of the room’.

An evening school was held during the winter months by 1864. By 1871 the day school had 71 pupils, but this had risen to 92 in 1889. Although the school had been built for 100 children, changing government regulations now meant that the amount of space available was only sufficient for about 70 children. The school was enlarged in 1894, at a cost of £250 so that the capacity was once again 100 children.

The school logbooks survive from September 1895 and show us glimpses of school life at the end of the Victorian era. By now there was a school room measuring 33 feet by 18 feet and a classroom of 23 feet 6 inches by 12 feet but by 1896 it would seem that these were well filled. The HMI report for that year says, ‘The children are well behaved and order is as good as it can be in a crowded room. The work is carried out with energy and gratifying success’. The infants were orderly and thoroughly well taught while the Evening School was, ‘--- very successful, both teachers and scholars continue to make it go well’. Average attendance for the day school was nearly 100.

The good reports continued to 1900 with such comments as ‘their intelligence and general knowledge are cultivated and order is well maintained’ (1897); ‘the infants form a pleasant class and have been well taught’ (1897); ‘the instruction maintains its high character and order is good. The lessons are given with much ability and the children are quick to understand’ (1898). In 1898 there was a comment that the room was too full for comfort, which was repeated in 1899. This shows the effects of the beginnings of the growth of Ludgershall to serve the local army camps with houses, goods and services, causing a population increase. In June 1900 effects of the military were described thus, ‘The school is much more difficult to manage. The children are neglected, the parents being busy washing for soldiers. On the departure and arrival of troops it is most difficult to assemble the children. The music and bustle seem to excite the children especially as there is a camp opposite the school’. In 1901 the HMI report stated. ‘The development of the village will soon render the question of accommodation acute; the school is already very full.’ The question was answered in 1906 when a new primary school was built in St James Street and old school used only for younger children.

Up until 1896 the staff had consisted of a headmistress, Mrs Blanche Crouch, who had arrived in the mid 1880s, with two pupil teachers and a monitor. With the increase in pupils this was augmented in 1897 by the addition of a teacher and another pupil teacher replacing the monitor. Apart from the elementary subjects of reading, writing and arithmetic, subjects taught included scripture, geography, history, drill, drawing, singing, and craft activities such as basket work and rug making. Object lessons, the study of all aspects of an item, included pens, matches, vegetables, plants and the Union Jack.

School holidays were, Christmas, one to two weeks, Easter one week, Harvest Holiday (August and September) two weeks. Half-day holidays were always granted after a diocesan or HMI inspection. Sometimes the pupils received extra time off, as when the teachers went to a choral festival at Wilton in June 1896 or when the school closed early in the same month to prepare for a Jumble Sale to raise money for the victims of a local fire. In June 1897 there were two day’s holiday to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

Absences from school were not that frequent in the 1890s although from 1900 mention is made of the fluctuations in numbers on the register owing to the children from soldiers’ families arriving and departing. Regular absences among the older boys were for potato planting (April), haymaking (June) and potato picking (October). In November 1896 several boys were also absent for four days beating for a pheasant shoot. The fire, which caused the Jumble Sale to be held in the school, caused several children to absent in May 1896 as their homes were destroyed. Attendance always dropped at harvest time and when the weather was bad. In February 1898, February 1900, and January 1901 the school was closed because of heavy snowfall, while in March 1897 hail and thunderstorms reduced the numbers attending.

Illness tended to be more frequent and serious than today. There were epidemics of influenza (January 1897) whooping cough (June 1899), scarlet fever (December 1899), and measles (June 1898 and in 1900 when the school was closed from the end of March to April 23rd.).

Among other points of interest were the fact that the children were given a day off for Ludgershall Fair in July and that in October 1900 the children of the navvies, who were building the local camps, were much improved. The school was closed on February 20th 1899 for the funeral of the rector, the Rev. W.H. Awdry, while in July 1900 the children lined the road for the funeral procession of Miss Selfe, who had taken a great interest in the school, and they presented a wreath made by themselves. During the harvest holiday of 1900 the school was decorated with both coloured wash and whitewash. This plan of the school is from c.1905.

After the new school was built in St. James Street in 1906 there were 148 pupils in both schools, after the school was taken over by Wiltshire County Council, and by 1938 there were 251. When education was re-organised locally in 1940 the infants joined the juniors, although some were still educated at the Butt Street school until 1942. The building was sold in 1946 and made into a private house. Further information can be found under St. James Street School.