Castle Combe School

In 1730 Walter Parry left money to provide for the religious education of Castle Combe children. It was probably this school that existed in 1818 when 45 children were in attendance. By 1824 it had become a district school for the neighborhood, attracting children from a five-mile radius. In 1826 a new school was built, with the aid of a grant from the National Society, and a lending library was included in the building. The school was funded by subscriptions from the wealthier residents and fees, normally one penny (0.4p) a week from the children. In 1835 there were 126 children at the day school and 94 at the Sunday school. This had decreased by 1846 when there were 50 boys and 40 girls being taught by a master and a mistress, who were paid a joint salary of £85 per year. In the 1850s Mrs Paulet Scrope, of the manor, greatly supported the school and herself taught adults at evening classes during the winter months. In 1852 the interest from the money that Walter Parry had left was given to the school and free places provided for 10 poor children. It is possible that Parry’s school had been continuing alongside the church one until then.

In 1858 half of the children being educated came from outside the parish and the school was divided into the boys’ and the girls’ school. The boys were on the ground floor in two rooms. The larger was 36 feet by 19 feet and was 9 feet 5 inches high with a wooden floor. The smaller room was 15 feet by 12 feet 5 inches, was 11 feet 5 inches high and had a floor of flagstones. Ninety boys sat at parallel desks, there was a good supply of educational apparatus and an inspection found that discipline was fair and the instruction good. Between 70 and 80 girls were taught in two ample classrooms on the first floor. They too sat at parallel desks and were well supplied with books and educational aids. Both discipline and instruction were satisfactory. Both schools had a certified teacher and two pupil teachers each and the inspector commented upon the advantage they enjoyed from a great and consistent interest by the school manager.

We can gain an insight into what life was like at the school in Victorian times from the logbooks, which survive from 1863. By 1863 the following fees were charged;

Farmers were to pay 5/- (25p) a quarter each for their first two children, 2/6d (12½ p) for the third, with others from the same family educated free.

Tradespeople were to pay 2/6d (12½ p) a quarter for each of the first two, 1/6d (7 ½ p) for the third and others free.

Labourers paid 1½d (0.6p) a week for each of the first two, 1d (0.4p) for the third and the rest free.

Thus in a year a farmer would pay £2.10.od (£2.50p) if he had three or more children at school, a tradesman £1.6.0d (£1.30p), and a farm labourer 14/8d (73p). School holidays were slightly less than those of today with 11 or 12 days for Christmas, Good Friday at Easter, one week at Whitsun and five weeks Harvest Holiday in the summer. There were also some half and whole day holidays. A half-day was given after the exams of the annual school inspection and for the afternoon of the club fete. A whole day was given for the annual May Fair and a half day on Shrove Tuesday for local festivities. Other holidays tended to be for events associated with Royal family.

Subjects taught were the ‘3R’s of reading, writing and arithmetic, with scripture, geography, history, needlework and singing. Marching and physical exercise were introduced from January 1876. In October 1863 the 1st class (the oldest children) was studying the four simple rules of arithmetic, studying the geography and history of the Holy Land and for repetition were learning the hymn, ‘The Omnipresence of God’. The 2nd class was learning numeration to 1,000 and addition and subtraction. In Geography they were studying Palestine while for repetition they were learning the hymns ‘On Prayer’ and ‘Duty towards God’. The infants were learning to count up to 100 and writing upwards in 100s. They were also learning to write the months of the year, ten one syllable words, and to spell their own names. The infants progressed fairly well as by December they were learning to write the names of villages and towns as well as the months and other names, while in arithmetic they were learning addition, tables and multiplication. By the 1880s drawing had been introduced for the boys while sewing and knitting were solely the province of the girls. Object lessons had been introduced for the infants and these included studying such items as bread, tea, a buffalo, a pig, coffee, a flower and a skylark.

The pupil teachers were taught by the head outside school hours and took examinations to enable them to become teachers themselves. In 1886 they were taught from 4.10 p.m. to 5.10 p.m. each day with following timetable.

Monday Arithmetic and History
Tuesday Composition and Reading Notes of lessons
Wednesday Drawing or Music
Thursday Geography and Sums
Friday Grammar, Paraphrase and Recitation

Originally the teaching staff was a master for the boys’ school, and mistresses for the girls and infants, with two pupil teachers and monitors assisting. By the time the school had become a mixed school, in 1883, there was a schoolmistress and three teachers with pupil teachers.

During the 1860s and 1870s the H.M.I annual reports are generally good, although in some years arithmetic is noted as the weak point. Typical comments are; ‘The children are making very satisfactory progress.’ (1864); ‘The progress being made is highly creditable and promising.‘ (1870); ‘The mistress is succeeding fairly well in this department (girls school), the weak point being the sums of the third and fifth standards. The reading and elementary arithmetic of the infants should be improved. General discipline fairly good.’ (1876) However in 1879 the girls were continuing to make good progress in every subject of instruction. In 1866 the children in the mixed school were ‘in very good order and have passed a highly successful examination’, while the infants had ‘made good progress in reading, writing and elementary arithmetic, and have evidently profited by the teacher’s attempt to give variety to their instruction’. Reports continued to be good through the 1880s and into the 1890s.

Some entries from the log books that reflect less usual events at the school include.

22nd December 1863 The Schoolrooms were decorated for Christmas.

3rd October 1865 Purchased for the school 18 yards of print and 13 yards of calico, to be made into garments for the poor for distribution at Christmas.

1870 There were no entries in the log book for the girls’ school until 29th April owing to the illness, and subsequent death of the mistress Miss Titley. The boys’ schoolmaster supervised both schools until a new mistress was appointed on 30th June.

February 1872 The missionary box was opened and found to contain 4/1½d (about 26 p) for overseas Christian missions.
December 1875 Elizabeth Goodman resigned as Schoolmistress and was presented with an Eletroplate teapot and sugar bowl, and silver sugar tongs.

1876 One father withdrew his two daughters from any form of religious instruction. They were given secular lessons instead but after their father withdrew his objections to R.I. he objected to them receiving homework. After some discussion in which the school managers supported home lessons the girls were taken away from the school.

23rd June 1882 A blackboard for music, a map of the British Isles and set of History of England reading books were obtained.

October 1882 All infants under four years of age sent home until there was room for them in the school.

April 1885 The children were cautioned against taking birds’ nests.

8th May 1889
(Wednesday) Ada Marin, a 4th standard girl, who has been absent suffering from weakness of the heart for sometime, died last evening and will be buried on Sunday. The children will sing a hymn at the grave. The children appear to be much affected at the sad event as Ada was a general favourite and beloved by all.

19th January 1891 The girls are almost too cold to do their needlework.

July 1891 The mistress will only allow those girls who have a wish to learn drawing to do it, as the Science and Art Department will give no grant for that subject unless cookery is taught as well.

November 1891 There were 50 depositors in the Savings Book Scheme and on one Monday 12/9p (about 64p) was deposited.

From the 1860s to the 1890s school attendance figures were in the 80s and 90s and there are often over 100 children on the register. For various reasons attendance’s were quite low at certain times. There was more time off for illness than today and serious illnesses were more common; these included measles, scarletina, chicken pox, whooping cough, diphtheria and mumps. Sometimes the school had to close for a week or two when outbreaks were very bad. In 1873/4 four infants died of ‘Croup’, while in 1884 a pupil died from diphtheria.

Bad weather had an effect on attendances and often the smaller children did not go to school during the winter months. Heavy snowfall could cause the closure of the school, as between 27th January and 1st February 1865 and March 18th to 25th 1807. In October 1882 the village was flooded causing the closure of the school for a day while in November 1885 only 51 children were present because of bad weather and the flooding of the lower part of the village. Other absences were caused by seasonal work, mainly for the older children. This work included field work, potato planting (March/April), hay-making (June), gleaning (September), nutting (September), potato picking (September/October) and gathering acorns for pig food (October/November).

In the early 20th century Sir John Gorst took a great interest in the school and in 1909 brought about the introduction of gardening as a school subject. His head gardener gave instruction and a walled garden was added to the school in 1912. The school was taken over by Wiltshire County Council in 1909.

On the coronation of George V in 1910 Sir John Gorst provided a Royal Devon coronation mug for each child. New floors and windows were provided during alterations in 1911-12 and during the First World War the children helped the war effort by knitting and collecting blackberries, acorns, chestnuts and waste paper.

The school was closed for a month in 1923 because of scarlet fever and in that year Mrs Sully retired as headmistress after 40 years being replaced by Miss Sully, her daughter. In 1941 the school had electric lighting installed and milk was provided for the children. During the Second World War the school was fitted with equipment so that it could be used as a rest centre. In 1947 mid-day meals were provided from Chippenham. In 1948 they came from Corsham, while in 1949 the school was provided with its own scullery.

Population increased during the early 20th century, peaking in the early 1960s, and the school continued to thrive. In 1956 there were 100 pupils aged between 5 and 15 years but later that year the older pupils, aged over 11, were transferred to secondary schools in Chippenham. Many of the pupils took part in the filming of Dr Doolittle in 1966, causing some disruption to the school, as well as to the entire village. By 1976 there were 61 children with a headmistress and two teachers. Children came from other villages, such as Upper Wraxall and Ford, to the school.

With falling numbers in several local schools, it was decided to build a new school at Yatton Keynell to replace four old schools in the By Brook Valley. Castle Combe School therefore closed in July 1998 and from September 1998 village children attended the new By Brook Valley C.E. Primary School.