Board School, Milton Lilbourne

The parish was compelled to form a school board to replace their inadequate school and this came into being on 11th April 1876.A new school and schoolhouse opened in 1878, replacing the earlier Parochial School. The school was built to accommodate 106 and by the 1890s the average attendance was over 70 children. The school was sited at the end of Havering Lane, with the school teacher’s house was attached.

Object lessons in 1894-1895 were wide and varied. They included; an owl, an eagle, a clock, butchers shop, cork, wool and tea.

In the late 19th and early 20th century in particular, attendance fluctuated greatly, and was often dependent on the illnesses that were being spread around the parish. An outbreak of measles in January and February of 1926 shut down the school for two weeks, whooping cough was common in the late 1920s and diphtheria killed a five year old boy, Albert Tassy, in 1929.

Attendance also fluctuated because children were needed to work in the fields or support their parents in other ways. In July 1905 Mr Lane said: “The hay making epidemic is still with us and playing havoc with attendance. A great many older boys and girls have been absent all week either assisting in the hay fields or minding the baby.” School hours were often put back so that children could take tea out to their parents during harvest season.

A typical entry relating to illness written by head teacher John Lane on 14 December 1894 reads: ‘Many infants are absent all this week, the incessant coughing of last week having developed into whooping cough. The heavy rain of Friday kept more than half the children away from school. The average attendance from this week is only 58 with 73 on register.’ That winter was very cold and Mr Lane struggled to keep the children warm and the wells full of ink froze solid. The lower standards even went as far as warming their slates near to the fire before using them. Illness often shut down the entire school. In December 1896 it was closed for a whole month because of an outbreak of measles and in spring 1898 shut for three weeks with the same problem.

The school’s religious education seems to have been very well received by inspectors. In 1924 the Reverend James Casey, Diocesan Inspector, wrote: “The religious instruction is easeful and effective. Hymns, prayers and repetition of scripture are well thought. Scripture is obviously made attractive and the school has a happy tone.” In a similar report in 1930, Rev. Casey said: “This school merits unreserved commendation for its religious instruction. Without hesitation I mark this school Very Good.”
The school also received generally favourable reports from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate over the years. In 1894 the Inspector wrote: ‘The school is in good order and the children show increased intelligence. Reading and recitation are fairly good. Writing is clean and the papers are tidily kept.’ At that stage the staff consisted of; John Lane, headmaster, Sarah Benger, assistant teacher and Harriet Stone, needlework mistress.
In 1936 the Inspector wrote: ‘This school is effectively managed and continues to make very good progress. The difficult teaching conditions in the main room are minimised by the excellent discipline, by the careful management and the thoughtful way in which the two classes occupying the room are taught.’

An extremely alarming and upsetting incident took place on 10 May 1898; a young girl called Clara Louisa Robins, aged just five, stood too close to the fire in an attempt to warm herself during the dinner hour and her clothing caught fire. In her fear she ran out into the street, but this only served to fan the flames and her whole body was ablaze. She received burns all over her body and died the next day at Savernake Cottage Hospital. The newspaper report described her as being ‘engulfed’ in the flames.

Mr Lane writes: ‘I wrapped a thick woollen rug around her and with the assistance of my wife succeeded in putting out the flames but not before the poor child was severely burnt about the arms and legs. I sent for the mother and telephoned for the doctor. The mother bought a perambulator and took the child home. After the doctor had assessed the wounds she was taken to Savernake Cottage Hospital.’

Mr Lane received a telegram the next morning to say Clara had died. The inquest took place on March 18. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death after hearing that Clara had gone to warm her hands on the fire when her pinafore and frock touched the iron bars and caught fire. All the school staff were exonerated from any blame.

Mrs Mabel Weeks, in her ‘Memories of Milton Lilbourne village and parish’, written in 2000, said that at the start of the 20th century, around 60 children attended the school and in 1939 the school had 51 pupils on their register.

An interesting entry from January 1901 read: ‘The news of the Queen’s serious illness came as a great shock to us all on Monday. The national anthem was sung and wishes expressed for the Queen’s recovery.

‘The sad news of the Queens death caused a gloom to hang over which could not be thrown off for the rest of the week. By Friday afternoon every child had donned a bit of mourning; either in the shape of a tie or band to show their respect to their beloved Queen.’ A memorial service which took place the following month was attended by all the children ‘during the funeral of our beloved Queen of glorious and blessed memory.’ Ownership of the school passed to Wiltshire County Council around 1906 and further information will be found under Milton Lilbourne County School.