Council School, Tockenham

School building from the churchyard.

The old Tockenham School remained closed from 1926 until 1940, when it was re-opened as ‘Tockenham Council School’ to educate the influx of evacuees. (The first entry on December 16th lists the pupils as being made up of 27 local children and 31 evacuees.)

Despite the school being open during war time, there are few mentions of the war. The school started a garden and grew their own vegetables during rationing, and in January 1945 a boy found an ‘exploding cartridge’ (a reluctant entry which would indicate that he had set the thing off). Aside from these, the log book entries for the next six years are scant and lack detail, the only incidences of note being the introduction of hot school meals in 1941and a school trip to Avebury on July the 23rd 1946, before the school was merged with Lyneham C. E. School the next term.

By 1968 the school was a private residence, and continues to be so today.