Berwick St. John Church of England School

The Berwick St John Church of England School was founded in 1833, with an endowment of £3.10 shillings from Earl Rivers, and a schoolroom was built in 1835 at the sole expense of the rector, on glebe land, and was mainly supported by him financially. In 1846 there were 37 pupils in the Sunday and Day schools and the mistress received a salary of £14 a year. Warburton’s Report of 1858 states that about 60 children, mixed, were taught by a fairly competent mistress from Warminster – probably Miss Elizabeth Chivers, who is recorded in the 1859 Kelly’s Directory of Wiltshire. The schoolroom had recently been enlarged and was about 35 feet x 14 feet, with a stone floor in the older part and one of wood in the newer section.

School log books only survive from May 1st 1903 to December 20th 1963 and these provide a good picture of village school life in the 20th century. The school took in children from the most of the parish, with some coming from as far as three and a half miles away- at least, when the weather wasn’t too wet, or snowy. The school was registered with the milk scheme, allowing them to have milk delivered for the children.

At the time of opening, there was enough space for 73 scholars (as pupils were called), 45 in the ‘mixed’ room, and enough room for 28 infants in their room. The main room was 24’3” x 18’8” x 11’, and the Infant room, which also contained the gallery, was 21’9” x 12’2 x 11’.

The general history of the school was unremarkable, though a few items of note did occur. On October 3rd 1907, a storm was so severe that it blew the chimney right off the building. In 1940, two groups of evacuees arrived in the village; one group from Portsmouth, one from London, and they stayed several months, until it was safe to return to the cities.

Though the school was inspected several times by His (or Her) Majesty’s Inspectors, there were very few of these reports recorded in the log books. One report, made in 1935, was included, though. In it, the inspector noted that ‘the happy spirit that has characterised the school for many years is well maintained’, that there was ‘distinct evidence of promise’, that the ‘children read in a clear and intelligent way’, that the ‘type and quality of work in needlework and handwork [was] very good’, and that the ‘Infants class is pleasantly and capably managed and effectively taught’. Overall, the report was very good, and that seems to have been maintained throughout the history of the school.

The syllabus for the school was typical for most schools of its type, with many of the subjects found in most schools even today. There was reading, writing, and arithmetic, usually known as the three Rs, needlework, handicraft, drawing, religious studies, geography, history, nature study, PT (what we call PE nowadays), and domestic sciences. And, in later years, gardening was introduced, too.

The school went through several staff changes during the sixty years it was open in the 20th century, although for the first twenty-five years, it kept a single headmistress. In 1903, the headmistress was Sarah Filley, and the assistant was Miss E. Burt. Four years later, in December 1907, Miss Burt left, and was replaced in the following year, on 3rd February, by Miss Phillips, who resigned just over two years later, on 26th April 1910. A month later, on the 19th May, Miss Harborne replaced her, although she left after only six months later, on October 25th. On November 21st Miss Ada Gartell commenced duties as the supplementary teacher. However just under a year later, on September 8th 1911, she resigned. Less than a month later, on October 3rd, Miss Prudence Bradley began work, although she resigned in January 1912.

On February 19th 1912, Miss Smith began working and she lasted two years, before leaving on May 29th 1914. On June 15th 1914, Miss West began her duties, and she stayed for seven years, resigning on May 29th 1921. A month later, she was replaced by Miss Parsons, who left just four months later, in September. In November 1921, Miss Taylor began work, though she lasted just nine months, leaving in July 1922. Miss King began working in September 1922.

On April 17th 1924, Sarah Filley resigned as head teacher, and was replaced just a week later by E.R. Warman. In January 1926, Miss King finished her duties, with Miss Collins taking over duties as supplementary teacher just a month later. In February 1928, Miss Warman, presumably the daughter of the headteacher became the infant teacher. Four years later, on October 31st 1932, E. Warman resigned as headteacher, and was replaced a day later, on November 1st, by Emma Higgins; also starting on that day was Mrs Seamark, who became the supplementary teacher. However, a year later, in a strange repeat of history, on October 31st 1933, Emma Higgins resigned as head teacher, and was replaced by Miss Gauman on November 1st 1933.

Miss Gauman took a leave of absence to get married, and returned as Mrs Gray, in August 1934. Three years later, on October 9th 1937, Mrs Gray resigned, and was replaced as head teacher by Carrie Ettock just two days later, on October 11th.
.In January 1944, Miss Compton briefly replaced Mrs Seamarks. Three years later, in July 1947, both Mrs Seamarks and Mrs Ettock resigned their duties. Mrs Ettock was replaced as head mistress by M. Faubel in September of that year, and Mrs Seamarks was replaced by Mrs Alner, also in September 1947. However, in December, just three months after commencing duties, M. Faubel resigned. Miss Ruth Else became the infants’ teacher in January 1948, and in May of that same year, Mrs Alner took temporary charge of the school, though as no other head mistresses were mentioned for several years, it can be assumed her charge was more than temporary.

On May 14th 1948, Miss Else left the school, to be replaced on the 26th by Mrs Baker-
who, in turn, left just over a year later, in June 1949, and was replaced by Miss Else, who resumed her previous position; a position she then left eight years later, in April 1957. The same month, she was replaced by Mrs Peckham, who left in December 1957. In January 1958, Miss Carmichael became the teacher of the infants and was, at some point, replaced by Mrs Peckham, though there is no mention of date in the log book. On December 21st 1960, Mrs Alner resigned her duties as head mistress, having had ‘temporary charge’ for twelve years. In January 1961, Irene McQuillin took over as headmistress, and left twenty months later in August 1962, to be replaced in September 1962 by Miss G Mounsdon. On September 22nd 1963, less than a quarter of a year before the school closed, Mrs Hayter began as a supply teacher. At the time of closing in December 1963, the staff was composed of Miss Mounsdon, Mrs Hayter, and Mrs Peckham

The school had a consistent level of attendance, though in the later years, the numbers began to decline. In April 1906, there were 48 students; in October 1909, there were 44. Five years later, in October 1914, there were 38, though this rose to 45 two years later in May 1916. Six years later, in April 1923, there were 44 on the books. In September 1947, that number rose to 57, the highest it would ever be. In January 1954 that number had dropped by 33, with only 24 on the register. This number fell to the lowest it would ever be, 18, in January 1959, and the numbers did not recover in the time between then, and the closure in 1963.

Like most of the schools there were several annual holidays, including among them, Whitsun, Empire Day, the summerholidays, the Christmas holiday, Ascension Day, and the Easter Holiday. There were very few special holidays, though they included such holidays as: the school closing June 11th-28th 1915, for the hay harvest; the school closing January 28th 1936 for the funeral of George V; closing May 11th 14th 1937 for the Coronation holiday, and closing on November 21st 1947 to celebrate the Royal Wedding.

There were several special events in the history of the school, including: on May 25th 1917, the Duke of Hamilton visited the school; on October 16th 1917, the children picked 21lbs of Blackberries for the soldiers and sailors; On November 2nd 1917, the children gathered 24 bushels of acorns during their Nature Study lesson, for Munitions; November 11th 1918 saw Armistice Day being celebrated; and on May 28th 1930, 14 students took part in Salisbury school sports.
One particularly tragic even in the history of the school occurred on March 17th 1924; one of the pupils was struck, and killed, by a coal lorry just outside the school. On the day of his funeral, the pupils of the school were given time off- and some of the older boys of the school even carried the coffin.


Again, there were few closures due to weather, with only very few noteworthy occasions; mainly on February 23rd 1906, there were twelve students absent due to heavy snow. In January 1963, the well remembered bad winter, a blizzard and very snowy conditions meant there were a lot of students who were either absent, or late; the former due to a taxi not running, or snow being too deep to walk in, and the latter due to the bus running very late- sometimes up to an hour late.

There were a few bouts of illness severe enough to keep several children from school- or even to close the school. Among these, there were: ringworm in October 1906; chickenpox in February 1909; chickenpox again in November/December 1914; whooping that caused the school to close between June 30th and July 31st in 1916; in September 1916, one boy was diagnosed with St Vitus’ Dance, a disease that causes muscles to spasm, like the sufferer’s dancing; in September 1916, the attendance was reduced by chickenpox; in September 1920, there were several cases of Impetigo and Ringworm; and in August/September 1945, there was an epidemic of whooping cough, with almost every child, and both teachers, affected.

There were few major cases of punishment, with few standing out- a child was given four lashes of the cane for dirtiness and rudeness; several children were punished for insolence; in September 1923, there was a 5/- fine for two students repeatedly being absent without a reason.

After 1935 children aged over 11 years went to Wilton for their secondary education and in 1955 there were 27 pupils at the school. Admissions continued to fall as fewer families with young children were able to live in the village and the school closed in December 1963.