Parochial School, West Lavington
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Although education for boys had been provided for by William Dauntsey from 1553, there had been nothing available for girls other than a few small dame schools. This was rectified in 1854 when a site was provided by the Rt. Hon. Jacob Pleydell Bouverie and Lord Folkstone. Placed in a trust it was at the eastern corner of Sand Ground on the Devizes road. A school of two rooms, each 31 feet by 19 feet, by 15 feet high, was built and opened in 1855. There was accommodation for 200 children and 50 to 60 girls were taught by an uncertified mistress in one room and 40 to 50 infants mainly boys, by an elderly lady in the other room.
The school was well built, with a boarded floor and desks along the walls, but there was no playground provided. It provided elementary education and continued until the school was amalgamated with the boys' school in 1898. In 1899 the two departments became a mixed school, known as Dauntsey's Elementary School.
The school was well built, with a boarded floor and desks along the walls, but there was no playground provided. It provided elementary education and continued until the school was amalgamated with the boys' school in 1898. In 1899 the two departments became a mixed school, known as Dauntsey's Elementary School.