National School, Chilmark
Click on a photograph to view it.
The first school in Chilmark was a small day school in 1783. A day school in Chilmark was also recorded in 1818, which at that point taught 35 children; these may well have been the same school. Between 1824 and 1826 the Rector built a new day school in The Street and in 1833 there was said to be 136 children at the school. As this was a quarter of the parish population it would seem that a mistake had been made. Warburton's Census Report of 1859 says, 'Stone building, roof and windows low, floor of stone, area insufficient. 40 to 50 children, mixed, are under instruction. Hitherto the organist has been master, assisted by his wife, but a trained master and mistress have just been appointed, and the clergyman is just about to build a class-room and teacher's residence.'
A new classroom and adjoining teacher's house was built at Chilmark in 1860 with the aid of a building grant of £1,000. The land given for the building of the National School was from the Earl of Pembroke and was donated on the understanding that the school would conduct itself in accordance with the principles of the Church of England. To this end it followed the principles of the National Society. The school was designed by W. Robson and built by Mr F. Harvey from Teffont and is constructed out of Chilmark Stone. It was enlarged in 1895 at a cost of £200. In 1902, there were 95 pupils and three teachers at the school.
A new classroom and adjoining teacher's house was built at Chilmark in 1860 with the aid of a building grant of £1,000. The land given for the building of the National School was from the Earl of Pembroke and was donated on the understanding that the school would conduct itself in accordance with the principles of the Church of England. To this end it followed the principles of the National Society. The school was designed by W. Robson and built by Mr F. Harvey from Teffont and is constructed out of Chilmark Stone. It was enlarged in 1895 at a cost of £200. In 1902, there were 95 pupils and three teachers at the school.
We do not have school log books for the Victorian period but the following will give an idea of what life was like in a village school at the time.
The following general information would be relevant to the school for the latter part of the 19th century. Fees were paid for each child until 1891, normally at the rate of one penny (0.4p) a week and the 'school pence' were collected by the schoolteacher. There would have been a schoolmaster, or schoolmistress, with an assistant teacher and perhaps a pupil teacher. The pupil teacher was taught by the head before lessons started, took exams, sometimes went to the Diocesan Training College eventually becoming a teacher themselves. They mainly taught the younger children.
School holidays were at similar times to those of today but often there was only 2 days at Easter but a week at Whitsun. The summer holidays were of four, five or six weeks and were called the Harvest Holidays as the children either helped with the harvest or carried food and drink to their parents, who were working in the fields. There were more half-day and whole day holidays for special events. Half a day would be given after the annual H.M.I. or Diocesan inspections and there were holidays for school treats, choir outings, chapel teas, Christmas parties and at times when the school was needed for other purposes.
The following general information would be relevant to the school for the latter part of the 19th century. Fees were paid for each child until 1891, normally at the rate of one penny (0.4p) a week and the 'school pence' were collected by the schoolteacher. There would have been a schoolmaster, or schoolmistress, with an assistant teacher and perhaps a pupil teacher. The pupil teacher was taught by the head before lessons started, took exams, sometimes went to the Diocesan Training College eventually becoming a teacher themselves. They mainly taught the younger children.
School holidays were at similar times to those of today but often there was only 2 days at Easter but a week at Whitsun. The summer holidays were of four, five or six weeks and were called the Harvest Holidays as the children either helped with the harvest or carried food and drink to their parents, who were working in the fields. There were more half-day and whole day holidays for special events. Half a day would be given after the annual H.M.I. or Diocesan inspections and there were holidays for school treats, choir outings, chapel teas, Christmas parties and at times when the school was needed for other purposes.
There were also many unauthorised absences. These would be for seasonal work, such as haymaking (June) and early or late harvest (July or September), being kept at home to help their parents, and working when they should have been at school. Bad weather such as heavy rain, cold weather, or snow kept children away from school, often because their parents couldn't afford to buy them suitable clothes and boots. Apart from the usual colds and coughs there were more serious illnesses than today and these included, mumps, measles, whooping cough, scarletina and diphtheria.
The elementary subjects were the '3 Rs' - reading writing and arithmetic. Scripture was often taught by the vicar and children would have attended church for services on some days. Older children were taught history and geography and there may have been some study of natural history. Singing was taught to all ages and all the girls and some of the boys would have done needlework. Drawing had been introduced by the 1890s.
The elementary subjects were the '3 Rs' - reading writing and arithmetic. Scripture was often taught by the vicar and children would have attended church for services on some days. Older children were taught history and geography and there may have been some study of natural history. Singing was taught to all ages and all the girls and some of the boys would have done needlework. Drawing had been introduced by the 1890s.