Sandford

Early education in Sandford appears to have come from bequests from the DAVIE family and the kindness of others.  Munday (1985) tells us that:

"... in a will dated 1 January 1677, Sir John DAVIE, the second baronet of Creedy who died in 1678, gave to the Church-wardens and Overseers of the Parish of Sandford, a yearly rent charge of £16 from his tenement at Sandford Town called Lower Tenement... to teach 20 poor children of Sandford Parish whose parents received a monthly payment from the Poor Rates and who were willing to keep them at school constantly. They were to attend school for two years... the teacher was to be paid £10... £5 10s was to buy Blue Cloth Coats for ten of the poorest children... and the other 10s was to buy books for them.  In the second year the whole of the £6 was to be used to purchase Bibles for the 20 children when they left school." (p.129)

She goes on to tell us that the practice of giving away Bibles to children leaving Sandford School continued until 1951, thus Sir John DAVIE and his kindness to the parish started a tradition that was to last 373 years.  This early school was known as Sir John Davie's Charity School and an entry in the admissions register shows that one of my own ancestors, Elizabeth MADGE was a pupil here in 1797.  This entry reads:

"Betty daughter of Richard and Ann MADGE was admitted to the school on 1st January 1797. Baptised 17th April 1791."

Typically the early  teachers at Sir John Hunt's Charity School were also the Parish Clerks, undoubtedly because they would have been one of only a few people in the parish, that ever learnt to read and write.  School-masters included William HOCKLEY (1715-1719), later John BRAGG until 1744, followed by Robert CANN for two years.  Later Simon TUCKER and William LEE were also school-masters in the parish.

The present Sandford School (shown on the left) was built in 1825, by Sir Humphrey Phineas Davie (10th baronet of Creedy Park) for the provision of schooling for 250 children.  The year is evident from the Roman numerals MDCCCXXV on the front of the building.   It is somewhat unusual in that it was built in the style of a Greek Temple and constructed by following a replica model that was made of it.  Presumably the model was made because very few people would have known what a Greek Temple would have looked like.

Munday (1985) tells us that some of the people helping in the construction of Sandford School were listed on the replica model.  Those listed were: William EDWARDS (Mason), John ERMES (Carpenter) and John KENDALL ( Sculptor).

Although originally intended to cater for 250 children, it might not have always been full to capacity.  Schooling in England and Wales was not made compulsory until 1880, so before this time it was optional whether parents sent their children to school.  However, after it's opening it is likely that many of Sandford's children attended school for at least some years of their life.  During the years between 1851 and 1901, the population of Sandford dropped from 1970 (1851 census) to 1248 (1901 census), so perhaps not so surprisingly, the number of children attending school in Sandford would have dropped in comparison.  Kelly (1893) gives 120 children as the number in attendance there in 1893, so just under half the number that it was originally intended to educate.  The school-master at the time was Arthur D. BICKLEY and the school-mistress, Miss VENMAN.

Sandford school looks to have changed very little over the years if we compare the two pictures on this page.  It still stands, as magnificent today, as it did nearly 200 years ago.  My special thanks to Bill Gallin for supplying the photograph above showing Sandford School as it stands today and also the photograph to the right.  Bill's father was a pupil at Sandford School in the early 1900's and appears somewhere in this lovely old photograph... although sadly where is not known.  Note the school uniform worn by the children of the time - the boys looking like "little old men" in their peak caps and the girls somewhat more respectable in their pinafore dresses!

Children in Sandford were not the only one's to be privileged enough to receive schooling but the children of the neighbouring "hamlets" in New Buildings and East Village had to wait much later until some of them were taught to read and write.

New Buildings and East Village

In 1743, Robert HAM left in his Will the sum of £60 to be invested for teaching poor children to read and write in East Village or East Sandford (the eastern part of Sandford) and New Buildings in the west of the parish.  He said that 5 poor children were to be taught at each place, the only condition being that their parents were Church of England.  Thus finally the need for schooling in New Buildings and East Village was recognised.

Thirty years later, in 1773, Mary LOCK of Dowrich, Sir John CHICHESTER and four others gave a tenement called Birdishill to Sir John DAVIE, to be rented out for a yearly charge of  £3 to be used for teaching 10 children at East Village.  Munday (1985) tells us that they were to be taught to:

"Read the Bible, Say the Creed, The Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments and the Church Catachism". (p. 129)

Thus, the children of the time would have received a very much religiously orientated form of education, very much different from the schooling received by children of today.  Of course many of them would have learnt to read and write to some degree - but it was common for children to only attend school for a couple of years, from the age of about 5 or 6 - then many of them would have been apprenticed out  to the local farms and tradesmen.  So it is perhaps somewhat debatable as to how much they would have learnt in such a short space of time.  Undoubtedly, in many cases, their reading and writing ability would still have been very limited.

In 1797, Sir John CHICHESTER of West Sandford set up another school at New Buildings which became known as Sir John Chichester's School.  Munday (1985) tells us that very little is known about this school:

"... the teacher was Mr. Thomas TRACEY and the first pupils were Ann SNOW, Elizabeth and Ann CONIBEAR, Mary and Sarah COCKRAM, Jenny and William BRAGG, Mary TRACEY, Betty MORRISH and Mary SPEAR." (p. 129)

The practice of the giving of Bibles to children at school was not just restricted to the children of Sir. John Davie's Charity School in Sandford.  Munday (1985) tells us that in 1798 the following children received Bibles at:

"East Village... John BRADFORD, William ELLIS, William HEPPER, Richard SAUNDERS, Robert LAKE, Mary PERKINS and Elizabeth ELLIS.   At New Buildings, that same year... William MOORE, Peter SNOW, Mary FROST, Elizabeth FISHER, Sarah LOCK and William MORRISH." (p. 129)

In 1875 two new schools were built at East Village and New Buildings.  Kelly (1893) tells us that they were both mixed schools (i.e., for boys and girls) and built to accommodate 44 children.  Munday (1985) says that both schools were at one time licensed to hold Church Services.

The picture to the left is New Buildings School opened in 1875 and now known locally as the Beacon Church.   It still retains some of  its original school desks and stands as a reminder of all the generations of children that passed through its doors.  Kelly (1893) tells us that the average attendance at the school at that time was about 45.  The school-mistress was Miss Ellen SHARLAND.  

The School at New Buildings served the village children for some 60 years before closing in on 1st August 1935.  The children of New Buildings then transferred to Shirley Corner School at Copplestone.  

Attendance at East Village School appears to have been much lower than the 44 children that it was designed to cater for, but of course this may not have always been the case.  Kelly (1893) tells us that at that time, average attendance figures were only 26 children.  Miss Alice Sophia STOYLE was the school-mistress.  Munday (1985) tells us that Miss STOYLE was a teacher at East Village School for 39 years, from 1887 to 1926.  One of my own ancestors Miss Ivy HEARD daughter of Albert James and Mary Ann HEARD (nee HAMMETT) started her teaching career at East Village School in 1930, before later moving to Sandford School where she taught until she retired in 1972.

Overcrowding was undoubtedly a problem that occurred at some point or other at any school.  Teaching conditions that many of our ancestors would have had to endure would have been very much different from those of today.  Munday's (1985) find of an entry in the Report Book for New Buildings School in 1893, I think sums this up in one for a description of school-life at the time:

"No Kindergarten - Apparatus for Infants very slight - no picture cards, no animal sheets - The School is being overcrowded.  It is built for 44.  I found 56 and some were absent ill.  The room is not watertight in every part - ventilation should be improved.  The extremities are not warm enough in winter, the offices are not separated for sexes, nor have they separate approaches.  They are also unwholsome, with an open catch pit behind." (p. 138)

Although our schools of today are not necessarily perfect and still lack teaching resources and suffer staff shortages, this problem was obviously not just unique to our modern society.  We should perhaps be somewhat grateful that they are not so bad as those that our ancestors would have been taught in.

Back to Sandford Home Page