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IntroductionThere
is evidence of a school in the parish since 1705, and it is believed
that a school of some type existed earlier. In the eighteenth century it
only catered for eight children. In 1813 new premises were acquired, and
a school for twenty-four girls and twenty-four boys was established. The
existing building dates from1850, and at the turn of the twenty first
century, accommodates some fifty children aged four to eleven. Little
information is available to us about the school before the 1860s, but at
that time a school log book was started, giving brief but daily accounts
of school life at a time before compulsory education was introduced.
Many of the entries are repetitious and routine, as might be expected
from a small rural village school, but not all! Collectively they give
an insight to the life of the village through the activities of the
school children and the teaching staff. What
follows is an edited series of entries covering life in Winsham School
from 1863. Also included are extracts from School Inspector’s and
Diocesan Inspector’s reports. They
indicate how children’s lives have changed since those days, but
whether children themselves have changed much is much more open to
debate! These records tell of happy times, uncertain times and events of
sadness and poignancy, which resonate across the intervening years.
Currently the period from 1863 to the 1880s is covered. Eventually it is hoped that the extracts for the period covering the next forty years will be included. |
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