Winsham School

There 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, accommodated some fifty children aged four to eleven.  Numbers then dropped to a level (17) where its continuation was endangered(2007),but by 2009 this problem looks to have been averted as the number of children attending increased. Early in 2012 the number had risen to 31, a significant figure as improved funding levels were triggered at that point.

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.  

The Web Museum features a 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.