| Schools before 1870
In the early nineteenth century education was not
compulsory and there were relatively few schools.
 Dame
schools, such as the one that was held in this building in Crosthwaite,
were run by private individuals and generally offered only a very basic
level of education to local children by teachers with no qualifications.
Some provided little more than a baby-sitting service. They were, however,
popular with working class parents who felt able to relate to the teachers
and persisted until the end of the nineteenth century.
 Charity
schools, like this one in Kirkham, Lancashire, were run by religious
or philanthropic groups. Some were set up by clergymen or local landowners
and ran in private homes or church vestries for a limited period of
time. Others were financed by charitable trusts and may still exist
today. They were mainly concerned to educate children in the knowledge
and practice of Christianity and to prepare them for apprenticeships
or domestic service.
 Old
established schools like Wolverhampton Grammar School,
founded in 1512 by the Merchant Taylor's Company, were found in most
towns. During the Victorian period many moved to suburban sites to attract
pupils from the middle class families who were moving into the new suburban
housing developments.
The old photograph of Wolverhampton Grammar School was taken in
1875, shortly after the  new
building was erected on the Compton Road, and shows the schoolroom and
headmaster's house on the right. The railings outside are still under
construction and there are virtually no houses around the school. The
modern image shows how little the outward appearance of the original
'Big School' has changed although it is now part of a large complex
of buildings and sits within a large conurbation.
Many children worked and may only have been educated in Sunday Schools
such as this lavishly designed edifice at Weston Rhyn, Oswestry in Shropshire,
built in 1882 at a cost of £4000. Sunday Schools were established
from the 1780s and taught basic literacy, numeracy and Religious Education.
It can be seen that some of the buildings were substantial and by 1851
support was being provided by the Sunday School Union.
 Some
factories provided schools as shown here with Holly Mount School
in Rawtenstall, which was erected in 1839 by Messrs Whitehead for the
children of their workers. Children who worked were sometimes educated
in Sunday Schools or may have had part time education in a factory school
after legislation limited the number of hours they could work. Some
of these industrial schools were later incorporated into the
local authority system.
The term 'industrial' school referred, at different times, to other
kinds of schools as well as to factory schools. Some were built for
pauper children who, in addition to reading and religious education,
were taught skills such as spinning, sewing or cobbling. The goods they
produced were then sold and paid for the upkeep of the school. By 1866
Day Industrial schools catered for truants and were the forerunners
of approved schools.
 Bolland
Hall in Castle Morpeth, Northumberland was built in 1860 for Mrs Bolland,
the wife of a Morpeth curate as a day industrial school for the 'half
neglected children on the north side of Newgate Street….' It became
a National Girl's School and was amalgamated with St. James's Church
of England Schools in 1885. It was acquired by the Presbyterians and
used as a Mission School and Sunday School until 1937.
Churches of all denominations became more directly involved with
running schools after 1811 when two societies were set up. From 1833
they were supported by grants from the State and in 1865 an Education
Department was formed, the forerunner of the present Department For
Education and Skills.
The British and Foreign School Society supported the building of
schools called British Schools on behalf of the Nonconformist churches.
The National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor supported
the building of National Schools on behalf of the Anglican Church.
Not only did these two types of school differ in their religious
emphasis but they also worked on two different teaching methods that
influenced the interior layout of the building and, to a lesser extent,
the overall design.
The British schools taught boys and girls in fixed rows of desks
facing the master's desk. Standards placed at the end of the rows
marked the different age groups and the name 'Standard' was later
used to describe a class. Wide aisles at either end allowed monitors
[older pupils] to teach groups of eight to twelve pupils who stood
along a semi-circle drawn on the ground.
 The
present St. Mary's Church of England Infants School in Melton Mowbray
was built as a British School in 1839 in the Ecclesiastical Gothic
style that was favoured by all the church schools at this time.
National Schools generally had two separate schoolrooms for
girls and boys and desks were placed around the walls. Pupils were taught
by monitors in groups of twelve to twenty either standing up or on benches
arranged in hollow squares in the centre of the room. These benches
could be re arranged to suit the lesson.
 Samlesbury
Church of England Primary school in Lancashire was built in 1836.
It is a good example of a small National School and still bears an inscription
stating that it was erected by subscription, with aid from the National
Society, for instruction according to the principles of the Church of
England. Boys and girls had different entrances.
Both systems favoured large schoolrooms sometimes accommodating over
a hundred children and supervised by just one qualified master. From
the 1840s separate classrooms were added to many schools for infants.
These often contained galleries where the desks were arranged on steps
so that the master could see all the children and they could see the
objects or pictures that lessons were based upon.
In the 1850s it became more common for the master to have a qualified
assistant and some pupil teachers [trained on an apprenticeship basis].
More direct teaching was employed on the infant model and galleries
and separate classrooms became more widespread.
Schools were built with a large central hall [that could double as
a classroom] with separate classrooms off it. Although there was a
teacher in each room the head teacher had his desk in the hall and
could see into all the rooms through large windows and thus supervise
the whole school.
 From
the 1840s the style of school architecture was deliberately ecclesiastical
aiming to promote religion along with education. Eminent architects
designed schools such as St. Mary's RC Primary School and schoolhouse
at Brewood, Staffordshire, which was built in 1833 and designed by AWN
Pugin in late thirteenth century style. It is still in use today.
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