East Dean 1851 Census - Cinderford's First Schools (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Thursday, April 03, 2014, 14:31 (3888 days ago) @ Jefff

Here is some more detail about Cinderford's first school.

"The earliest day schools in Cinderford were evidently small private schools such as the seven recorded in that part of the Forest in 1833. They taught between 7 and 30 children and five had been started after 1822. In 1840 the colliery owner Edward Protheroe built a school at Cinderford Tump for the benefit of families in his employ and funded it by fees and a levy on his workforce. After 1843, when he handed it over to the Crown in part payment of debts, Protheroe was in dispute with the minister of the neighbouring church of St. John the Evangelist about the school's management and in 1847 the Commissioners of Woods acting for the Crown placed it under the sole care of the deputy surveyor of the Forest. During that period attendances, by children and adults up to the age of 22, sometimes exceeded 280, and income included a grant from the Great Western Railway Co. besides the Crown's contribution and school pence. In 1855, following a reduction in funds, control of the school was transferred to St. John's parish. As St. John's school it reopened in 1857 with boys' and girls' departments and soon had an average attendance of 112. A National school, it received regular financial support from the Crawshay family and the Crown. In 1883 it passed to the school board, which ran it with junior mixed and infants' departments until 1887, when it was replaced by St. White's school. The building was a church hall in 1992."
From: 'Forest of Dean: Education', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp. 405-413.
URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23274
Date accessed: 03 April 2014.

Back in the mid 80s I played recreational badminton with a group of friends in a small hall near to St John's Church, handlily placed just below the White Hart pub. This wooden hall was just large enough to house one badminton court, nonplaying members had to sit on the relatively high stage, the horizontal wooden trusses supporting the roof apex were a continual problem altho getting a lucky rebound occasionally gave sneaky points. We called it the Church Hall, I can only presume it was the old school building as mentioned above.

It appears to be "on the market", location details and a good set of photos here including those beams ;-)

http://www.brutonknowles.co.uk/property-finder?view=property&id=2041

(update-it seems this link is now dead, the details were from 2012, perhaps its now sold. If you search tinternet for "Cinderford St Johns Church Hall Bruton Knowles" you should soon find the above webpages and some nice photos)

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This reminds me, of course, that as well as "my" Bilson School serving the newer/far end of the town, there was also of course St Whites school midway up St Whites Hill. Bilson had both Infant/Primary Schools, I think St White's may have been just an Infant School ?. Bilson has long since closed, I guess St Whites' days may also be numbered by now, although recently there has been extensive new housing built very closeby so ??. Both these schools date from later than the St Johns school, c1880, as this old post shows, the subsequent thread contains links to a couple of sites of personal recollections describing life at these schools in the early 1900s.
http://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=15029
http://www.st-whites.gloucs.sch.uk/Contact-Us/

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This is an excellent site for the history of Cinderford and rewards persistent browsing with excellent photos and text.
http://way-mark.co.uk/foresthaven/historic/cintrst1.htm
http://way-mark.co.uk/foresthaven/livnhist/0liked00.htm