Hanborough: Education

Education

Two 16th-century testators made provision for their sons to be kept at school, (fn. 98) but that school may have been in Woodstock or even Oxford. In 1729 a man left money to buy books for his godchildren's education, and in 1738 there was a small school in Hanborough, supported by contributions, presumably from parents. (fn. 99) In the early 19th century there was one small private school in Church Hanborough and one in Long Hanborough; in 1808 the rector was paying for c. 24 of the children. Two other private schools in Long Hanborough were supported by the duke of Marlborough for c. 12 of his labourers' children, but closed by 1811. In 1815 the two remaining schools had 25 and 30 pupils, the poorer children paid for by the rector; there was also a Sunday school for c. 60 children. (fn. 1) Numbers at the two day schools increased to 106 in 1818, but by 1823 both schools had closed. (fn. 2) The Sunday school may also have closed shortly afterwards, for in 1831, when it provided the only education available for 30-40 boys and 40-50 girls, it was said to have been recently established. At that date poverty drove all children over 10 to work, the boys as agricultural labourers, the girls as glovers, but the rector thought that, with male unemployment so high, the overseers might agree to send back to school boys dependent on parish labour, and suggested that the girls be collected into gloving classes where one could read to the others. (fn. 3)

A National day and Sunday school, attended by 60 day and 120 Sunday school children, was opened in Church Hanborough in 1832; it was supported partly by weekly payments of 1d. a child and partly by subscription. (fn. 4) By 1834 daily attendance had risen to 48 boys and 46 girls, all under 10. (fn. 5) By 1868 attendance was 97, including 8-12 children over 10 although most older children still worked as agricultural labourers or glovers. A night school was recorded in 1866 and 1868. (fn. 6) Attendance at the National school had fallen to 30 boys and 19 girls by 1871, but another 52 children attended three overcrowded private schools. The drop in numbers may have been due to poor conditions at the National school, for after its repair and enlargement in 1872 numbers rose quickly to 50 boys, 45 girls, and 36 infants. A parliamentary grant was received from 1873. (fn. 7)

A new infant school was built in Main Road, Long Hanborough, on land given by the duke of Marlborough, in 1879, bringing the total school accommodation in the parish to 288. By 1893 accommodation had been further increased to 294, but average attendance was only 154. (fn. 8) The schools were reorganized in 1928, Church Hanborough becoming the senior school for Hanborough, North Leigh, and Combe and, from 1930, Freeland; Long Hanborough becoming a junior mixed and infant school. By 1933 accommodation at Long Hanborough was insufficient, and children over 8 were sent to the senior school. After the opening of the Marlborough secondary school in Woodstock in 1940, the Hanborough schools were reorganized again, Church Hanborough taking junior children aged 8 and over and Long Hanborough the infants. The two schools were placed under a single headmaster in 1945. (fn. 9) Church Hanborough became a controlled Church of England school in 1948 and Long Hanborough in 1954. (fn. 10)

Church Hanborough school closed in 1959 and was replaced by Long Hanborough Manor county primary school, opened in 1960. The old school was converted into a house in 1961. (fn. 11) In 1983 the Manor school and the infant school between them had a roll of 220. (fn. 12) A charity, the Friends of the Manor School, was registered in 1977 to provide facilities for education not normally supplied by the local education authority. Its income was between £500 and £1,000. (fn. 13)