Over: Education

Education

Schoolmasters were recorded between 1579 and 1610, when the errant Ezra Purkiss may have been dismissed. In the 1610s a school was taught by the vicar John Lively (fn. 1) but evidence is sparser for the late 17th century. (fn. 2) Alice Walpole left part of an annual rent charge for the education of the poor in 1709; (fn. 3) in 1728 the parish clerk was receiving £2 a year to teach poor children, presumably from that source. (fn. 4) The school's endowment was increased to £4 a year under the will of Elizabeth Kirby, proved 1730, which provided that six poor children should be taught to read and write. (fn. 5) The school was associated with the church, (fn. 6) though by 1833 it was held in the town hall and by paying £5 to the master the parish was entitled to nominate 7 of the 18 pupils. (fn. 7) John Anderson, master from c. 1805 to 1841, also took in paying pupils from neighbouring parishes. (fn. 8) A subscription Sunday school begun in 1827 was well supported, with c. 110 pupils in winter. (fn. 9) Three dame schools teaching 100 pupils were recorded in 1818 (fn. 10) and there were others until the 1850s or later. (fn. 11)

The church school became a National school in 1843, housed in a new building with two schoolrooms and a residence for the master opposite the church. A separate master's house was built in 1860. (fn. 12) The vicar Charles Warren took a close interest in the school. (fn. 13) In its early years it was well attended, with a roll of over 150 in 1846, (fn. 14) though by 1851 attendance was irregular and averaged only 56. (fn. 15) The school was financed by its endowments, subscriptions, school pence, and an annual government grant. (fn. 16) The average attendance rose steadily to over 90 in the 1880s, (fn. 17) falling to c. 50 in the 1900s. (fn. 18) Another fall in the 1930s (fn. 19) led to closure in 1933, when the seniors went to Willingham and the juniors to Over council school. (fn. 20)

The council school in Long Furlong originated as a nondenominational British school opened in 1852, (fn. 21) which quickly attracted more pupils than the church school but was said in 1885 to have equal numbers. (fn. 22) The average attendance remained steady at 70 or more in the early 20th century. (fn. 23) In 1894 a parish meeting decided against forming a school board; instead the Anglicans offered to help the British school out of its financial difficulties. (fn. 24) The British school seems to have run a night school in winter by 1867; (fn. 25) by 1897 there were night classes at both schools. (fn. 26)

The senior pupils of the former British school attended schools elsewhere after 1922. (fn. 27) New primary school buildings were opened in 1974 but the school remained crowded in 1976. (fn. 28)