EDUCATION.

Thomas Stoodleigh was licensed to teach grammar in Charlinch in 1678. (fn. 14) There was no school in 1819 but by 1824 there were 14 children attending day and Sunday school at their parents' expense. (fn. 15) In 1835 only the Sunday school survived, with 25 children, but by 1846 a school supported by the rector taught 21 children on weekdays and a further 5 attended on Sundays. (fn. 16) That school was enlarged in 1884. (fn. 17) In 1903 there was only one teacher although an average of 31 children worked in two classrooms. Closure was suggested in 1915, but in 1919 the parish bought the building at the sale of the Quantock estate. (fn. 18) Attendances fell to 19 in 1925 and 14 in 1945. There were 20 children on the register in 1948 but the school closed in the following year. The children were transferred to Cannington and Spaxton. (fn. 19) The building, south of the church, was in domestic use in 1987.

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