Greenstead: Schools

A History of the County of Essex: Volume 4, Ongar Hundred. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1956.

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'Greenstead: Schools', in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 4, Ongar Hundred, (London, 1956) pp. 62. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol4/p62 [accessed 23 April 2024]

SCHOOLS

In 1792 the rector opened a Sunday school in Greenstead. Only one child attended from this parish, however; the others came from Chipping Ongar, and when the Chipping Ongar Sunday school was started the Greenstead school was discontinued. (fn. 1) In 1807 there was no school in the parish, but by 1818 the Sunday school had been reopened by the rector and the lord of the manor, Craven Ord. It then had 22 pupils and it continued with varying attendances at least until 1846-7. (fn. 2) In 1828 a small day school existed, (fn. 3) but by 1833 it had been closed. (fn. 4)

In 1839 the rector began to collect subscriptions for a parish school. (fn. 5) By 1846-7 this was being attended by some 34 children. The mistress then received £30 a year. (fn. 6) About this time a new building was erected, evidently by subscription, on a site on the waste on Greenstead Green, presented by the Revd. Philip Budworth, lord of the manor. The rector exercised a close supervision over it. (fn. 7) It provided 33 places, 'abundant accommodation' for the small and declining population of the parish. In 1870 there were about 23 pupils. (fn. 8) Between 1878 and 1882 the school was closed; the children subsequently attended the schools at Chipping Ongar and Stanford Rivers. (fn. 9)

The former school house stands on Greenstead Green, beside Greenstead House; it is now known as Ivy Cottage. (See plate facing p. 126.)

Footnotes

  • 1. E.R.O., D/AEM 2/4.
  • 2. Ibid.; Retns. Educ. of Poor, H.C. 224, p. 256 (1819), ix (1); Nat. Soc. Reps. 1820, 1828; Nat. Soc. Enquiry into Church Schs. 1846-7, 8-9.
  • 3. Nat. Soc. Rep. 1828.
  • 4. Educ. Enquiry Abstr. H.C. 62, p. 276 (1835), xli.
  • 5. E.R.O., D/P 30/28/18.
  • 6. Nat. Soc. Enquiry, 1846-7, 8-9.
  • 7. Kelly's Dir. Essex (1855, 1862).
  • 8. E.R.O., D/AEM 1/1/1; Retns. Elem. Educ. H.C. 201, pp. 112-13 (1871), lv.
  • 9. Kelly's Dir. Essex. (1878, 1882, 1922). The school was sold in 1890 for £200: Char. Com. files. The income from this sum, known as the Greenstead School Foundation, is used to give book tokens at Christmas to children recommended by the headmasters of the Ongar Primary and Secondary Schools: inf. from rector.
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