Schools
Prior to the Elementary Education Act of 1870, schooling in England was a piecemeal affair, relying on the donation of land and endowments by wealthy philanthropists and contributions by the Church of England National Society. A Sunday School in the Congregational Chapel on the Green in Rowlands Castle had been established in the early nineteenth century.
Dean Lane End School (1836 – 1871)
Postcard, A Rowlands Castle Miscellany
The oldest recorded school in our village stood at Dean Lane End. In 1816 John Cannings, together with Mr Howell, set up the Ironworks in Finchdean. Mr Cannings was a Methodist, who worshipped at the Providence chapel in Rowlands Castle (now the Church on the Green) and was much taken with the spiritual improvement of his workers and their families. In 1830, he converted the Coach House of his family home, Finchdean House, to a congregational chapel.
Dean Lane End cottages
housed the school from 1836
The cottages at Dean Lane End were built as accommodation for foundry workers, but in 1836 the downstairs of numbers 2 and 3 were converted to a school for the children of his workers. According to the 1841 census, Rev John Slatterie, a “dissenting minister” from the Providence Chapel was the teacher. In 1859 Mr Joseph Snell of Liskeard took over as rector and teacher, followed by lady governesses and assistant teachers.
The Old Foundry, Finchdean www.geograph.org.uk
The Harrod Directory in 1865 shows that there was a free school for both sexes here. The Hampshire Chronicle in 1860, reporting on the public examination of 50 children at the school, reported that Mr Cannings was in ill health and that Jervoise Clarke-Jervoise of Idsworth had stepped in to help with funding. Older children went from here to Idsworth school and by 1874 all children were at Idsworth.
St John’s School (1848 – present)
Also known as Redhill School
The Old School, C Shawcross 2024
The original St John’s school, now a private dwelling, was built at the top of Redhill Road in 1846 at a cost of £365. The Church of St John’s was built in 1837 and the site for the school was awarded in 1839. Most of the funding came from a Government Grant but other benefactors were local landowners, including Charles Dixon of Stansted House, Jervoise Clarke-Jervoise of Idsworth and Sir George Staunton of Leigh Park as well as the church offertory. The benefactors are named in a plaque on display in St John’s Church.
The Old School 1910
The initial School Board was made up of the Rector and churchwardens and the Logbook was started in the 1870s by schoolmistress Emma Turner. This was required by the Education Act of 1870 to ensure that Government money was being spent responsibly. The registers showed that a payment of 1d or 2d a week was collected from pupils, and poor children were exempt. Schools were paid by results – the records show regular inspections and examination of the children. In 1893 a new classroom was built to house the increasing numbers of children attending.
By 1953 the school was seriously overcrowded and applied for permission to use the small parish hall – this was refused, and it took until 1974 for a new school to be built, in its current position in Whichers Gate Road. Still called St John’s, it is a Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School and their current website can be found here. A voluntary controlled Church of England school is a state-funded school that is managed by the local authority. In this case the school buildings and land are owned by the local authority but this is unusual. The church appoints some members of the governing body.
In 1991, Margaret Bougourd undertook a project to photograph all aspects of village life. This snapshot includes a selection of St John’s School photographs at that time.
Benefactors of Redhill School 1846
St John’s School took part in the Coronation Carnival Parade 1953
The school in 1991, Margaret Bougourd
The old school was converted into private accommodation
In 2023 the Plaque was presented to St John’s Church, where it is on display
Idsworth School (1851 – 1949)
Idsworth School, Historic England
In 1851, Sir Jervoise Clarke-Jervoise (1804 –1889) provided the full amount to build a school at Idsworth. Sir Jervoise was Lord of the Manor and there was no school between Redhill and Dean Lane End. The school had two classrooms and was built to accommodate 100 children. It was designed by William Burn in Neo-Jacobean style, similar to the nearby Idsworth House. The red brick walls were of Flemish bond, with diaper patterns in blue headers and Bath stone dressings. It had a steep slate roof with square flues to Tudor stacks. The north front housed a central school hall, with three large mullion and transom windows and a gabled porch at the east side. C. R. Cotton described the school in 1861: “The school at Idsworth were erected at the sole expense of Sir Jervoise Jervoise for the instruction of boys and girls living in the neighbourhood. They are under the tuition of a schoolmistress who resides on the premises. The schools were opened on 3 June 1861. The children pay one penny per week and the like sum is given by Sir Jervoise and paid out at the end of the year in clothing or any other thing the children wish for according to their several claims and attendance.”
Idsworth School, C R Cotton 1861
The average number of pupils, as shown in the Estate records was 70. Lady Georgiana Clarke Jervoise (1808-1873) organised haircuts for the pupils and Punch and Judy at Christmas.
From 1903, following the Education Act, Hampshire County Council took more of an interest – with correspondence about who was paying. In 1909, Sir Harry Clarke-Jervoise gave permission for the County Education Authorities to enlarge and alter Idsworth School. At the time there were 84 children there of which 30 were infants. The cloakroom and toilets were built in 1911. Between 1895 and 1926, Miss Hilder and Miss Hill were the formidable school mistresses. Schooling remained there until 1949, when all pupils were transferred to other schools in the area.
Idsworth School, now a private residence,
R. Goodall 2006
The school building still stands along Treadwheel Road – it was listed in 1986 and is now two dwellings.
Forestside School (1855 – 1960)
Also known as Stansted or Stansted and Stoughton School
Forestside Church and School,
C R Cotton 1861
Charles Dixon, owner of Stansted House and local benefactor, funded the school and church at Forestside. The Foundation stone was laid in 1852 and in 1855 the church was consecrated. The school ran in the church until the adjoining school building was complete. Initially 24 children attended the school but by 1874 this had risen to 90. The school was enlarged in 1878 but was still not sufficient. In the 1950s the school became voluntary controlled, but the parish didn’t have the money to support the school. This, combined with falling numbers led to the closure of the school in 1960.
Portrait of Charles Dixon
by John Prescott Knight,
Stansted Park Foundation
Forestside Church and School,
copyright unknown
Forestside Church and School,
a Rowlands Castle Miscellany
More information
School logbooks and other information relating to the history of local schools can be found in the Record offices of West Sussex, Hampshire and the National Archives at Kew.
St John’s School, The First 80 years by Paul Marshman. A Rowlands Castle Miscellany, by by Ralph Cousins and Paul Marshman.