The Old School - Theddingworth, Leicestershire - Former Schools on Waymarking.com

The old school building, now a private dwelling, dated on the gable end 1844.

"There was a schoolmaster in Theddingworth in 1634. The present village school appears to originate from the generosity of J. G. Cook (d. 1856), vicar 1810–41, although the building and schoolmistress's house were erected in 1844 after he had resigned from the living. His brother John Cook (d. 1867) of Hothorpe Hall, the patron of the church, may also have contributed to the cost. The first known trust deed was dated 1856, the year of the vicar's death, but as early as 1819 he had been paying for the education of 12 children in a small day school of 25 children run by a woman in the village. The status of this school is uncertain. In 1832 the archdeacon reported that there was only a Sunday school containing 40 children, but the parliamentary return describing conditions a year later referred to a day and Sunday school for 35 children, educated partly at their parents' expense and partly by charity.The building of 1844 was extended by the addition of an infants' room in 1902.

George Harris (d. 1873) about 1870 founded another school in Theddingworth for the children of those attending the Congregational chapel. In 1880 it was agreed to amalgamate this with Cook's school under the name 'Theddingworth United' on condition that religious instruction was 'simply biblical'. Henry Everett, the surviving trustee of Cook's school, gave his permission for Cook's building to be used, and Harris's trustees agreed to contribute £12 10s. a year towards its maintenance. The management committee consisted of the vicar, the two churchwardens, and three of Harris's trustees. These arrangements lasted until 1904 when it was adjudged that the formation of a united school was a breach of Harris's trust deed, and in 1905 the new managers under the 1902 Act decided to return to the name 'Theddingworth Cook's.'

The total number of children in the two schools in 1871 was 59, but the attendance at the united school in 1894 was only 36.There were 45 at Cook's school in 1910, and 31 in 1922 when it was decided to move those of senior school age to the neighbouring parish of Husbands Bosworth. There were 20 juniors in attendance in 1933, and about the same number in 1960. The school was granted 'controlled' status in 1952."

SOURCE - (visit link)

Address: Old School Main Street Theddingworth, Leicestershire England LE17 6QZ Web Site: Not listed

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