| CLAVERING SCHOOLS In the 19th century, Clavering had two completely separate schools, the National School run by the Church of England and the British School by the Congregational Church. Although these two types were often found in towns, it was unusual for a village to be able to support both, and indeed both struggled financially and in many other ways over most of the 19th century for the ‘poor and ignorant population of this remote village’. The forerunner of the National School was an Anglican Sunday school, run in 1818 by the memorably-named Rev. Lancelot Pepys Stephens at the workhouse (now Guildhall). Unfortunately, the Anglicans lost the accommodation when the building was sold - ironically, to a Congregationalist, who then opened a dissenters’ school there. This can’t have done much for inter-church relations! Clavering in 1839 had two Sunday schools and three daily schools, all striving to find proper schoolrooms, good teachers and sufficient funding, not helped by indifference from the better-off residents who might have been expected to help out. This hindered educational progress here for the rest of the century. Clavering was also greatly handicapped by having no resident squire, a lack felt keenly by the clergy complaining of the ‘general poverty of the inhabitants, our wealthiest residents being only middling farmers, one half of whom are dissenters, and the landowners residing at a distance have given me but little encouragement.’ This was written by the Rev. George Brookes, Vicar of Clavering for almost 30 years, and a pioneer in the struggle to educate the children of the local poor. It was thanks to him rather than the community itself, that the little churchyard National School was finally built in 1844. He and a few supporters outside the parish had to contribute over two-thirds of the cost, helped by various grants. The other man always associated with education here was William Savill, after whom Saville Close (wrongly spelt) is named. The dissenters’ British School floundered until 1846 when along came, via the Saffron Walden British School, this remarkable self-made man. William ran the school until 1862 when it became unviable, so he left to become farmer at Curles. The British School was then closed for 16 years, but in 1878 William became very concerned at finding so many of his farm lads appallingly illiterate. He was now in a position to give land and money for a new British School in Pelham Road. Looking at the logbooks of both schools, which can be read in Essex Record Office, it is clear what an incredible struggle both schools had to survive. The logbooks are full of the despair of innumerable short-term teachers and the disapproval of the dreaded annual inspectors: ‘a country village school, in a remote district and conducted as a dame school,’ they reported of the National School in 1864: ‘The children are neat and clean. The floor is brick and all the arrangements of a primitive character.’ Absenteeism was endemic - children gleaned, picked potatoes, were stranded by floods: school was a luxury particularly when there were weekly fees of a penny or twopence to pay, and ‘the poorest pretexts’ often kept children away. In 1917 the inspectors were still critical - ‘singing consisted of unrestrained howling.’ On one occasion the headmistress summonsed a boy for assaulting her in class. The Clavering schools had always been rivals, sometimes quite bitter ones, and even in the early 20th century the two sets of pupils played separately. But the tide turned in 1925 with the formation of a joint Council School, led by Alan Rhodes, another important figure in the history of Clavering education. He was remembered by locals as ‘a marvellous schoolmaster, tall and smart’ and as ‘one of the finest men that ever came to this village’. Then in 1949 came the County Primary School, Infants using the churchyard building and Juniors using the Pelham Road building. In 1973 a completely new school was opened in Stortford Road and in the 1980s, to the sadness of many ex-pupils, both old buildings were demolished. Clavering County Primary School today continues the good work and has acquired a high reputation, consistently receiving excellent reports. What a different world we live in today, but worth remembering that what we now have was built on the work of all those early pioneers in education, who struggled so hard to bring literacy to the poor of what was then a downtrodden village. © Jacqueline Cooper 2007 |
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Pupils of Clavering National School, photographed in the school playground – date unknown - can anyone help with identifying any of those pictured? |
