SUTTONBRANSHOLME & WAWNE Church & People - a celebration by Merrill Rhodes |
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Schools in Sutton
and Wawne
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Windhams - 19thc Wawne – Parsonages
St Peter's
Restorations - Windham Reading Room
1911 Sale of Estate
- Waghen Lodge and the Alec-Smiths
Various references have been made to
education in the parish. The Ann Watson and Leonard Chamberlain bequests still
exist in various forms, and the will of John Marshall in 1803 left a small
endowment for 'poor Sutton children'. As early as 1758 a schoolmaster's licence
was granted to Peter Gilbank to be master of the 'free petit school'1 in Sutton. In 1804 an advertisement appeared in
the Hull Advertiser for a
Schoolmaster to teach English Language and Writing and Arithmetic in 'a large
airy School Room', salary £15 per annum. Sutton was described as being in a
'dry and healthy situation'. Similar advertisements appeared in 1810 and 1816,
and each time the candidates were exhorted to be 'models of morality, sobriety,
and industry'. Oddly enough, all the interviews were held at the Dog & Duck Tavern in Hull.
Thomas Dibb was the schoolmaster and
parish clerk in 1819,2
and he was probably the teacher who, as Blashill describes, tried to teach his
pupils with kindness and not with the cane, but this didn't seem to work. The
poor man was seen one day, locked out by his pupils who refused to open the
door until he promised them a day's holiday! In 1851, Mr Dibb was living with
his daughter Maria and her husband William Carrick in 'Carrier Cottage' in Back
Street.3
In 1846 William Tesseyman, a grocer who lived in High Street almost opposite Potterill Lane, was also a
schoolmaster; and Mary Thompson ran a 'boarding and day school'.
Nationally, the churches were busy
establishing Sunday and Day Schools. Our own Revd Davies had been instigative
in establishing a Sunday School in the Groves, Stoneferry, in 1839, near where
St Mark's was erected in 1843/4. Again, a notice in the Hull Advertiser, 17 February1855, announces the
imminent opening of 'two new schoolrooms and master's residence for Sutton
British Schools. Sixty in each classroom, one for boys, one for girls.' It is likely that this school was
contiguous with the Primitive Chapel erected at the same time on the present
Providence Row.4
On 5 March 1849 a National School5 was founded, with
Thomas Trotter as the master, and it probably functioned in the aforementioned
property of the Revd Eldridge. Ten years later the site on High Street was
given by Mrs Sophia Broadley, and Mr Trotter continued as Head in the new
premises. The building consisted of one long room with a small classroom at
each end. John Triffit succeeded as the master, but died in 1864, aged only 28.
His monument stands in the church. The Sutton School Board was formed in 1875, when
there were about 90 children in attendance.
Mr Herring is the master in this picture of c1882 The Log Book
of Sutton School dates from 1896, though there must have been records before
that. Initially, the classrooms were furnished with 'galleries' or raised steps, around the perimeter.
The master was assisted by a schoolmistress and a monitor who would
help with the teaching. The galleries were removed in 1900, and an
extension built in the centre front in 1911.
Sutton school, early 1900s At this time, earth closets were
replaced by flush toilets; and central heating was installed. Previously, the
smoke from the stove had been 'utterly objectionable.'
Mr John Topham came as headmaster in
1891, remaining until 1921.6
He was very involved with village life, was parish clerk, rent collector,
choirmaster, and member of the Reading Room Committee.
Mr Topham also founded a Pierrot Troupe, 1906/07
He and his wife had eight children,
and like most teachers, lived in the village where they taught (she helped occasionally).
The Tophams' home was the first of these tall houses in High Street, Mr Topham is remembered as being
strict but fair. In 1896 his assistant teachers were Carrie Robinson,
daughter of one of the village blacksmiths, Alice Holmes, daughter of a local
butcher, and Hannah Gardham.
Holidays appeared to be frequent and
varied. One Tuesday the school closed at noon for the remainder of the week for the 'Sale
of Work'. It closed for a 'Choir Festival at Swine'; for the afternoon of St
James' Day (Sutton Feast); for a week in June 1897 for the Diamond Jubilee; for
Sutton Horse Show; for three days in 1902 for the Coronation of Edward VII.
Various outbreaks of disease also
caused closure of the school. In 1899, the year the Evan Fraser 'fever'
hospital was built, there were epidemics of measles, mumps and whooping cough.
In the early years of this century the school was closed for up to five weeks for
outbreaks of measles; and diphtheria, scarlet fever, chicken pox and small pox
were all common.
Weather, too, affected attendances.
Only 60 children turned up on 25 August 1904, 'a very wet day'. As attendance
affected the grant as much as the annual inspection, the entries in the Log
Book often sound disgruntled on a rainy day.
John Topham with boys of Sutton School
During the first World War, Sutton
School was occupied for some while by troops. The four classes had to be
accommodated elsewhere. "My class was cramped together in what is now the
baptistry. We didn't have any PE. We did a lot of cutting out, I remember, until one day the
scissors all disappeared, which was something of a relief. Every Friday
afternoon, we had to go to the college where Mr Topham took his class, and
report on our work."7
In 1921 Charles Simpson was
appointed Head - 'Chanting Charlie', who formed an excellent school choir and
raised money for a school piano in 1924, at a cost of £15. Patriotism was
riding high then, and visiting speakers on subjects such as 'The
Responsibilities of Empire' occur regularly. Gardening lessons were introduced
- though only for the boys - and competitions with the Council School were
frequent. Mr Simpson's successor was Mr Wilkinson, and then Mr Alan Sproxton in 1937. Two years later Miss Alice Holmes retired from the staff after 46 years of teaching at Sutton School. "I remember going to Miss Holmes' house on Friday afternoons for our 'Homemaking' class. She had a bungalow at 19 Potterill Lane, and we cleaned up, tidied the bedroom and baked cakes . . . We would get back to school about 3 for the vicar to talk to us before finishing for the weekend."8 (Why don't teachers these days adopt this idea?!) Mr Eric Johnson took Miss Holmes' place at the school, but War was declared almost immediately, and schooling was again disrupted. After the war, in 1947, the school-leaving age was raised, and a pre-fabricated building erected for the extra children. Mr Johnson was appointed Head in 1951 and ran, according to ex-pupils, "the happiest school for miles around." That winter, extensive repairs were carried out, and the dual desks in the large room removed, so that it could be used as a multi-purpose hall. Hitherto, the church hall had been used for drill or PE and concerts. The school and church were closely linked, the major festivals being celebrated together. The church was part of the children's life; they decorated the baptistry for Harvest and Christmas, and, in their final year, were taken to the top of the tower as a treat. Under Mr Johnson's leadership, the curriculum reflected the rural area; the skills of the staff; and the interests of the pupils. Thus, rabbit-keeping; bees, and the making of honey; puppetry; gardening; music; photography; all took their place beside the general curriculum - and, of course, rugby. Topicality was in vogue, Literacy and Numeracy Hours unheard-of. In the 1960s, Sutton School became well-known nationally when Eric Johnson prepared a series of photographs to illustrate the 'Domino' Reading Scheme. Some of these books are still in schools. This lively and versatile headmaster also wrote series of articles for various magazines, notably on teaching in an all-age school. For all its 120 years Sutton school had catered for all ages - until 1969 when the older pupils had to depart to Secondary Schools. Sadly, the fabric of the early Victorian school was showing wear and tear, and although it was scheduled for closure in the 1940s, it held out until 1977. By this time Mrs Sheila Goring had been Headteacher for two years, and she oversaw the transition of the historic village school to the new St James' School on the vast Bransholme estate.
Children going to new school, 16 February 1977
In 1999 the school celebrates its 150th anniversary, and, too, maintains its strong links with the church under the headship of Mrs Laura Dawson.
St James' School Leavers' Service, July 1999. The old school building now operates as the church's education centre where schools, both inside and outside the parish, work on various projects. Lectures and adult education classes are given. Many of Eric Johnson's splendid photographs of the school during his decades there are on display. Meanwhile, the Wesleyan School at the top of Potterill Lane still stands with its old 'Girls Entrance' and 'Boys Entrance' commands above the doorways, but has long since ceased to function as a school. In the 1880s Mr A Rhodes, the headmaster, was assisted by the lady who lived across the road - appropriately named Miss Potterill (the lane is shown as Love Lane on a plan of c1840 - maybe a little infra dig for a lady teacher of that time!)
Wesleyan schoolchildren with teachers Mr Rhodes & Miss Potterill
The school closed in 1911, having been 'condemned' in 1905. It was replaced by a Council School, built on the corner of East Carr Lane, with accommodation for 162 all-age pupils. Mr Thomas Colbert was the first headteacher.
Sutton Council School 1911; Mr Colbert, Miss Bradley
John Casson was appointed Head in January 1923, when a solid new schoolhouse had been built behind the school. He moved in with his four children. Mr Casson served in the 13th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment during the war and became a Lieutenant after being wounded on the Somme. "He brought home a small Union Jack, a silk flag on a dark green stick; it took pride of place on the family Christmas tree each year, and was buried with him when he died in 1940."9 "My father was fiercely patriotic, and Empire Day at school was special. The afternoon began with some sort of ceremony with patriotic songs, and then sports in the field across the lane; it was always sunny and we would make daisy chains. Of course the Union Jack would be flying."10 John Casson was passionately fond of gardening (he was secretary of the Sutton-on-Hull Allotments Association), and after the three Rs, Gardening came next on the curriculum but again, "only for boys, whilst the girls sewed with Miss Richardson. The schoolhouse garden was very big, and each of the senior boys would have a plot where he could grow vegetables. Gardening formed an important part in their futures, both in employment and in providing for their own future families." Mr Casson built a 'Peter Pan House' for his younger daughter, Helen - complete, of course, with flag pole.
Helen's Peter Pan house and garden
In 1936 came the news that the council school must close, to re-open as a school for the deaf. John Casson was re-deployed as Head elsewhere, but the night before he died only four years later, he said to his wife, "Leaving Sutton broke my heart." Not long ago, Margaret Casson re-visited the council school of her childhood, for the house and school still stand, but now used as an educational Special Unit. Wawne, like Sutton, boasted a small school in the early part of the 18th century, and in 1743, at Archbishop Herring's Visitation, a 'public school' is recorded, attended by about 30 children, and paid for by the parents. St Peter's church ran an innovative library service shortly after this, being 'open' after Sunday services. The schoolmaster, being literate, might earn a little extra, as in 1762 when we read in the Overseers Account book that 2/6d was paid to him for Thomas Atkinson's certificate. Not so easily earned, perhaps, was his 1/- for 'Cleaning the Steple'! The school and schoolhouse were kept in excellent repair. The Churchwardens' Accounts read; 1763: 7/4d paid to Bricklayer & Laurence for Laying School Floor 1766: 1/3d paid for a lock for School 1767: 5/3d paid to William Robinson for repairing School House 1771: £1.13.4d paid to school marster (sic) 1776: 6/- paid to Daniel Kitchin for School House The Wawne schoolmaster between 1800 and 1810, Thomas Clarke, was, like many contemporary parents, unfortunate enough to lose two sons within two years.11 He also did duty as a Parish Clerk, assessing and collecting taxes. Around 1828, Wawne Church School was provided with another building, with 22 children attending in 1833. In 1840 Joseph Harrison was the schoolmaster; he lived in Main Street opposite Glebe Cottage. In 1855 the first female teacher recorded was Hannah Batty, married to William Tate, a Wawne farmer. Anna Wadsworth and Mary Elizabeth Hill followed.12 Around 1870 another parochial school was founded in Wawne, in Bargate Lane (Fairholme Lane), again supported by voluntary subscriptions, and again under the care of a schoolmistress, Emma Ann Gray. It was built to accommodate 70 children. Two small rooms were built for the teacher's home. Whilst girls stayed at the school until the age of 12, most boys went on to the Sutton School on reaching the age of 9, where there was a master.13
Wawne School, Fairholme Lane
By 1889 this school had closed and a Public Elementary School, to accommodate 75 girls and boys, was opened in Meaux Road. There was a succession of schoolmasters. In 1910 the school moved to its present building in Greens Lane, the Headteacher Mrs Edith Howarth, transferring from the Meaux Road school.
Wawne School, Greens Lane, 1910
Mr Howarth died, and in 1917 Mrs Howarth married Fred Calvert, a Wawne farmer. Parents still paid for education, 3d per week being charged for the oldest children. At that time, there were 35 children on the books. Some boys in the village between 10 and 13 years were actually employed. Mrs Calvert remained at the school for many years, being remembered by the older villagers. Meaux children often walked to school daily, being allowed to leave at 3pm in the winter time. The Swifts came from Wawne Common Farm by pony and cart, and when they were older, they would often lodge in Wawne during the week - a journey which takes only a few minutes today. Mrs Downing was the Headmistress in the 1930s, and was one of the first women in Wawne to drive a car.
Bob Swift (with sister Kathy) on his way to school, c1912
Wawne School 1914; Kathy Swift 2nd row, 4th left
Wawne School 1933 14 Later, during Mr Jones' headship, new housing resulted in an extension to the school and more pupils - 197 in 1970, rising to an all-time record of 220. The next Headteacher was Mr Purcell, who lived in the former school house opposite the chapel. Mr Michael Yates took up the post in 1970, remaining until 1994, when he was succeeded by Mr Kevin Crabb. In 1780 the Windham estate in Waghen was inherited by Anne Windham; she married Sir William Smijth, and was followed at Waghen by her youngest son, Captain Joseph Smijth (1792-1857), a cavalry officer who assumed the name of Windham in 1823. It appears that he lived in Waghen, in the late 18th century farmhouse which was later to become the unusually long, low building in Tudor-style, familiar in the memories of older Wawne residents. (The building of Waghen Hall altered the geography of the village - ref. maps of 1773 and 1927).
Waghen Hall
Joseph S Windham's furniture bill from Jameson & Son of Beverley amounted to £202.14.0d in 1816, and further bills listing beautiful furnishings and draperies reflect fine taste and considerable wealth: 'Beds are enclosed with curtains and have a tester. Bed posts are mahogany and there is a set of japanned pole cornices. A Brussels carpet graces the floor. There is mention of a stuffed sofa - far more comfortable than the hard, wooden chairs of the early 18th century . . . 15 Captain Windham was succeeded by his son William George, who was called upon to serve his country in the Indian Mutiny of 1857. He was on holiday at the time, but 'now that the country requires the services of her bravest and ablest sons, the Major-General has lost no time in obeying the call made upon him.'16 He died in 1887, and a memorial tablet and stained glass window are set up in Wawne church in his memory. During the Major-General's time in Wawne, the church and parsonage house underwent considerable change. In 1847, when George Dixon was vicar, the parsonage was described as being "dilapidated and decayed", and plans were drawn up for a new house. It is likely that this was never built, for in 1850 further specifications were outlined for a vicarage in the same place - opposite the east end of the church, adjacent to the Windham estate. The dwelling comprised two reception rooms, kitchen, scullery and storeroom, and four bedrooms. The Revd Robert Jarratt Crosthwaite was offered the living in 1869 and moved into the fairly modern parsonage. He seems to have been a bit of a 'high-flyer', for he set to work to have a much larger parsonage built for himself - across the road, now privately owned, in Main Street. Then he set up a little Chapel of Ease at Meaux, St Mary's, in 1872, which flourished; Mr John Beaulah tells of his family attending the chapel in his childhood. It held about 60 people, and services were held every Sunday afternoon. It is now converted into a domestic dwelling. Mr Crosthwaite got his reward - he was instituted Bishop of Beverley shortly afterwards. Beginning in 1874, another vicarage house was built west of the church, and at the same time, St Peter's was thoroughly restored, and was closed for nearly three years. The walls and roofs were taken down, and new walls of large flat-bedded rubble stone faced with Tadcaster stone were erected; new parapets built to the south aisle; the floor of the tower lowered; the floor of the nave taken up, re-concreted and new seats installed; the north brick porch removed and the present one built. The present vestry was built, a vestry having previously been sited in the south-west corner possibly where the 18th century school was held. The windows were re-glazed, and three bells re-cast. The organ was moved to the north-east corner of the nave, and the font moved from the centre of the west end to the north-west corner. The old oak chancel screen was removed; the pulpit which had previously stood in the south-west corner was replaced; and a new reading desk supplied. William George's brother Ashe (1830-1909) inherited the Windham estate, and about 1890 he had Waghen Lodge built for his son, also Ashe, as agent for the estate. The Hall provided the main source of employment for villagers in Wawne. Major Windham returned from the Boer War in 1901 full of plans to transport the entire village to Tasmania. The idea was not too popular locally, and two years later he married and moved with his bride into Waghen Hall, which had been entirely renovated and decorated during the preceding six months; and given to the Major by his father. Like his father, the Major was looked upon as Lord of the Manor, and referred to as Major or Squire. Another fund-raising event for the church was held in 1902, when the villagers raised £211.9s.7d for a new organ. New lamps to improve the lighting were also installed at this time. Shortly afterwards, the Church Commissioners commenced a through restoration of the chancel, when the east window was re-constructed and enlarged.
The ivy-clad Wawne church before the Restoration of the chancel in 1902
Interior Wawne Church c1905
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Committee, 1897
Builders working on the chancel, 1902 The Windham Reading Room, now the Church Room, was originally part of a farm belonging to the Windhams, possibly a stable. The Major converted the building into a Reading Room around 1900, and spared no time and expense "making it one of the best of its kind." The Room housed a small library, and was a place where the men of Wawne could go to read, consult the papers, play draughts and cards, or simply chat together. It was also a forerunner of our 'further education courses'. The Beverley Guardian recorded in August 1902 that 'the winter course of lectures, debates and impromptu speeches is arranged to commence on the 12 inst. The Vicar, the Rev. W Dyer, was specially asked to give a paper on Electricity, to which he consented.' Village 'socials' were enjoyed, and the Order of Oddfellows held its monthly meetings in the room.
Windham Reading Room
During World War Two, the Reading Room was requisitioned as a food store. In 1952 Mr John Beaulah bought the property from the Windham family, granting it to the church for its use. It is still used for church meetings and activities. Thus, in the early years of the 20th century, Wawne was a settled village community, many workers toiling steadily on the Windham estate, farming the land, or seeing to the needs of family and visitors at the splendid Waghen Hall - believing that nothing much could shatter the peace. But it did - and before the outbreak of War.
Household servants outside Waghen Hall early 1900s In 1911, to the shock and disbelief of all, the entire Windham estate, lock, stock and barrel, went up for sale on 15 and 16 June. All the farm land (except Glebe Farm) and farmsteads; The Windham Arms, the Ferry, Wawne Lodge, the old school on Meaux Road, blocks of cottages, Mr J Brown's the grocer, Mr G Brown's the tailor, Mr Farnaby's Post Office - all for auction.
Mr James Farnaby's Post Office
In the end, only Robert Swift was able to retain the tenancy of his farm, Wawne Common. The effect of the tremendous upheaval of the village, with nearly everyone moving out of their homes, must have been devastating. Two years later, the Revd G A England, was to tell a newspaper reporter: "It is a matter of serious concern that the state of chaos into which the village has been thrown by so many removals and changes of tenancy has left an indelible mark on the village and church." The Windhams' economic difficulties changed the village dramatically. Ashe Windham left Wawne in 1924, returning only once, in 1927. By 1935 the house was in a state of neglect. It was occupied by troops during the war, and demolished in the early 1950s. The house which Ashe Windham built around 1890 as a shooting/hunting lodge for his son, was constructed in the classical style then fashionable.
Waghen Lodge 1905, situated off the Wawne to Sutton Road
By 1897 Marshall Hotham Ringrose, estate steward, lived there, remaining until the Sale of Estate in 1911. It was then occupied by Mrs Sowerby Middleton, Ashe Windham's mother-in-law. She undertook extensive alterations, including the installation of electricity. Colonel Pease became the next tenant. Phyllis, his daughter was well-known locally for her poem 'Legend of Paradise', a ballad centred on Paradise Moat and the monks of Meaux.17 In 1923 Alexander (Alec) Smith came with his family to the Lodge, living there until his death in 1952. In 1906 he had married Lucy Adelaide Horsley, who was to remain at the Lodge until she died in 1957. The couple had moved from their previous home, Sutton Grange, where their daughter, Diana, was born in 1920.18 Soon, Mr & Mrs Alec-Smith had added a verandah at the front east end of the Lodge, and extended the 'wings'.
Waghen Lodge in the 1930s
They fitted up a billiard room. There were three reception rooms, as well as kitchen and scullery. The first floor had six bedrooms and bathroom. "My father rode every morning before breakfast," writes Diana, "and hunted with the hounds."
Meet of Holderness Hounds - Wawne, 14.2.1907 "I look back in wonder and
thankfulness for the happy years I spent at Wawne. During the first War, my
father served as Captain, and in World War Two he was in Timber Control.
My mother and I ran a mobile canteen for three years. We had a Church Army van from Wawne.
We would collect batches of bread and cakes from Jacksons, and urns
of tea, and drive round all the gun sites over a large area. We also took other
things like face cream and films when we could get them.
The Church Army Canteen Van "Both my parents were crazy about tennis. In the early years at the Lodge, at the front of the house, beyond a big area of gravel, they constructed a hard tennis court. Both had played tennis for Yorkshire. They also made a grass court and had a summer house 'on stilts' built, so that people could sit up on a sort of deck round it and watch. The house was always full of people enjoying themselves. One visitor was Bunny Austin. I remember he was the first man to wear shorts at Wimbledon, in the 1930s, but they nearly covered his knees! "We had a groom and stable boy, and the groom (a dear, dear friend of mine called Harold Hannah) was coaxed/bullied by my parents to learn to drive. He lived in Sutton. There were the gardeners, and in the house, cook, kitchen-maid, parlour-maid and housemaid. They were all part of my family, especially my beloved Nanny who came to look after me in 1924 and lived the rest of her life, to age 90, with me and my family. "We used to love walking to Wawne - Miss Brown at the village shop, where I would buy a pennyworth of Dolly Mixtures to take blackberrying; Mr Smith the roadman, always cheerful; Mr Brewer at Wawne Ferry. "We had no mains water for many years - drinking water had to be filtered. No garbage collection - a series of pits dug in the back field beyond the paddock. Milk was delivered from a neighbouring farm. We had no 'fridge, of course, so big blocks of ice were collected from Withernwicks, the fishmonger on Beverley Road, once a week and kept in a big, zinc-lined wooden chest in the larder, where eggs were put to preserve in buckets of isinglass. "It was one of the saddest days of my life leaving the Lodge for the last time after my mother's death in 1957, and when it was demolished I cried my eyes out."
Meet of Burton Constable Beagles, Wawne Lodge, c1938
"I remember Mrs Rogerson of Wawne. She has been wonderful raising money for the church, school and W.I. My late brother, Rupert Alec-Smith, as his very last public 'office' as Lord Lieutenant of Humberside on 17 May, 1983, had the pleasure of presenting Mrs Rogerson with the B.E.M. in recognition of all she had done."
Home Page CHAPTERS Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 Chapter 5 ~ Chapter 6 ~ Chapter 7 ~ Chapter 8 Chapter 9 ~ Chapter 10 ~ Chapter 11 ~ Chapter 12
Notes
1 A school for teaching little children, or an ABC school
2 Register of Births (his son)
3 Chamberlain Street
4 Deduced from various documents, inc. censuses and deeds
5 Church of England
6 Thanks to several members of the Topham family who have generously given information, photographs and artefacts for the education centre
7 Winnie Robinson (Leake)
8 Doris Kirby, who left school in 1927 at just 14
9 Margaret Casson, daughter, born 1922
10 Helen Casson, born 1928
11 Register of Burials
12 Directory, and Census of 1861
13 George Beaulah and Kate Calvert (mother of Kath Swift) both attended this school
14 Frank Norton has identified all the children
15 - from research by Mary Carrick
16 Hull Times
17 Kath Swift kindly loaned me this ballad
18 I am indebted to Diana (now Tarleton) for information and reminiscences of the Lodge.
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