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| Cuxton School, 2021... |
Quite when the first local schools in Cuxton started up is
unclear, but they were almost certainly in the form of “Dame’s Schools”. These
schools were taught by a “school dame,” a local woman who would educate
children for a small fee. At Dame’s schools, children were taught the basics of
reading, writing and arithmetic. Girls were often instructed in crafts such as
knitting and sewing.
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| "The Dame School", by F.C. Cotman (1850-1920)... |
From a drawing held at the
Rochester
Guildhall Museum,
it appears that one such school was located at the Old Post Office Row, which
used to be sited opposite the Parsonage. The drawing, (showing the Old Post
Office Row to a remarkably -perhaps suspiciously- faithful degree) was possibly made by one of the
school’s pupils...
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| Drawing of a "Dames School, Cuxton, Kent", date unknown (from Rochester Guildhall collection)... |
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| Photograph of the Old Post Office Row, c.1900... |
Another Dame’s School may have been at White Hart Farm: Medway Archives have an
old daguerreotype-style photographic print of the building which bears the
annotation “Dame’s School”.
In 1803, the Rector of Cuxton Church, Reverend Charles Moore, is recorded as
having set up:
“… a little school in the parish (where there was none before) and
paying myself for the constant weekly schooling of eight or more poor children,
giving them shoes and stockings in the winter to encourage them to be regular…”
The Church accounts at the time record a sum expended: “paid to Featherstones of Rochester
for schooling – worsted and shoes - £7-12-6d.”
In 1826, William Hollingdale was recorded as being Cuxton’s parish Clerk and
schoolmaster, suggesting that a school was by then in operation. This may have
been sited at the parsonage (a location today occupied by Cuxton’s scout hall)
which was at the time otherwise shunned by Cuxton’s rectors as too much of a
damp and unpleasant place to permanently live.
It was the enterprise of another Cuxton rector, Canon Robert William Shaw, which
led to the building of Cuxton’s first dedicated school. When Robert Shaw first came to
Cuxton, the population of the village was around 370, but it was clear that
local industries, particularly the cement industry, were poised to expand.
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| The original Cuxton school, 1919... |
Foreseeing a need for permanent schooling to serve a growing number of
children, Canon Shaw’s school was built on land just to the south-east of the
church, close to the main road, and included accommodation for a
schoolmistress. On its opening in 1849, the school could accommodate up to 70
pupils, who then came from both Cuxton and nearby Halling.
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| Cuxton's old school, with the nearby church in the background, c. 1920... |
The Education Act of 1870 saw the building of additional capacity for infants in
1876 at a cost of £185, which was met by Lord Darnley, Canon Shaw and his
friends and also some of the local yeoman (Messrs Wood, Pye and Weekes).
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| Cuxton School, c. 1930 |
The Act established a system of 'school boards' to build and manage schools in
areas where they were needed. The boards were locally elected bodies which drew
their funding from the local rates. Unlike “voluntary schools”, religious
teaching in the board schools was to be 'non-denominational'.
In 1880 a further Education Act finally made school attendance compulsory
between the ages of five and ten in order to try and stop child labour, though
by the early 1890s attendance within this age group nationally was still only
around 82 per cent.
Many children worked outside school hours - in 1901 the figure was put nationally
at 300,000 - and truancy was a problem as many parents could not afford to give
up income earned by their children, particularly at Cuxton when hop-picking and
harvesting seasons came round. Some also simply could not afford to send their
children to school as school fees were payable until a change in the law in
1891, although the church involvement at Cuxton made education available to
many who could not otherwise have afforded it.
Further legislation in 1893 extended the age of compulsory attendance to 11,
and in 1899 to 12.
Up to the death of Canon Robert Shaw in 1873, the school had been in the care
of an uncertificated master. His successors, Canon Charles Colson and John
Toone, subsequently oversaw the appointment of a series of qualified teaching professionals,
including Mr. Thomas Strickson, who was headmaster of Cuxton School
from 1900 until 1930.
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| Pupils of Cuxton School, 1877, with the Headmistress, Miss Elizabeth Percival and assistant Alice Percival.. |
By 1902 the population of Cuxton had also nearly doubled and the national Board
of Education gave notice that a larger school would be required.
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The old Cuxton Chapel, c.2000 (prior to its relocation to the Museum of Kent Life at Sandling). It was used as a "overflow" school
building in 1903 until the completion of the "new" village school in 1905...
(source : Cuxton History fb page) |
There was no
room for further expansion at Canon Shaw’s school, and indeed, the children had
been compelled to use the little green above the western side of the graveyard
(now overgrown) as the play area.
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| Pupils of Cuxton school, c. 1900, with teacher Emma Osbourne... |
A new
National School was therefore built down in the
village. The new school officially opened on Friday 6th. March 1906 and is still in use today (no
cheap and nasty “aerated” concrete in
that
building!).
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| Pupils of Cuxton School, c. 1905, outside the old school with Headmaster Thomas Strickson... |
The new national School under Headmaster Strickson appeared to have been run to very Victorian standards of discipline. Use of the cane was a common punishment and the curriculum was very much based on the “Three Rs”.
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| A view of Bush Road from Six Acres, c. 1910, with the new school at centre. |
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| Cuxton's new "National School", c.1907... |
Things began to
change upon his retirement in 1930, with his successor, Mr. R.H, White, being
of a more liberal disposition despite his ex-Army background.
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| Cuxton juniors, school photo, 1938... |
Use of the cane
as punishment became far less frequent and the curriculum changed to include
more modern subjects (such as algebra) and to encourage organised sports and
even gardening...
The old school remained in use for a while as a Sunday school and church rooms,
and the ground floor living accommodation was used by the school caretakers.
Like many other of Cuxton’s old buildings, however, Canon Shaw’s school was
finally demolished in 1964.
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| Demolition of the old Cuxton school, 1964... |
These days, the much-extended Cuxton infants and primary school caters for
nearly 400 pupils, many from outside of Cuxton itself.
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| Cuxton School, 1972... |
References:
1) Cuxton - a Kentish Village by Derek Church, 1976 (ISBN 0 903253 12 7, published by Arthur J Cassell)
2) Cuxton - Its Past and People (written and published by Colin S Martin, 2005).
