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The Origins of the ‘Old School’

The ‘Old School’ building has been used by the community for over 150 years.

The outside of the ‘Old School’ remains remarkably like the original girls school built in 1846.  But the inside is quite different. 

Over 150 years ago children whose parents were unable to pay for their education relied on the distribution from the ‘poor rate’ and the benevolence of local worthies to provide elementary schooling.   We had to wait until the 1915 Education Act for universal educational provisions for all children that we take for granted. 

 Between 1836 and 1871 the Rector of Crick was the Rev Charles Swainson and he had the funds and the desire to support the educational provision for poor children in the parish.  In a letter to the Guardians of the Poor of the Rugby Union, the Rev Swainson records that he had ‘purchased a cottage at his own expense for the education of girls’.  The cottage was not on this site. He also paid for repairs to the dilapidated boy’s school. Crick was a member  of the Rugby Union,  a body providing a means for the schooling of children in the vicinity.  They were involved with the boy’s school in Crick prior to 1846. This early boy’s school was demolished when the new boy’s school (now the Crick Ex-Servicemens' Club) was erected in 1847.   The earlier school occupied only part of the present site.

 Crick in the mid 1800s was a relatively large community compared with Rugby and surrounding villages.  Many people still earned a living from the land but many businesses in Crick benefited from the construction of the canal that came in 1805 and tunnel, which opened in 1814. By 1861 the population census records 999 residents with a thriving business and farming community.

 Further construction work followed with the railway and in 1881 Crick Station was opened.  It closed in 1957 and was near to the Half Way House public house.  With industrialisation in the surrounding towns, such as Rugby and Coventry, the population moved away from the villages, however Crick continued to prosper. 

In the year 1880, out of a population of 960, there were 45 weavers, 37 farmers and 91 tradesmen, including saddlemakers, millers, blacksmith, wheelwright, mason, horse collarmaker, cordwainer, soapmaker, tailor, glover, hogbreeder, miller, higgler, bootmaker, excise officer, maltster, basketmaker, cooper, brickmaker and shoemaker.  These helped Crick to remain a self-contained community.

While the census of 1901 records the population had fallen to 613, Crick was the principal village of Crick Rural District Council, consisting of the parishes of Crick, Elkington, Claycoton, Kilsby, Lilbourne, Stanford and Yelvertoft.

Parishes were responsible their own poor.  The Overseers of the Poor had to provide for the well-being of the impoverished from the money raised by a parish rate, in accordance with the Poor Law Act of 1601.  Houses would be reclaimed and people sent to the workhouse which was situated in The Derry.

The Crick Overseers encouraged people to emigrate to America by giving them provisions and money for their passage, this was cheaper than maintaining them and their dependants ‘on the parish’.

The Crick workhouse, which was a thatched roof building with stone and mud walls, was closed in 1821 and the inmates transferred to the Rugby workhouse.

The level of population in Crick was such that there were a number of children to be educated and limited funds available from the parish.  With the establishment of independent Trusts for the education of the poor children in Crick, funds were raised, land purchased and new girls and boys schools built in 1846 and 1847.  The Trustees for both schools comprised the Rector, two Churchwardens and two Overseers of the Poor. The first Chairman was the Rev Swainson who was personally responsible for providing a substantial amount of the funding.  Today the ‘Old School’ Trust has the same make-up of trustees, is being registered as a recognised charity with the Charity Commission and continues to manage the facilities.  The role of the Overseers of the Poor has been the responsibility of Parish Council since 1894.

Prior to the building of the girls school there was a cottage, divided into two tenements, on this site.  The Trust for the Girls School purchased these for £100 in May 1846.  The cottages were demolished, the school was built and it flourished.

The management of the school included provision for ‘a teacher to be appointed to teach the girls the church catechism, reading, writing and costing accounts.  The Trustees shall govern the school and have sole power to appoint and discharge the mistress and in selecting pupils’.

Over time the intake was expanded to include infants as well as girls. We note from the logbook for 13th October 1893, that the school was closed for a week for the Crick Feast and Fair.  The logbook for 4^th February 1895 tells us that ‘Ink being frozen, lessons other than writing on paper, had to be taken.  Thermometer at 9 pm in school stood at 30 deg F’.  Again on 13th February, ‘The ink being frozen, all writing had to be done on slates this morning’.  

The school was inspected on a regular basis, religious instruction was largely delivered by the Rector of the time and women teachers could  remain in-post only while unmarried.

About the time the girl’s school was built, a new boy’s school was also built on the site of the previous school.  There had been a school by the Church gate since at least 1721 when ‘William Watts paid 1s 8d for window and bords for scoul house’.  The Trust purchased the land and  school building from the Guardians of the Poor of the Rugby Union in May 1846.  Further land by the church wall was purchased in July 1847 for £20 from Mary Goddard to increase the plot to its present size. The boy’s school was built in 1847 ‘to be used as a school for poor persons and as a school masters house'.  The building is now occupied by Crick Ex-Servicemens’ Club.  

 From 1847 to 1915

In the new boys school there was space for 50 boys. The school and its predecessor benefited from the bequests of William Henfray(1777), Richard Drayson(1806), George Judkin(1819), William Watts, Thomas Bucknill(1855) and Miss S. A. Robinson(1874).  In 1847 there were sufficient bequests to pay for a teacher and free schooling for 27 boys.  Today these bequests continue for the educational benefit of Crick children and are administered by Crick Educational Foundation.

These two schoolhouses remained the place of education for Crick children for 68 years. However discipline was harder than today and at some stage a white line was painted in the road between the schoolhouses with boys and girls being forbidden to mix.

 It is recorded in the log for both schools on 16th March 1894 that the ‘Highest attendance this week 68 Tuesday a.m.  Lowest 51 Thursday p.m. (Rugby Races) number absent 23’.

While the education and instruction provided at the two schools remained basic there was a wider curriculum available for those able to afford private education.  According to the census of 1851 there was a privately owned school called Crick Villa Academy on West Haddon Road for 21 boy’s aged between 8 to 14. Their study included ‘the usual branches of a sound commercial education, the Latin, Greek and French languages, mathematics, the elements of natural science, and the communication of such knowledge as is calculated to fit pupils for future usefulness’.  There was also a privately owned girl’s school at Northgate House in the Main Road. 

Crick Primary School was established on its present site in 1915 and the boys, girls and infants moved to the new accommodation. The Crick Ex-Servicemens’ Club was formed in 1923 and moved into the boy’s school building in 1926.  The girl’s school became known as ‘The Old School’ and was used for all village and church events until the present Village Hall was opened in 1959. With the growth of Crick, ‘The Old School’ continues to be used for village and church events.   

In 2004, following the community demand highlighted through a Village Needs Survey administered and led by Crick Parish Council ‘The Old School’ was enhanced with

·                        Disabled access and new toilets

·                        Large Hall area redecorated and available as a meeting and  function room

·                        New floor in the kitchen area

·                        Parish Council Office

·                        IT facilities including internet connection

·                        Community Information display area

·                        Archive space for immediate village historical records

·                        New electric wiring, lighting and heating

·                        Building security and fire alarm

These enhancements were made possible with grants from the Countryside Agency, Awards for All, Northamptonshire County Council, the Old School Trust and Crick Parish Council.

These changes are in the spirit of early aspirations to help community, education and church needs and have allowed the building to keep in step with the evolution of  Crick.

CONTACTS

                    For details of facilities, opening and hire charges 

Notes prepared by Jim Goodger, Chairman Crick Parish Council, March 2004 

Acknowledgements due to

*         Northampton Records Office

*         Crick History Society

*         Crick - The Story of a Northamptonshire Village by AG Bale

While every effort has been made to authenticate the contents, the author makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of information contained herein and cannot accept any responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

Send mail to nigel.howard@zetnet.co.uk with questions or comments about this web site.