Charlton Village

Julian Hawley, long time resident of Charlton, has written a detailed history of the Old Schoolroom, which was serialised in recent editions of the Five Alive Parish Magazine. The complete article  is reproduced here.

THE STORY OF CHARLTON OLD SCHOOLROOM

2020 was the 140th anniversary of the opening of the Old Schoolroom in Charlton. Here is its story.

 Following the Elementary Education Act of 1870, in 1874 meetings were held in Charlton and Cropthorne to consider whether a united school board should be set up for the two villages to deal with the problem of deficient accommodation for pupils. The Education Department had directed that accommodation for 63 children from Charlton should be constructed in the village but instead the children had been sent to Cropthorne. The landed proprietors were against a school board, proposing that they would voluntarily fund expansion of the school at Cropthorne and Henry Workman had already made efforts to build a school in Charlton but had not been able to do so. At the Charlton meeting, mainly consisting of unionist labourers, wearing union colours, a public body was preferred. Fred Roberts spoke out against the landowners’ proposal saying that they were not thinking of the children when they proposed to supply a deficiency by adding to Cropthorne school and that the union wanted to see the schools under the management of the ratepayers and a school built for Charlton. His speech influenced a vote strongly in favour of the resolution for the school board. Eventually a poll of all ratepayers was held in both villages and voted against the resolution by a majority of eight votes so no school board was set up and no school was built. A decline in the population in the following decade resulted in there being no elementary school in Charlton until 1894.

Construction of the Schoolroom behind the church in what was the farmyard of the manor house farmery, started during 1879 and was completed early the following year. On Christmas Eve 1879, Rev James Jennings, through the generosity of Henry Workman, at whose expense the building was constructed, distributed a loaf to every poor family in the village to commemorate its near completion. It was designed by George Hunt an Evesham architect, of brick with a pitched roof supported by wooden beams. Internally the dimensions at that time were 33.5 x 18 feet and 11.5 feet up to the wall plate, with a raised platform for the teacher’s desk and there was legal capacity for 66 children. In the roof were two triangular dormer windows on the north and south sides of the roof, letting additional light into the room. These badly deteriorated with age and had to be removed during repairs to the roof in 2018. The room was heated by a fireplace to the south with a substantial chimney, to which outside was attached the school bell protected by a wood framed cover. The large east window was partly stained glass with heraldry and the date of 1879, sadly this disappeared during repair work in the 1990s. In 1882 the appearance of the school was enhanced by the addition of a lancet widow of coloured glass at each gable end. A coach house, stabling accommodation and a saddle and harness room were added as an extension to the west of the building, specifically for the use of church goers as well as the teacher. Two water closets were also built to the south-west. Outside was a manure hole, an ash pit and a coal house. There was also a play area for the children separated from the church land by metal railings.

On Workman’s death in 1889 the schoolroom was managed by a trust, initiated by his brother Joseph Baker Workman. It was used solely as a Sunday school, co-ordinated by the vicar, for several years and it was open for public hire for 2/6d per session without a fire and 3/6d with a fire. It was open to all parishioners of Charlton for general and public purposes which included the holding of inquests. In 1892 the body of George Potter, a coal man from Hampton who had been missing for two months was found in the Avon. Having been dragged to the bank, the body which “presented a horrible spectacle” was transported to the Charlton schoolroom for the inquest into the death. The schoolroom was sometimes also used for political meetings, in 1895 Jesse Collings a Liberal Unionist MP addressed a large gathering at a meeting presided over by James Faulkner, lord of Charlton manor. Collings was a great advocate for the well-being of agricultural workers. The schoolroom was also the venue of the Charlton Cricket team annual dinner in the 1890s when the members were provided with a good meal followed by speeches related to the performance of the team during the year and musical entertainment.

From 1894, the managers of the Charlton Elementary Day School rented the schoolroom at the rate of £5 per annum and the school opened on 1^st March 1894, the teacher being Mrs E. Hughes and was visited on this day by the vicar Rev Willis who continued to do so on a regular basis. Around forty-five children were in the class at the time of opening. The first inspection took place the following December and received a good report in spite of being closed for six weeks as a result of a scarlet fever epidemic in the village.  At Christmas that year around fifty of the children performed a concert consisting of sixteen songs and recitations, cheered by a large audience of parents and friends. Mrs Hughes was commended on such a success particularly considering how recently the school had opened. 

In 1896 the management body of the elementary school objected to this rent being paid and as a result was given notice to quit but a legal enquiry confirmed the trustees of the schoolroom could not be compelled to let the schoolroom rent free. James Faulkner was in an awkward position here as he was a member of both bodies.

The school day commenced with registration and scripture and then at 9.50am there was singing for around ten minutes, usually a marching song. From 10.00 to 10.25 was arithmetic, from 10.25 to 10.45 was speech training by telling stories and then playtime until 11.00 after which it was reading until 11.20 when it was physical exercise or games. From 11.40 to 12.00 was writing and lunch was from 12.00 to 1.30 for which most children went home. Lessons recommenced after lunch with drawing, needlework and playing on the “kindergarten” equipment until 2.30. The rest of the afternoon was taken up with reading, writing and music.

The needs of the market gardening families were such that sometimes children were absent during certain times of the year. In 1898 three families in Charlton were fined up to four shillings for not sending their children regularly to school.

The inspection in 1895, the year after it opened, identified that the school had attracted good numbers of Charlton children but that a lot of these were too old for an infants’ school and should be sent elsewhere. This would improve the standard of education Mrs Hughes, who really needed an assistant, could give. There were recommendations made for some paintwork to be done and better ventilation. Mrs Hughes was said to be industrious, discipline was good, as was the standard of reading and writing but arithmetic needed improvement in both method and results. Unfortunately, Mrs Hughes was given three months’ notice in January 1897 as a result of insubordination. The reason was not made public and her departure came as a shock to the village as she was held in great esteem for the work she had done and the way she had brought the children on in their education. A substantial collection was raised which was presented to her prior to her departure. She was succeeded by Emily Eliza Pomeroy, who in a subsequent inspector’s report was said to be a painstaking mistress under whom the school was making steady progress, although apparently it still needed a lick of paint! Mrs Pomeroy remained as mistress until March 1910 when sadly after several weeks illness she died. The children from her school attended her funeral three days later. She and her husband William Pomeroy were joint headteachers at Cropthorne school for 25 years until 1897 when he retired and she took over at Charlton. He died in November 1911 aged 67. He came to Cropthorne from Exeter around 1870 shortly after his marriage to Emily, nee Trickey. He was overseer of the poor for Fladbury for some years and did book keeping for many people in the neighbourhood. They moved from School House Cropthorne to a house in Ryden Lane on retirement. They had eight sons William, Robert, John, Alfred, Nicholas, Richard, Cecil, Ernest, and one daughter, Sarah. Nicholas, full name Nicholas Page Trickey Pomeroy, served in the RASC in the first world war and received silver tankard from George Swift in 1950 for fifty years’ loyal service. He lived in Brook cottage and maintained the church clock and heating. He died in 1952. Other members of his family were also loyal employees of the Swifts. His daughter, Vera Boswell, a well known and respected figure in village life, lived in the village until her death.

Emily Pomeroy was replaced by Edith Rushworth for a period of a few weeks until May 2^nd1910 when Florence Mary Wakeman became the last mistress of the school. In 1913 during her tenure, Edward Sheward, a boy of five who was playing horses with another boy in the playground was kicked in the head when they fell over. Ms Wakeman bathed the wound on his head and he went on with his lessons afterwards as usual. Unfortunately, the fact he had fractured his skull was missed and he died a few days later. In November of the same year the school was closed temporarily following a serious outbreak of scarlet fever.

On 28^th January 1916, on economic grounds owing to the war, the school was closed and Miss Wakeman, the children and equipment were transferred to Cropthorne school. Shortly afterwards damage done to the windows was put right by parents of the boys responsible! After the war the schoolroom was let to the Charlton Working Mens’ Club and James Faulkner constructed a wooden hut between the church and schoolroom as a reading room which was also used as a club room and became very popular as it contained a billiard table. 

The first electric lights were put in the schoolroom in 1938 and during the second world war it was used as a canteen for the women’s land army and in 1941 the doorway was put through from the main room to the kitchen. Ration books were distributed at the schoolroom during the war.

In 1949 the schoolroom was used for the first time as a polling station which it still is today. Throughout its history the schoolroom has been used for social events, dances, political meetings, football and cricket club celebrations, adults and childrens parties and entertainment, fund raising events, wedding receptions and parish council and church committee meetings.

In 1959 the financial situation led to suggestions that it would have to be sold but it was ultimately decided that as it was such a valuable asset in serving the interests of the village, this would not be appropriate and other means of funding necessary repairs were identified. In 1962 the Byrd brothers demolished the section of building which joined the single storey extension to the threshing barn, which was their property and consisted of pig sties etc. Unfortunately, this caused damage to the end of the schoolroom property which eventually the Byrds put right. In 1965 a false ceiling was put in the hall to save on heating.

A wooden building behind the church, by the schoolroom, was erected by James Faulkner as a reading room and clubroom which he equipped with a billiard table. By 1946 the working men’s club had moved to the Gardeners Arms and a Mr Charles Cook, an ex RAF serviceman and gentleman’s hairdresser of Hampton asked if he could rent the building as a house as he was currently living in a bus! Permission was granted and he lived alone with his dog and was very active in supporting social events by supplying music from his gramophone. He also at one time arranged weekly dances in the schoolroom and served on the Parish Council. In 1948 there was an argument about who owned the building as although it had been built by the Faulkner family it was on church land. It was finally agreed that a rent of £1 per year would be paid to the church as long as it was occupied for living accommodation. The clubroom was made over to the church on Mr Cooke’s death and for a short period in the 1960s it was used as a youth club but was subsequently demolished.

By the 1950s chemical toilets had been constructed but complaints were received that not only were they rather unpleasant, they were often locked when entertainments were taking place in the schoolroom! In 1971 new toilets were put in and joined to the main sewer, replacing the previous chemical toilets. In 1973 a playgroup for young children was started up in the village which brought an additional income.

In 1983 it was again suggested that the schoolroom should be sold as the cost of necessary repairs could not be met by the trustees. To avoid this a lot of voluntary work was carried out by members of the village and some work was funded by the organisations using the building. In 1990 the Friends of Charlton Schoolroom was set up to raise funds by donations and social events. From 1992 to 1995 major renovation took place both inside and outside including rebuilding the extension, new heating and new suspended ceiling. Grants from Wychavon and Hereford and Worcester County Council and a contribution from the parish council were obtained to support this. In more recent years a new main window was put in together with a new floor and in 2018 the building was fully insulated, redecorated, and a new heating system added, the work being paid for by grants, donations and income from social activities. In 2020 a new meeting room was added after a National Lottery grant was obtained. In 2022 the successful application for a legacy grant from Wychavon Council and a further Lottery grant enabled over £124K to be invested in the refurbishment of the service area including a new kitchen extension and new disabled and storage facilities. The driveway was also fully paved.

The Old schoolroom continues to be used by a Pre School and the scouts and is available to hire for events and activities. It remains an important social centre for the village.