Hitchin

The British Schools Museum

The British Schools Museum is sited in a school with a variety of buildings dated back to 1837 and is well worth a visit to see how the schools for the labouring classes were set up in the 19th century, and developed into the 20th century.

There is an excellent web site which describes the school building and their history, and there were some interesting books for sale in the Museum book shop (I purchased Schooldays 1810-1900, A History of the Buildings and Educating Our Own). For this reason I have kept the commentary short and simply urge you to visit it if you get the chance but don't forget to check which days it is open.

The Great Lancastrian Schoolroom

This room was built in 1837 to teach on the monitor system. The floor was originally sloping to give the teacher a better view of the 150 boys. The idea was that one teacher could teach a large number, with older boys (monitors) surviving and instructing the younger ones.

The room is the only example of such a classroom to survive anywhere in the world, and is currently in a partially restored state.

The Gallery Classroom

This was built in 1854 and desk are arranged on a slope to provide the boys with a good view of the teacher.

This room was well organised for handling a party of school children, with a "teacher" demonstrating various aspects for how teaching was carried out a hundred years ago.

The Edwardian Classroom

Two extra classrooms were added in 1905 and this one has been furnished in the style of the period, using desks with fixed seats. 

The 1940's Classroom

This classroom was built in 1905 but has been equipped to represent how it would have been furnished in about 1940, when the war was on, and the school had expanded to accommodate evacuee children from London.

There were a number of features which brought back memories of my own childhood.

The Girls School

In 1845 the original building that had housed the girls and infants burnt down and the replacement was deemed unsatisfactory and this more substantial building was erected in 1857.

The upper floors were not open to the public, and the ground floor was used as an activity room aimed at visiting children, a museum, a small refreshment room and a shop.

The Headmaster's House

A view from the boys' playground over the wall with the girls' playground at a lower level, and the headmaster's house beyond.

Inside the Headmaster's House

Part of the house was furnished as it would have been about one hundred years ago. I didn't have time to view the upstairs but the living room, kitchen and scullery had plenty to interest visiting schoolchildren (and adults).

The tiny backyard was also of the period - including the little necessary outside room (no longer functioning)