SCHOOLS
The foundation statutes of Harsnett's schools at
Chigwell (1629) provided that two boys
from Lambourne should be taught at the
English school at Chigwell and two at the
Latin school. (fn. 53) In 1734 Sir John Fortescue-Aland, lord
of the manor of Lambourne and owner of Knolls Hill
in Stapleford Abbots, founded a free school in Stapleford Abbots, at which twenty boys from Lambourne
were to be given places. (fn. 54)
There was no school in Lambourne in 1807 except
a Sunday school with twenty pupils. (fn. 55) Twenty places
were still available at the Stapleford Abbots school, but
not all of these were filled. (fn. 56) In 1818 there was still no
day school at Lambourne, but by 1833 much progress
had been made. All the available places in the free
school were taken and a day school had been founded
at Abridge. In 1833 there were 64 pupils at this school,
of whom 50 paid fees and 14 were paid for by benefactors. (fn. 57) The school was probably then under church
guidance, and in about 1835 it seems to have passed
under more direct church control. The chapel of ease
at Abridge was used as a schoolroom for girls and the
Wesleyan chapel hired for the teaching of boys. In
1838 the annual expenses were about £70, towards
which subscribers gave £40. About £7 was collected
at the annual sermon and further income was derived
from the weekly fee of 2d. for each child. About 80
children were on the roll, but the average attendance
was low. (fn. 58)
The population of Lambourne was increasing steadily
at this time and in 1839 there were still some 50 children
not attending a school of any kind. In 1838 local
churchmen set up a committee, with the rector as secretary, to build a new school at Abridge. Subscriptions
were collected, chiefly from local landowners, and the
rector approached the government and the National
Society for grants. After a delay due to difficulties over
a site and to the National Society's dispute with the
government in 1839, building started in 1841-2 on a
site given by W. J. Lockwood of Dews Hall and his son
W. M. Wood. The National Society gave £40, the
government £54, and the Diocesan Board £20. A
further £199 was given by 35 subscribers, including
Lady Mildmay, owner of Battles Hall in Stapleford
Abbots, Archer Houblon, owner of Bobbingworth
Hall, the rector and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,
the patron of the living. (fn. 59) The school was situated on
the west side of Hoe Lane at Abridge. (fn. 60) It seems to
have been a National School and for some years to have
remained closely connected with the Sunday school. In
1846-7 there were 68 pupils under a master and two
mistresses who between them received £60 a year and
had the use of a house rent-free. (fn. 61) Attendance declined
slightly in subsequent years. In 1851-2 there were 62
children present when the inspector visited the 'neat
schoolrooms'. He found the equipment poor, the
master untrained, the educational standard low, but the
children 'nice and well-behaved'. (fn. 62) In 1859 an inspector found a slight improvement in standard but
only 52 children in attendance. (fn. 63) In 1871, when there
was said to be accommodation for 62 children, the
attendance was still about 52. (fn. 64) At this time the school
was in financial difficulty and soon after (probably in
1878) it was discontinued as the result of the building
of a Board School.
In 1874 a school board of five members was set up
for Lambourne and Stapleford Abbots (q.v.) which had
been united into a single school district according to the
recommendation of the Education Department. (fn. 65) The
first plans submitted by the board were rejected by the
Education Department as too expensive, but after this
delay the board school was opened in September 1878,
on or near the site of the former National School. (fn. 66) It
had accommodation for about 150 pupils and a teacher's
house was attached. (fn. 67) Within a few years it was receiving an annual grant, amounting to £72 in 1886,
£103 in 1893, and £130 in 1902. The average attendance rose from 104 in 1886 to 120 in 1893 and 125
in 1902. (fn. 68) By 1904, when the accommodation was
said to be for 178, there were 141 children under 4
teachers and a monitress. (fn. 69)
By the Education Act of 1902 the school passed
under the administration of the Essex Education Committee, Ongar District. Its average attendance was 127
in 1915 and 130 in 1938. In 1914 it was enlarged to
accommodate 196 and in 1936 2 acres were added to
the site. In 1947 it was reorganized for mixed juniors
and infants. (fn. 70) In May 1952 there were 3 teachers and
106 children. (fn. 71) The school is a single-storied building
of brown and red brick, with teacher's house attached.
There was a private school at Abridge in 1845, kept
by Mrs. Sarah Giles. (fn. 72)