SCHOOLS
There is said to have been a school in Loughton in
about 1751, which had existed for many
years. In 1761 the curate, Pierce Dod,
obtained subscriptions from local persons
and opened a school. Subscriptions soon decreased,
however, so that pupils remained few, only 13 in 1766,
and teachers were poorly paid. Gradually, with the
aid of an annual sermon, the school's position was
improved, (fn. 43) and in 1807 it had 20 pupils. These were
all taught reading and writing and the girls were also
learning housecraft, in accordance with the original
rules of 1761. (fn. 44) By this time local interest in the school
was increasing. In 1810 James Powell gave £10 to
introduce the monitorial system, and a few years later
two new schoolrooms and two teachers' houses were
built at a total cost of £500. (fn. 45) In 1817 the school was
united with the National Society, and the number of
pupils increased rapidly to about 100. (fn. 46)
The population of Loughton was growing rapidly
at this time and new private schools were being established for children of all classes. The National School
also expanded. The number of boys attending it
increased from 48 in 1833 to 75 in 1846-7, and of
girls from 58 to 85. (fn. 47) This was made possible by the
enlargement of the building soon after 1834, (fn. 48) and
again in 1842. (fn. 49) At this time the children paid no fees
and were sometimes given clothes. In 1838-9 the
school received £85 from subscriptions and possibly
also part of the £52 paid annually from Anne Whitaker's
legacy to the Sunday school, which was administered
jointly with the National School. In 1846-7 the
master was receiving £50 a year and the mistress £30. (fn. 50)
Between 1851 and 1856 the school received grants
from the government for training pupil teachers, (fn. 51)
but an inspection in 1850 or 1851 revealed a depressing situation. The master, though a decent man, was
untrained and in very poor health. The mistress could
not work in three figures, so that arithmetic was 'a
nullity'. (fn. 52)
In 1863 the school was enlarged at a cost of £1,485.
The diocesan board contributed £30, the National
Society £75, and local supporters the remainder. The
government refused help on the ground that the additional accommodation was unnecessary. National
Society officials suspected that its real motive in refusing
aid was to protect the position of the local nonconformist school. The school committee was not able to
provide as much new accommodation as they had
hoped, (fn. 53) but the rapid increase in the number of
children attending the school, from 100 in 1862 to
150 in 1864, encouraged the committee to appeal for
funds for another classroom. The diocesan board gave
£10, the National Society £15, and subscribers some
£200. The building was finished in 1866. At this
time the committee, with the rector as chairman, was
very active. In 1868 it introduced gas-lighting, defraying the cost by entertainments, and in the same year
set up an infants' department. In 1871 the school
garden was enlarged by a grant of land from the rector.
A cricket club was started in 1866, a night school in
1868, and a scholars' bank in 1872. (fn. 54) By 1875 the
average attendance was 193. By 1865 the school was
receiving an annual government grant. (fn. 55) Additional
income came from school fees, local contributions, and,
in 1876, the levy of a voluntary rate. Teachers' salaries
had been improved. The headmaster, after long service at the school, was in 1879 receiving £155 a year,
with a house allowance of £20. In 1883 the mistress
and the assistant master each received £40 a year. The
educational standard also improved. (fn. 56)
As a result of the Education Act of 1870 a survey
was made of the accommodation in Loughton schools.
The National School was found to have places for 134
boys, 104 girls, and 42 infants, which, with the 104
places at the British School were declared by the
government to be sufficient for local needs. (fn. 57) The
continued increase of population, however, soon made
further accommodation necessary, and in 1878-9 the
government required the National School to provide
this, failing which a school board would be set up. This
led to a fierce controversy between Anglicans and nonconformists. In March 1879 the Anglicans convened a
parish meeting to authorize a voluntary rate for the
National School. The meeting does not appear to have
been widely publicized except among the Anglicans.
The nonconformists, suspecting that this had been
deliberately contrived in order to prevent their attendance and probable opposition to the rate, arrived at
the meeting in full force, led by C. H. Vivian, the
Baptist minister. After a heated debate the voluntary
rate was abandoned. (fn. 58) During 1879 £300 was raised
by subscription and by 1882 the school enlargement
fund stood at £400 out of an estimated £500 required. (fn. 59)
By 1886 the school had been extended to provide 342
places. (fn. 60) Even this, however, was insufficient for the
growing town, and in 1887 the government insisted
on the formation of a school board. In the same year
the managers of the National School transferred their
building to the board. When the Board School was
opened in 1888 the former National School was used
for girls and infants, the boys being accommodated in
the new school. In 1891 the infants were moved to a
new building in Staples Road, the girls remaining at
the old school. (fn. 61) In 1904 there were 240 girls, though
the accommodation was then estimated at only 210
places. (fn. 62) In 1907 the board resolved to build a new
girls' school in Staples Road. When this was completed in 1911 the former National School was apparently no longer used for educational purposes.
About 1938-9 it was demolished to provide a site for
Ashley Grove flats, which stand on the corner of York
Hill and Staples Road. (fn. 63)
The British School was established between 1839
and 1845. It may have originated in a Sunday school
which was being held by the Baptists in 1833 and
1839. (fn. 64) A mistress was in charge, apparently until
1865 when a master was appointed. He seems to have
done much to improve discipline, attendance, and
standards of work, winning the approval of the
inspector, Matthew Arnold. The latter reported in
1867 that 87 children had been presented for examination, that the average attendance for the year had been
69 and that the building and staff would need enlargement if the number of pupils continued to grow. (fn. 65)
There was some increase in attendance during the
next 20 years. (fn. 66) The government grant rose from £40
in 1872 to £62 in 1886. (fn. 67) In 1887 the managers
transferred the school to the new school board, which
closed the British School in 1888. (fn. 68) The building has
subsequently been used for a variety of industrial purposes. It is of red brick, single-storied, and has a slate
roof.
In 1887 the new school board built a school at the
east end of Staples Road, giving accommodation for
320 boys. The cost was about £6,000. In 1891 a
new infants' department was built beside the boys'
school, giving a total accommodation of about 540. (fn. 69)
In 1899 there was an average attendance of 169
infants and 197 boys. (fn. 70) The infants' department was
enlarged in 1906 to provide 360 places. (fn. 71) In 1911 a
girls' department was added to the Staples Road buildings, with accommodation for 316. (fn. 72) In that year
there was an average attendance of 231 boys, 231
infants, and 181 girls. (fn. 73) A former pupil, Mr. W. R.
Francies, has recently recorded that the headmaster at
this period, George Pearson, was a man of vivid
personality who left the school in 1913 to become one
of the earliest film producers. The then second master,
Herbert Lebbon, ran a string orchestra at the school,
and to encourage this Mr. (later Sir) Joseph Lowrey
present three violins to the School every year. (fn. 74)
In 1929 there was an average attendance of 213
boys, 152 infants, and 185 girls. In 1938 the school
was reorganized for mixed juniors and infants. (fn. 75) In
May 1952 there were 345 children and 8 teachers in
the infant school and 594 children and 16 teachers in
the junior school. (fn. 76) The buildings are chiefly of red
and yellow brick, with tiled roofs. Prefabricated huts
have been added recently.
Secondary education for boys was provided after
1902 by means of scholarships to Loughton school, a
private school then run by William Vincent (see
below). (fn. 77) Since 1938 Loughton boys have gone to
Buckhurst Hill County High School (see Chigwell).
Loughton County High School for girls was opened
in January 1906 in a house in York Hill. (fn. 78) There
were then 29 girls, under a headmistress and one
assistant mistress, and there was also a visiting science
master. In May 1908 the first part of the present building in Alderton Hill was opened, and in 1912 the
average attendance was 118. (fn. 79) Temporary buildings
were added in 1917. In 1922 a swimming-bath was
added and in 1923 the first part of a new permanent
wing was built. By 1929 there was accommodation
for 450 girls. (fn. 80) In 1930 a new assembly hall was built
and the final part of the new wing added. Playingfield space has been increased from time to time. There
are now (1954) approximately 550 pupils and the
staff, including the headmistress, numbers 30.
The Loughton County Secondary Modern School,
Roding Road, was opened as a senior school in 1938,
when it had places for 520. In 1949 huts were added
to provide a further 150 places. In May 1952 there
were 26 teachers and 485 pupils. (fn. 81)
As a result of the building of the Debden estate since
1945 there have been a number of new schools. The
educational programme is still (1953) incomplete. (fn. 82)
Fairmead County Secondary Modern School (Mixed),
Pyrles Lane, was opened in September 1949. In May
1952 there were 27 teachers and 977 pupils. Lucton
County Secondary Modern School (Mixed), Borders
Lane, was opened in June 1950. In May 1952 there
were 24 teachers and 501 pupils. St. Nicholas County
Primary School (Mixed Juniors and Infants), Borders
Lane, was opened in February 1948. In May 1952
there were 12 teachers and 428 pupils in the junior
school and 13 teachers and 445 pupils in the infant
school. Alderton County Primary School (Mixed
Juniors and Infants), Alderton Hall Lane, was opened
in September 1952. In November 1952 there were 11
teachers and 396 pupils in the junior school and
11 teachers and 355 pupils at the infant school. White
Bridge County Primary School (Mixed Juniors and
Infants), Greensted Road, was opened in September
1952. In November 1952 there were 7 teachers and
235 children in the junior school and 7 teachers and
278 children in the infant school. Pyrles Lane County
Primary School (Mixed Juniors and Infants) is regarded
by the Ministry of Education as part of Chingford
Forest View Camp School, which was opened in
January 1950. In January 1953 the school was
temporarily situated in Fairmead Secondary School.
Loughton Hall County Primary School (Infants),
Rectory Lane, is a temporary school, opened in May
1950. In May 1952 there were 7 teachers and 232
pupils.
There have been many private schools in Loughton.
In 1833-9 there seem to have been two private
boarding-schools, one or two middle-class day schools,
and three or more dame schools. (fn. 83) One of these may
have been the school at Algers House which was conducted by the curate, one Rogers. (fn. 84) Between about
1850 and about 1870 a school was run by the Misses
Brawn, daughters of Samuel Brawn, the Baptist
Minister. (fn. 85) Miss Fanny Hogard kept a girls' school in
1870-4. (fn. 86) In 1878 there was a school for boys kept
by J. C. Holloway. (fn. 87) This was known in 1886 as
Madras Hall and was 'a middle class school for the sons
of gentlemen'. (fn. 88) By 1890, as Madras House School,
it had been taken over by William Vincent, who
shortly afterwards acquired Loughton School, High
Road. (fn. 89)
Loughton School was opened in 1890 under the
name of St. John's College, Loughton. Unlike many
private schools it was specially built for its purpose.
The proprietor and headmaster was the Revd. W. L.
Wilson, of St. John's College, Cambridge. The school
was planned on ambitious lines. (fn. 90) The Bishop of St.
Albans was patron and there was a council which
included Col. Lockwood, M.P., of Bishops Hall in
Lambourne (q.v.). Among the subjects taught were
Latin, Greek, German, French, Science, and Bookkeeping. 'Many pupils take up commercial pursuits
and a large number join the ranks of the medical profession, some proceed to the universities, to the naval
service and the Indian Civil Service.' There were some
pupils from the continent. Soon after its foundation
the school was acquired by William Vincent, who
remained owner and headmaster until his retirement
in 1924. (fn. 91) The school has been recognized as efficient
by the Ministry of Education since 1907. There were
140 boys in 1924, 168 in 1952, and 190 in September
1953. There are seven forms, of which the first is for
boys of ages 7 to 10. Beside the headmaster there are
seven trained and qualified masters and one part-time
master. (fn. 92) Other private schools have existed for short
periods in Loughton. (fn. 93)