EDUCATION.
By will proved 1662 John
Bentley gave freehold and leasehold land adjoining Lincoln's Inn (Mdx.) to endow a new
free school for English to be taught; he did not
specify the location of the school. A newly built
house on the Green at Calne was bought and
the free school, intended to be for c. 30 boys,
was opened c. 1664. From 1677 the master was
paid c. £52 a year. In 1683 the commissioners
of charitable uses declared that, besides English,
the master might be required to teach the catechism, writing, arithmetic, and Latin. In 1690
the freehold land was sold, annuities were
bought, and the master's salary was increased
by c. £10. A dispute between Bentley's feoffees
and the later owners of the land was ended by
Act in 1741, and in 1743-4 £300 was invested
for the school. (fn. 66) In 1687 the master, James Webb,
during whose time as master the number of pupils
fell, was dismissed for negligence and misconduct. (fn. 67) Latin was added to the curriculum,
presumably soon after 1687, and Sir Francis
Bridgeman (d. 1717) gave two exhibitions at the
Queen's College, Oxford, for pupils at Bentley's
school; in 1734 seven additional places were provided at the school for boys who were to study
classical subjects as candidates for the exhibitions. The exhibitions were last awarded c. 1804,
and the number of boys attending the school fell
from c. 80 in 1805 to 33 in 1834. Neither Latin
nor Greek was taught in 1834, when the master
was paid £50, most of the boys were from poor
families, and the buildings of the school were in
poor repair. From 1836 fees were paid for attendance, and in 1842 the house built shortly before
c. 1664 was demolished and a new school was
built on its site. (fn. 68) In 1858 the school had 50-60
pupils and was described as thoroughly successful, (fn. 69) but in 1891, when it was attended by the
sons of tradesmen, farmers, and artisans and the
education provided was more commercial and
technical than classical, attendance was only c.
20. In 1901 Bentley's school was amalgamated
with Calne technical school as a school of science
for boys aged 9-17; the new school was called
Calne county school, later Calne county secondary school. Girls were admitted from 1903 and
accommodated until 1909 in the former silk mill
and orphanage on the north-east side of the
Green. In 1908-9 new buildings for the school
were erected, using those built for Bentley's
school in 1842 as a nucleus. (fn. 70) The county secondary school was later called the Bentley
grammar school, and in 1957, with places for 360
boys and girls, it moved to a new building in the
angle of the London and Melksham roads. In
1974 the grammar school was merged with the
Fynemore school, which had buildings in Silver
Street, as the John Bentley comprehensive
school, later the John Bentley school. The school
used both sites until 1998, when the buildings in
Silver Street were given up and, in the angle of
the London and Melksham roads, new buildings
were erected and existing ones improved. (fn. 71) In
1999 the John Bentley school had on its roll
1,128 pupils aged between 11 and 19. (fn. 72) In 1904
Calne county school received £50 from John
Bentley's endowment. (fn. 73) By a Scheme of 1977 the
income from that and other educational charities
was used for scholarships for, and to provide
other help to, pupils at the John Bentley
school; (fn. 74) in the 1990s it was used to pay for
prizes and to help with expenses such as buying
uniform. (fn. 75)
Calne technical school was built on the south
side of the Green in 1894. It was paid for by
voluntary contributions and grants by the local
authorities and was to provide instruction to
adults and children from the parishes in Calne
poor-law union. In 1901 it was amalgamated
with Bentley's school. (fn. 76)
In 1930 Wiltshire county council built a new
school in Silver Street. It was for children aged
11 and over and, when it opened in 1930, it had
216 on its roll. It became a secondary modern
school, was enlarged in 1940 and 1963, and was
called Fynemore school from 1964. It had 613
on its roll in 1963. Fynemore school was
merged with the Bentley grammar school in
1974; (fn. 77) its buildings were demolished in the late
1990s.
Walter Fynemore (d. 1557), the lord of
Whetham manor, gave a rent charge of £2 to
provide a teacher for 10 poor children. (fn. 78)
Schoolmasters taught at Calne in the later 16th
century and earlier 17th, (fn. 79) a free school was
held, and the master of the free school received
the income from a small endowment and evidently the £2. (fn. 80) In the mid 18th century and
early 19th schoolmasters were appointed by
Fynemore's representatives, and in the early
19th century there was a school said to have
been founded by Sir John Ernle, either of two
owners of Whetham manor in the 17th century,
as one for five boys. The school failed c. 1829. (fn. 81)
By will proved 1670 William Woodroffe gave
50s. a year to pay for five boys born in Calne
borough to be taught freely. In the late 1820s
the boys were taught in a poorly managed
school in a former malthouse in Church Street.
That school was also closed c. 1829. (fn. 82) The two
charity schools were superseded by a National
school for boys built on, and near the southwest corner of, the Green in 1828-9. (fn. 83) The
National school was presumably the school
with 170 pupils said in 1834 to be a British
school. (fn. 84) It had 115 pupils in 1846-7, (fn. 85) and 80-
90 in 1858, when its buildings were described
as very good and the teaching as highly satisfactory. (fn. 86) Average attendance had risen to 155 by
1876 (fn. 87) and was 120 in 1906. (fn. 88) Numbers fell in the
1920s, and in 1930 the school was amalgamated
with the National girls' school as Calne junior
school. Average attendance at the combined
school was 145 in 1936. (fn. 89) In 1968-9 it was replaced by two new primary schools, St. Dunstan
in the north part of the town and Priestley in
the east part. In 1999 St. Dunstan school had
on its roll 267 children aged 7-11, Priestley 253
aged 5-11. (fn. 90) From c. 1829 to 1900 the National
school for boys received the income from
Fynemore's and Woodroffe's endowments; thereafter the money was used to provide a
scholarship at Calne county school (fn. 91) and from
1977 was used with John Bentley's endowment. (fn. 92)
In the earlier 17th century Robert Foreman
(d. 1646) allowed the rent from 1½ a. at Studley
to replace a gift to Calne of 20 nobles made by
his father. The rent was used to maintain a free
school at Calne, presumably that attended by
the children paid for by Fynemore's charity,
and was confirmed to the school by Robert's
will. The use of the rent from the land for education evidently lapsed before 1814. Thereafter
£2 a year was paid to a mistress to teach four
girls; (fn. 93) it is unlikely that the teaching was in a
separate school. A National school for girls was
built on the Green, between the boys' school
and Bentley's school, between 1828 and 1833.
It had 96 pupils in 1833, (fn. 94) 124 in 1846-7, (fn. 95) and
usually 70-80 in the later 19th century. (fn. 96) Average attendance was 97 in 1910, usually c. 80 in
the 1920s. In 1930 the school was merged with
the National boys' school. (fn. 97) From c. 1833 to
1866 the girls' school received the income from
Foreman's charity, which was afterwards used
to provide a scholarship at the Bentley school. (fn. 98)
A National school for infants was built in
Mill Street in 1835. (fn. 99) It had 120 pupils in 1846-
7, (fn. 1)
c. 100 in 1858, (fn. 2) 74 in 1876, (fn. 3) 56 in 1903, (fn. 4) and
60 in 1927. The school was closed in 1930, and
the pupils were presumably transferred to
Guthrie school. (fn. 5)
In 1868 British schools, later called Calne
Marden school, were opened in rooms adjoining Calne Free Church. (fn. 6) There was a mixed
school and an infants' school. (fn. 7) Average attendance at the two schools was 153 in 1876, (fn. 8) and
the schools had c. 200 pupils in 1910 and c. 175
in 1919. In 1922 the infants' school was closed
and the pupils were transferred to the school in
Mill Street. The mixed school had c. 70 pupils
in 1927. It was closed in 1930 and the pupils
were transferred to the new school in Silver
Street and to Calne junior school. (fn. 9)
Guthrie school was built off Wood Street in
1854 and affiliated to the National society. (fn. 10) It
had a classroom for older children and another
for infants, had 80-90 pupils in 1858, and was
described as Guthrie juvenile school. A new
classroom was built in 1889, and the school was
again enlarged in 1903. From 1897 it was for
girls and infants, (fn. 11) and in 1906-7 the average
attendance was 113. In 1930 Guthrie school
became an infants' school and the older children
were presumably transferred to the new school
in Silver Street and to Calne junior school. In
1936 average attendance was 85. (fn. 12) In 1959 additional classrooms were built in Bryans Close
Road, and in 1964 the whole school moved to a
new building in the north part of the town. (fn. 13) In
1999 Guthrie school had 189 children aged 5-7
on its roll. (fn. 14)
St. Edmund's school, a Roman Catholic primary school, was built in the north part of the
town in 1971. (fn. 15) In 1999 it had on its roll 203
children aged 5-11. (fn. 16)
St. Mary's school, a day and boarding school
for girls of the middle classes, was opened in
1873, principally at the instigation of John
Duncan, vicar of Calne. (fn. 17) It occupied a house
on the north part of the Green, was held partly
in the east end of the church, and from 1890 or
earlier also occupied two houses adjoining that
on the Green. In 1880 the school bought the
house which it had occupied since 1873, and
between 1880 and 1900 it received several endowments. In 1881 Ellinor Gabriel, a benefactor
of the school and its first manager, gave the income from £1,000 to provide scholarships at
the school. In 1905, when the income from its
endowments was £92, the school had 24 day
girls and 10 boarders; 20 of the girls were aged
between 10 and 15. (fn. 18) In 1908 St. Mary's school
moved to a house off the north side of Curzon
Street. A villa off the west side of North Street
was bought in 1916, and between 1918 and
1921 land and other buildings near the school
were bought. In 1923 there were 78 pupils. (fn. 19)
The school continued to grow: new buildings
were erected in the 1920s and 1930s, the union
workhouse and 11½ a. were bought in 1934, and
the isolation hospital north-west of the workhouse was bought c. 1938. The workhouse was
demolished, c. 1945 the hospital was converted
for a junior department, St. Margaret's school,
and c. 1946 Northfield House (no. 5 Curzon
Street, later St. Cecilia's), a lunatic asylum in
the mid 19th century, was bought. There was
much new building from the 1950s, a large
boarding house was built in 1966-7, a chapel,
designed by Sampson Lloyd, was built in 1972,
and a theatre was built in 1990. St. Mary's
school had 240 pupils c. 1970. (fn. 20) In 1999 it had
300 pupils aged between 11 and 18, and St.
Margaret's school was then a co-educational
junior department with 120 pupils aged 4-11. (fn. 21)
Other schools in Calne included three conducted on Dr. Bell's plan: one for boys and one
for girls were opened shortly before 1812, (fn. 22) and
a third was open in 1818 when the three had c.
250 pupils. (fn. 23) They were presumably closed
when the National schools on the Green were
opened. (fn. 24) From 1849 a house in Curzon Street
was used as a school in which girls were trained
for domestic service. Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice,
marquess of Lansdowne (d. 1863), bequeathed
£1,000 to the school; £200 was spent on repairs
to the building, and in 1868 or 1869 the rest
was used to buy the building or invested. In
1868 the school was attended by 16 girls, each
of whom stayed for a year. It was closed in
1883. The building was sold in 1884 and the
proceeds were invested to provide training for
girls elsewhere; 11 girls from Calne and 8 others
were assisted between 1883 and 1904. (fn. 25) Small
private schools, for boys and girls, day and
boarding, were kept in the town from the late
18th century to the 20th. A boarding school for
boys open in 1842 (fn. 26) and 1858, or a boys' school
with 15 pupils in 1858, may have been the
school held from 1844 or earlier to 1869 or
earlier in a former factory in Silver Street. Five
private schools for girls had c. 85 pupils in
1858. (fn. 27) In 1983 the Grange, a large house on the
north side of the Bristol road, was opened by
Wiltshire county council as Springfields school,
a residential school for maladjusted boys aged
over 11; in 2000 Springfields special school
was attended by 54 boys aged 10-17. (fn. 28) From
1971 and in 1999 the buildings erected on the
Green in 1908-9 for Calne county school were
used for further education classes held by
Chippenham college. (fn. 29)
Cowage school was held in a farmhouse, presumably the principal house on the Cowage
estate, from 1773 to 1781 or later. In its first
year it was attended by 10 girls and 2 boys
nominated by William Petty, earl of Shelburne,
and probably living in Bowood liberty. A mistress taught the children to read and to knit. (fn. 30)
The children living in the liberty later attended
a school built at Buck Hill in 1814. (fn. 31)
At Derry Hill a National school and schoolhouse was built east of the church in 1843 and
was later enlarged. (fn. 32) Before 1843 children living
there attended the school at Buck Hill. (fn. 33) The
school at Derry Hill was attended by 26 boys
and 25 girls in 1846-7 (fn. 34) and had 80-100 pupils
in 1859. Although in 1859 the schoolroom was
described as large, well lit, and well ventilated, (fn. 35)
in 1870 it was found to be inadequate. It was
later a reading room. A new school, and a
teacher's house partly converted from an existing building, were built west of the church in
1872. Average attendance was 115-20 in 1888 (fn. 36)
and 152 in 1906. (fn. 37) It declined in the 1920s and
1930s, perhaps partly because older children
were sent to school in Calne, and was 57 in
1936. (fn. 38) It increased in the later 20th century,
partly because of the new housing built in the
village, and in 1999 Derry Hill school had on its
roll 211 children aged 5-11. (fn. 39)
At Quemerford in 1858 there was a dame
school attended by 20-30 children. (fn. 40) In 1867 a
Church of England school, Holy Trinity, incorporating a teacher's house, was built on a site
immediately south of the church built in 1852-
3. (fn. 41) Average attendance was 73 in 1876, (fn. 42) 114 in
1906, (fn. 43) and 95 in 1936. (fn. 44) The school was later
enlarged and in 1999 had on its roll 209 children
aged 5-11. (fn. 45) The teacher's house was sold in
1979 and the proceeds invested; the income from
the investment, £600 in 1996, was used to help
the education of children in Calne ecclesiastical
parish. (fn. 46)
At both Sandy Lane and Studley there was a
dame school in 1858. That at Sandy Lane had
20-30 pupils, that at Studley 10-15. (fn. 47) In the
1830s children from both villages attended
Buck Hill school; (fn. 48) later they presumably attended Derry Hill school.
At Stockley a school was built in 1855 or
1856 at the expense of John Guthrie, vicar of
Calne; a teacher's house was added, probably in
1858. The school had 30-40 pupils in 1858. (fn. 49) In
1870 the vicar, John Duncan, said that it was
doing more harm than good and, with the approval of the government, closed it. The children
were transferred to Holy Trinity and Heddington schools. (fn. 50)