The chief factor influencing the history of popular
education in Cambridge has been the existence of
the 'Old Schools'. Their foundation in 1704 under
the inspiration of William Whiston, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, and their history in the 18th
century have been described elsewhere. (fn. 2) Until the
early 19th century the Old Schools consisted of
between eight and eighteen dame schools which,
although originally intended to be each attached to
one or two parishes, were open free of charge to all
poor children of the Borough. During the 19th
century the Old Schools trust adopted the policy of
supporting Church of England parish schools of the
conventional type instead of maintaining dame
schools. (fn. 3) In consequence the number of church
schools in Cambridge was large and later in the
century they were joined by Church higher-grade
schools for the Borough as a whole, also managed by
the Old Schools trust. Because of this no school
board was formed for Cambridge, and it was not
until 1905 that the first council schools were opened
in the Borough, which had become responsible for
elementary education under the Education Act of
1902. Although the number of Church of England
schools in the old Borough—all of which eventually
came under the management of the governors of the
Old Schools—has declined in the 20th century, the
supply of council schools has naturally been restricted by their existence, and a large proportion of
the council schools built have been on the outskirts
of the town.
The arrangement of this account of the public
elementary and secondary schools of Cambridge is
as follows: (1) Church of England schools in the
Borough as it was constituted before 1912. (2) Other
voluntary schools in the old Borough. (3) Voluntary
schools outside the old Borough, i.e. in areas added
to the Borough in 1912 and after. (4) Council (later
county primary) schools. (5) Secondary schools.
Church of England schools in the old Borough.
In 1808, after a public meeting
in the town addressed by Joseph Lancaster, a
monitorial school was opened in the Friends' meeting-house in Jesus Lane. It was for boys only and
had an attendance of 236 at its opening; fees of 1½d.
were charged to those who could afford them. In
1810 the school moved to a new building on the
corner of Pound Hill and Honey Hill and in 1813
it was united to the National Society. (fn. 4) It later came
to be called St. Peter's school, Castle End. In 1813
its managers entered into an arrangement with
the governors of the Old Schools by which it received £30 a year from them in return for taking
without charge all the boys from the dame schools
maintained by the governors. Until the opening of
the Barnwell National school in 1836, when this
subscription was reduced to £15, this was the only
boys' poor school in Cambridge. Fees were reintroduced in 1820. (fn. 5) St. Peter's remained a boys' school,
with an attendance of about 150 in 1870 (fn. 6) and 120
in 1911. (fn. 7) From 1918 until it was closed in 1924 it
took the girls from St. Giles's as well. (fn. 8)
In 1815 the governors of the Old Schools, who
already supported the boys' National school, replaced their scattered dame schools for girls by a
National school for girls in King Street. (fn. 9) The
building comprised one room. (fn. 10) The school was free
until 1820 when fees of 1s. a quarter were imposed.
In 1826 the governors of the Old Schools decided to
establish infant schools, and one was opened in a new
room added to the King Street school. (fn. 11) A boys' department was added in 1856, (fn. 12) and there were about
200 children in the whole school in 1870. (fn. 13) A new
infants' department was opened in 1874, (fn. 14) and in
1871 the boys' department became a higher-grade
school. (fn. 15) This closed in 1905 and its accommodation
was taken over by the girls' and infants' school, (fn. 16)
which contained about 150 children in 1911. (fn. 17) The
school was closed in 1929.
The governors of the Old Schools opened another
infant school in 1826. (fn. 18) This was in Pound Hill and
became part of the St. Giles's parish schools. (fn. 19) The
next part of the St. Giles's schools to be established
was a girls' school held in a former Methodist chapel
nearby on the corner of Honey Hill. (fn. 20) It was opened
in 1845 (fn. 21) and was being maintained by the curate in
1861. (fn. 22) In 1866 it was enlarged and taken over by
the Old Schools. (fn. 23) This school, together with the
1826 school, continued to be for girls and infants
only until 1918, when the girls were transferred to
the St. Peter's school across the road, which also
took the boys of the neighbourhood. (fn. 24) The older
children were removed to St. Luke's school in 1921.
St. Giles's school closed in 1938. It contained about
230 children in 1870 and 220 in 1911. (fn. 25)
A third infant school was opened in 1826 in New
Town. The governors of the Old Schools took it
over two years later. (fn. 26) It was in Union Road and by
1844 was being used as a boys' school, while a girls'
school for the district was held in St. Paul's chapel,
and the infants were taught in cottages. The infants
moved back to the original building when the St.
Paul's boys' and girls' schools were built in Russell
Street in 1845 as part of the Old Schools foundation. (fn. 27)
The Union Road school was rebuilt a few years
later and the Russell Street school was enlarged
about 1867 and 1895. The boys' and infants' schools
were very highly praised by H.M. Inspector in 1853. (fn. 28)
In 1870 there were about 400 children in the school,
and in 1911 about 150 children in the infants'
school and 330 in the boys' and girls'. (fn. 29) The Union
Road school was closed in 1932, while the Russell
Street school had been restricted to a single junior
department a few years earlier. It contained about
170 children in 1948. (fn. 30)
In 1836 National schools for boys, girls, and
infants were opened in Barnwell by the Old Schools.
They comprised the first boys' school actually
managed by the Old Schools, since the Castle End
school was still independent at this time. The Barnwell schools, in School House Lane, East Road, were
enlarged almost immediately to comprise three
schoolrooms and three classrooms. This was more
than any of the other buildings of the Old Schools.
Their establishment exhausted the funded property
of the Old Schools trust which was thereafter more
dependent upon appeals and subscriptions. (fn. 31) A new
boys' school was built about 1869 and the other two
departments were rebuilt about twenty years later. (fn. 32)
The boys' school was occupied by the army in the
First World War but restored to use afterwards. During the twenties the school was gradually changed
into a senior one by the removal of the younger
children and the transference here of the seniors
from other Church schools. Alterations were made
to the buildings and practical workrooms were
added, while the school's name was changed to St.
George's Senior Church of England School. Under
the 1944 Education Act it became a secondary
modern school. In 1870 there were about 320 children in the school, in 1911 about 640, and in 1948
about 200. (fn. 33)
The Barnwell Abbey National schools were opened
in 1859 for girls and infants only. (fn. 34) The original
girls' department later took boys too. The school
was managed independently of the Old Schools until
1904. (fn. 35) It was enlarged about 1894, but was still overcrowded in the early years of the 20th century, with
about 250 children in the school in 1911. (fn. 36) Attendance dropped later, and after being for some years
exclusively an infants' school it was closed in 1933.
The building is now the Mansfield Hall.
The first school in St. Matthew's parish appears to
have been an infants' school in Norfolk Street which
was built in 1871 as a Sunday school and was probably opened as a day school in or before 1875. It and
the later schools of the parish belonged to the Old
Schools trust. (fn. 37) Another school was opened in
Sturton Street in 1878, (fn. 38) and a boys' school in York
Street was opened about 1885. (fn. 39) The Sturton Street
school was then used for infants only. In 1887 the
last addition to the parish schools was made when a
girls' school was added to the Norfolk Street infants'
school. (fn. 40) In 1911 there were about 170 boys at York
Street, 110 infants at Sturton Street, and 130 girls
and 150 infants at Norfolk Street. (fn. 41) The Sturton
Street school was closed in 1922 and in 1933 the
Norfolk Street infants' school was converted to a hall
and play-centre for the former girls' school, which
became the infants' school. The York Street building at the same time became a junior school. There
were about 110 children in each of the two remaining
schools in 1948. (fn. 42)
A Church of England school in Newnham was
opened by the Old Schools in 1872. It comprised a
schoolroom with a classroom for infants. (fn. 43) In 1914
the older children, and in 1915 the infants, were
removed to the new Newnham Croft council school, (fn. 44)
leaving the Newnham Church school for juniors
only. It was closed in 1925 when its attendance had
dropped to about 50 from about 150 in 1911. (fn. 45)
The Wellington Street Church school was opened
between 1875 and 1877, (fn. 46) and closed in 1903. There
were about 60 infants attending it in the year it
closed. (fn. 47)
The Old Schools opened a new Church school in
Occupation Road in 1877. It consisted of a schoolroom and classroom and after 1879 was used for
infants only. (fn. 48) Until 1896 the older children were
taught in a workmen's hall in the same street. The
school was overcrowded in 1911 with about 110
children in attendance. It was closed in 1925 after
the premises had been severely criticized by the
Board of Education for many years. It was thereafter
used as a church hall. (fn. 49)
The Old Schools also opened a girls' and infants'
school in Park Street in 1877. It had two schoolrooms and a classroom, (fn. 50) and was a higher-grade
school (fn. 51) from 1896 to 1928, when the senior children
were removed, leaving it as a juniors' and infants'
school. There were about 140 children in the school
in 1880 and 200 in 1948. (fn. 52)
St. Barnabas Church school in St. Barnabas
Road, just off Mill Road, was opened by the Old
Schools in 1877, before the church itself was built.
It comprised a schoolroom and classroom, and was
for girls and infants only. (fn. 53) A hall in Covent Garden
was used for the infants from 1908 to 1925 to relieve
overcrowding. In 1925 the school was restricted to
juniors and infants, and by 1953 was for infants
only. (fn. 54) There were about 100 children in the school
in 1880, 200 in 1911, and 60 in 1948. (fn. 55)
In 1886 a school in Romsey Town was opened by
the Old Schools in connexion with St. Barnabas
church. It was in Catharine Street and later became
St. Philip's Church school. It was also for girls and
infants and originally had only one schoolroom; it
was enlarged in 1887, 1888, and 1894. Another school
for St. Philip's was opened in 1894 in Ross Street,
and this took boys only. It was enlarged in 1898. (fn. 56)
The schools became overcrowded and, after some
controversy about the adequacy of the voluntary
schools, the Romsey council school (fn. 57) was opened
in 1904. St. Philip's school remained too full, with
about 870 children in 1911, and after further controversy the Catharine Street school was enlarged in
1912–13. In 1937 the senior children were moved to
the Coleridge council school, (fn. 58) and in 1948 there
were about 430 children at St. Philip's. (fn. 59)
A church industrial school was opened in Victoria Road about 1848. It was apparently unconnected with the Old Schools and was closed in 1893. (fn. 60)
The activity of the Old Schools trust in the 19th
century is shown by the fact that it maintained
several higher-grade schools, which were more often
provided elsewhere only by school boards. Small
fees were charged in these schools until 1918. The
first was opened in 1871 when the boys' department
of the King Street school was made into a highergrade school. (fn. 61) It was apparently enlarged in 1884
and was closed in 1905, when the premises were
taken over by the ordinary King Street school. (fn. 62)
There were about 130 boys in attendance in 1890. (fn. 63)
A girls' higher-grade school was opened in Eden
Street in 1875 or 1876. (fn. 64) Neighbouring buildings
were used in the early 20th century to relieve the
congestion in the school, which closed in 1913 on the
opening of the first council higher-grade school. (fn. 65)
The building later became a council domestic science
and handicrafts centre. There were 100 girls in the
school in 1880 and about 250 in 1911. A second boys'
higher-grade school was opened about 1884 in a
Sunday school building in Paradise Street, which had
been built in 1866. (fn. 66) There were about 320 boys
there in 1911. This school also closed when the
council higher-grade school opened in 1913. (fn. 67) The
last higher-grade school opened by the Old Schools
trust was a second one for girls, which was opened
in 1896 in the former Park Street elementary Church
school. (fn. 68) There were 130 girls in the school in 1911.
It apparently remained a higher-grade school until
1928. (fn. 69)
Other Voluntary Schools in the old Borough.
Cambridge British school was
opened in Fitzroy Street in 1840. (fn. 70) By 1847 it took
boys, girls, and infants, and there were about 450
pupils in 1870. (fn. 71) The school was rebuilt for about
700 children in Brunswick Terrace in 1900 and was
transferred to the local authority as the first council
school in the Borough in 1905. (fn. 72)
The Roman Catholic school in Union Road was
opened in 1843. It was held in a building then about
40 years old, and consisted of one schoolroom only
8 ft. high. The school seems to have been in rather
a precarious condition for some years, and there
were only about 30 pupils in 1863. (fn. 73) It was rebuilt in
1867–8 and the attendance grew steadily from about
50 in 1870 (fn. 74) to about 90 in 1911, and continued to
expand in the 20th century. The school was enlarged in 1894–5, and thoroughly reconstructed and
enlarged again in 1936, when its name was changed
to St. Andrew's R.C. school. (fn. 75) In 1866 it was the
only Roman Catholic poor school in the county;
there was one other, at Wisbech, in 1956. (fn. 76)
An undenominational ragged school was opened
in New Street about 1854. (fn. 77) It comprised two schoolrooms and four classrooms, and, although it was a
ragged school, fees of 1d.–2d. were charged. It received government grants from 1886 (fn. 78) and in 1901
was taken over as a practising school by Homerton
College, who also built a new infants' school on the
site. (fn. 79) The infants' department became a council
school in 1912 and the remainder in 1915. There
were about 370 children in attendance in 1911. (fn. 80)
A ragged school was being held in the Zion Baptist chapel, East Road, in 1850. (fn. 81)
Voluntary Schools outside the old Borough.
Chesterton, Cherry Hinton,
and Trumpington, which have been brought
within the Borough in the 20th century, all had
voluntary schools before that time. The early history
of these schools belongs to the histories of the
respective ancient parishes, which are reserved for
another volume, but something must be said here
about their modern history.
Trumpington school was founded in the late 17th
century and became a National school in the 19th.
It was enlarged several times in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries and had about 130 children in
attendance in 1911. (fn. 82) The senior children were removed to St. George's in 1934. The school, which
then had about 230 places, was overcrowded after
the Second World War and room for 60 more
children was provided in the Free Church hall. The
opening of the Fawcett council school in 1949 left
only about 30 children at the old village school,
which was closed in 1950. The building was thereafter used for a Sunday school and other purposes.
Chesterton National school, later known as St.
Andrew's, was opened in Chesterton High Street in
1844 and enlarged several times later in the century.
It contained about 370 children in 1911. (fn. 83) From
1932 it was restricted to juniors only.
St. Luke's Church school in West Chesterton was
opened in 1874 in two separate buildings in Victoria
Road, one for infants and one for the older children. (fn. 84)
A third school, on the other side of the road, was
built in 1882. In 1921–2, after Chesterton had been
taken into the Borough, the seniors from St. Giles's
and St. Peter's schools at Castle End were transferred to St. Luke's, which was in its turn restricted
to juniors and infants in 1939. There were about
730 children at St. Luke's in 1911, and 270 in 1948. (fn. 85)
St. Augustine's Church school in Richmond
Road was opened in 1898. It was for infants only
and consisted of a schoolroom and classroom. It was
closed in 1903 but was later reopened as a council
school. (fn. 86)
Cherry Hinton National school in the High Street
was founded about 1832 and enlarged later in the
century. It contained about 200 children in 1911. (fn. 87)
The buildings were apparently unsatisfactory for
many years until they were reconstructed in 1937–8.
The senior children were removed to the new
Coleridge council school at about the same time.
From 1939 to 1942 part of the building was used as
an A.R.P. centre and about 40 children were taught
in the parish hall. The school became 'controlled'
in 1952.
An infants' school attached to St. John's church,
Cherry Hinton, was opened about 1897. It was
closed in 1903, when there were about 50 children
in attendance. (fn. 88)
The Morley Memorial school in Blinco Grove was
opened in 1900 as a practising school for Homerton
College. It did not take infants because St. John's
infants' school was close by. The Morley school was
undenominational; (fn. 89) there were about 210 children
in attendance in 1905 when it was transferred to the
county council. (fn. 90)
Council Elementary Schools. (fn. 91)
The
first council school in Cambridge was the former
British school (fn. 92) in Brunswick Terrace, which was
transferred to the Borough education committee in
May 1905 as the Brunswick council school. (fn. 93) There
were about 650 children in attendance in 1911. (fn. 94)
By 1922 the building was slipping northwards
dangerously and the boys were moved into the old
British school building in Fitzroy Street and the
girls into the former Paradise Street Church school. (fn. 95)
The infants' department continued to be used, as it
was in a safer, single-story building. In 1929 a new
building to take about 1,000 children was opened
in Walnut Tree Avenue. From 1935 it took only
juniors and infants. (fn. 96)
The first newly built council school in Cambridge
was opened in 1905 a few months after the Brunswick school was transferred. This was the Romsey
council school, (fn. 97) which was designed to relieve the
congestion in the St. Philip's schools. (fn. 98) It contained
415 children in 1911. (fn. 99) The infants were removed to
the Sedley council school in 1933 and the seniors to
the Coleridge council school a few years later.
The infants' department of the New Street undenominational school was transferred to the council
in 1912, and the remainder of the school was transferred three years later. The departments were
separate schools until reunited as one junior and
infant department in 1931; the juniors were removed to the Brunswick school in 1935, and the
school was closed altogether in 1938 when only
about 50 infants remained there. Part of the building
became an infant welfare centre. (fn. 100)
In 1912 the enlargement of the Borough brought
three schools opened by the county council under
the control of the borough education committee. (fn. 101)
One of these was the Morley Memorial council
school in Blinco Grove, which had formerly been
a voluntary undenominational school. (fn. 102) It contained
about 310 children in 1911. (fn. 103) Its buildings were
altered in the thirties and the senior children were
removed, leaving room for about 520 juniors and
infants. Another school which came into the Borough
in 1912 was the Richmond Road council school
which had been opened in 1909 in the buildings of
the former St. Augustine's Church school. (fn. 104) It contained about 35 infants in 1911, and in 1953 was still
used for infants only. (fn. 105) The third school was a
higher-grade school in Milton Road, Chesterton,
which had been opened by the county council in
1908 to provide for children hitherto attending
schools inside the Borough. (fn. 106) It had about 440 pupils,
including infants, in 1911. It later ceased to be a
higher-grade school and after enlargement in 1936–7
was restricted to juniors and infants. (fn. 107)
The Borough Council opened its own highergrade school in 1913 just after the Milton Road
school was taken over. This was in Melbourne Place
and provided for about 820 boys and girls. Two of
the three remaining Church higher-grade schools
closed when it was opened. As in other higher-grade
schools small fees were charged until 1918: at
Melbourne Place these were between 6d. and 9d.
a week. It was called the Central council school from
1919 and became a senior elementary school. (fn. 108) By 1953
it was used as the technical central school for girls. (fn. 109)
Newnham Croft council school in Grantchester
Street was opened in 1915 to take 120 children. (fn. 110)
At first it was for infants only and took all those who
had attended the Newnham Church school, but later
that school was closed and the council school took
juniors as well.
Two infants' schools for about 220 children each
were opened in 1932. One of these was the Sedley
council school in Malta Road, (fn. 111) which was named
after Sedley Taylor, who initiated the dental inspection and treatment of school-children in England
at Cambridge in 1907. (fn. 112) The other was the Shirley
council school in Green End Road. When they
opened, the infants' departments of St. Paul's and
Chesterton Church schools were closed. The Shirley
school had become overcrowded by 1937 and two
more classrooms were added to it. (fn. 113)
Two new senior schools, built in the thirties, are
now secondary modern schools. The Chesterton
council school in Gilbert Road was opened in 1935.
It provided for 640 boys and girls and took the
seniors from several schools in that part of the town.
The Coleridge senior council school in Radegund
Road was slightly larger and was opened in 1937. (fn. 114)
Since the Second World War new housing estates
in Trumpington and near the Newmarket Road
have made new primary schools necessary. The
Fawcett county school in Alpha Terrace was opened
in 1949 to relieve the congestion in the Trumpington
Church school, which in fact was closed soon after.
The new school at first provided for 320 juniors, and
places for 190 infants were added in the following
year. The Priory county school in Galfrid Road
was opened in 1951 and when completed took 520
juniors and infants. (fn. 115)
Secondary Schools.
The principal public
secondary school for Cambridge, and the only one
until the 20th century, was the Perse School. Its
history is described elsewhere. (fn. 116) The higher-grade
schools were designed to provide some slightly
higher education for poor children than was available in the ordinary elementary schools. The Cambridge and County High Schools were founded by
the county council in 1900, and were county grammar schools in 1953. The boys' school building in
Hills Road was erected in 1903. The girls' school
was built in Collier Road in 1908, and by 1953 had
moved to Long Road. (fn. 117)
Under the 1944 Education Act the existing senior
elementary schools became secondary modern
schools. There were three of these, the Chesterton
and Coleridge county schools in the north and southwest, and the St. George's Church of England school
in Barnwell. (fn. 118) The technical secondary schools contemplated in the 1944 Act are also represented by
the Technical Central Schools for boys and girls in
Parkside and Melbourne Place. (fn. 119)