Churchill and Sarsden Oxfordshire
The Old Village Schools
Lower School
Churchill enjoyed more school provision than many villages of a similar size. Clearly it was a well-educated community! The original bequest that made this possible was in the will of Anne Walter of Sarsden House. She was the daughter of William Walter who rebuilt the house after the fire of 1689. When she died in 1716 her will made two important provisions.
If she had "come to to any untimely death of what nature or kind whatsoever through the malice or ill design of any person or persons whatsoever", £600 was to be used to bring the criminal to justice. However, if she died a natural death, the same £600 was to be used to for the "education of poor girls under the age of twenty years....born in the parishes of Sarsden and Churchill".
If she had "come to to any untimely death of what nature or kind whatsoever through the malice or ill design of any person or persons whatsoever", £600 was to be used to bring the criminal to justice. However, if she died a natural death, the same £600 was to be used to for the "education of poor girls under the age of twenty years....born in the parishes of Sarsden and Churchill".
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Fortunately the latter circumstances prevailed and today there are two buildings that are recognisable as previously being schoolhouses. One is on Sarsden Road, the site of Anne Walter's school and where the plaque (right) was mounted. The other is on the corner of Church Road and Junction Road. The plaque, currently housed in the Heritage Centre, records Anne Walter's bequest. |
 Plaque commemorating the Anne Walter bequest |
The Top or Old School
The Lower School in Sarsden Road is the original school site, as indicated on a map of 1766, kept in the Heritage Centre. The other old school buildings - the Top School - are nineteenth century developments but unfortunately dates are not precise. Closure dates are more accurate. Church records confirm that the Lower School was closed in 1947 and the Top School in 1981. All the school buildings are now private residences.
School Bell at the Lower School
The Bell at the Lower School
After Lower School House ceased to be a school in the late 1940s, the original school bell was mislaid. It has now been replaced by a bell from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London. This foundry is Britain's oldest manufacturing company, having been established in 1570 (during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I) and being in continuous business since that date. One of the most familiar bells in the world, Big Ben, is the biggest bell ever cast at Whitechapel and another famous bell, the Liberty Bell - which is on permanent display in Philadelphia USA - was cast at Whitechapel over 250 years ago.
While the present bell may no longer encourage reluctant pupils to hurry to their lessons, it reminds us of the time when Churchill had its own school, thanks in part to the initial benevolence of Anne Walter.
While the present bell may no longer encourage reluctant pupils to hurry to their lessons, it reminds us of the time when Churchill had its own school, thanks in part to the initial benevolence of Anne Walter.
Headteachers of Churchill School in the Twentieth Century
Conditions in school were not always perfect.
In January 1939 the headteacher's logbook records deep snow but little coal and no water – not surprisingly only fourteen pupils turned up. In October 1940 the logbook records there being no stove in the infant department, necessitating oil heaters being borrowed. That same month the school had to close for two weeks because of an outbreak of scarlet fever. In February 1941 there was no wood to light the fires so there were none. Extra PE lessons were instituted to help keep the pupils warm.
In January 1947, in one of the coldest winters ever, the headteacher records the temperature in the school being 23 degrees fahrenheit (minus five celsius) and one boy "collapsed and fell, remaining unconscious for more than five minutes." He was the lucky one - he was taken home. On another day the Head recorded minus nine celsius. On some days that winter no children attended at all. In March 1947 the headteacher's entry simply reads "Very deep snowdrifts - abandoned school".
When World War II broke out, the headmaster of the school was Mr Charles Blake, who had taken up post in 1929 following Mr William Anson. Children evacuated from West Ham and Essex joined the local children and the school roll rose above 130.
To read an account of an evacuee's time in Churchill, click here.
Life went on as normally as possible – the Three Rs, girls had cookery lessons and the boys did woodwork, as well as helping to fill sandbags and collecting waste paper and scrap iron. In 1941 Mr Blake joined the RAF, resuming his post as headmaster in 1945. Not only did he survive the war, his immaculate handwriting in the school logbook was also resumed unimpaired. Not all those who followed him had such an impeccable style.
He was succeeded in January 1948 by Mrs Kathleen Blake and then by Mrs Marjorie Hoverd from January 1952 until August 1962. She in turn was succeeded by Mr Michael Cockburn, who wrote using the italic script popular in the 1960s. A well respected man, he suffered a number of misfortunes. In 1963 he had a serious car accident and was absent for a whole term. In 1966 his six year old daughter died following a tonsillectomy at Horton Hospital, Banbury and is buried in the village churchyard. He left in 1970 to take up the post of Head of St Mary’s School, Chipping Norton. He died in 1996.
Conditions in school were not always perfect.
In January 1939 the headteacher's logbook records deep snow but little coal and no water – not surprisingly only fourteen pupils turned up. In October 1940 the logbook records there being no stove in the infant department, necessitating oil heaters being borrowed. That same month the school had to close for two weeks because of an outbreak of scarlet fever. In February 1941 there was no wood to light the fires so there were none. Extra PE lessons were instituted to help keep the pupils warm.
In January 1947, in one of the coldest winters ever, the headteacher records the temperature in the school being 23 degrees fahrenheit (minus five celsius) and one boy "collapsed and fell, remaining unconscious for more than five minutes." He was the lucky one - he was taken home. On another day the Head recorded minus nine celsius. On some days that winter no children attended at all. In March 1947 the headteacher's entry simply reads "Very deep snowdrifts - abandoned school".
When World War II broke out, the headmaster of the school was Mr Charles Blake, who had taken up post in 1929 following Mr William Anson. Children evacuated from West Ham and Essex joined the local children and the school roll rose above 130.
To read an account of an evacuee's time in Churchill, click here.
Life went on as normally as possible – the Three Rs, girls had cookery lessons and the boys did woodwork, as well as helping to fill sandbags and collecting waste paper and scrap iron. In 1941 Mr Blake joined the RAF, resuming his post as headmaster in 1945. Not only did he survive the war, his immaculate handwriting in the school logbook was also resumed unimpaired. Not all those who followed him had such an impeccable style.
He was succeeded in January 1948 by Mrs Kathleen Blake and then by Mrs Marjorie Hoverd from January 1952 until August 1962. She in turn was succeeded by Mr Michael Cockburn, who wrote using the italic script popular in the 1960s. A well respected man, he suffered a number of misfortunes. In 1963 he had a serious car accident and was absent for a whole term. In 1966 his six year old daughter died following a tonsillectomy at Horton Hospital, Banbury and is buried in the village churchyard. He left in 1970 to take up the post of Head of St Mary’s School, Chipping Norton. He died in 1996.
 Isobel Harman with the last pupils of Churchill School |
The next Head was Mr Arthur Warland and he was followed in 1980 by Mrs Isobel Harman as Acting Headteacher. The school was now reduced to one teacher; such was the decline in pupil numbers. Only infants remained, juniors being sent to Kingham Primary School. Mrs Harman’s son was killed in a car accident in September 1980 and she no longer felt able to continue. The school closed at Christmas 1981, ahead of the planned date of July 1982. The buildings were sold to a developer for £146,000.
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