British Schools Museum

Museum in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

The British Schools Museum in Hitchin.

The British Schools Museum is an educational museum based in original Edwardian and Victorian school buildings in Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England.[1] The museum complex is made up of listed school buildings housing infants, girls and boys schools with houses for Master and Mistress.[2] It includes a monitorial schoolroom based on the educational theories of Joseph Lancaster for 300 boys, which opened in 1837, and a rare galleried classroom, dating from 1853.

## History of the school

[edit]

The school buildings of 1853 (left), 1837 (centre) and 1904 (right).

The first school on the site was a schoolroom for 200 boys and 100 girls. It was founded in 1810 by local lawyer William Wilshere in a disused malt house. This schoolroom was the first monitorial school for the sons of the poor in Hertfordshire. It used the methods of Joseph Lancaster. He developed a system in which large numbers of younger scholars could be taught by older scholars under the supervision of the master (for boys) or mistress (for girls). After starting a school in London, Lancaster travelled to promote his system, including a visit to Hitchin.

The school grew steadily and to such an extent that in 1837 a new schoolroom was built that could hold 300 boys. This was completed in 1838, and the original school in the converted malthouse then included an infants school as well as the girls'. Inspector of Schools Matthew Arnold visited the school in 1852 and reinforced the 1849 recommendation of inspector J D Morrell that the boys' school would benefit from a new classroom. A new Gallery classroom for 110 pupils was completed in February 1854.

The 1857 school building with the houses for the Master and Mistress to the left.

In 1857, it was decided by the school's Board of Trustees to completely rebuild the Girls' and Infants' School. The new building was completed in 1858 together with adjoining houses for the Master and Mistress. When Matthew Arnold paid a return visit to the school in 1867 he reported that the new buildings were "excellent".

The monitorial method continued until the Revised Code of 1862 that brought in the Pupil Teacher method of teaching.[3] The monitorial system was changed as it was the general consensus that having children teach other children, when they are not well educated themselves, proved to be problematic. The Pupil Teacher method involved an older scholar being given training and being paid to teach. The government hoped that this would increase the number of teachers in the future, using a system that could be described as an apprenticeship in teaching.[4]

By 1904, additional classrooms were needed because of the growing number of pupils. These were built in 1905, but by 1929 it was determined that the school was too small and worn out to continue; both the Boys' and Girls Schools transferred to the new Wilshere Dacre School in the town. The Infants School carried on in the original buildings, but because of the number of evacuees who were sent to Hitchin at the outbreak of World War II the school reverted to a Junior Mixed Infants School in 1940. This school continued on the site until 1969, when it closed, but the buildings were taken over by North Hertfordshire College as the Queen Street Activities Centre.

## Recent years

[edit]

The "North Eastern block of buildings at the British Schools" was listed as Grade II* in 1975 for its importance as a site of historic school architecture.

Jill Grey, a local educational historian, opened a small museum in one of the Edwardian classrooms. In July 1990 North Herts College left the site and Hertfordshire County Council put the buildings up for sale. The Hitchin British Schools Trust was formed and by 1994 were successful in purchasing the buildings. The trust, mainly through the efforts of volunteers, has restored the schoolrooms to reflect their original condition, and work continues to improve them. The museum is visited by adults and groups of children from all over the country who are interested in seeing how their ancestors were taught.

The BBC filmed scenes from the 2010 children's television series Just William at Hitchin.

## See also

[edit]

* British and Foreign School Society
* List of museums in Hertfordshire

## References

[edit]

1. ^ British Schools Museum, Culture 24, UK.
2. ^ British Schools Museum Archived March 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, UK School Museums Group Archived January 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, UK.
3. ^ Richard Aldrich, An Introduction to the History of Education (London, 1982), p.55.
4. ^ P.H.J.H. Gosden, How They Were Taught (Oxford, 1969), p.16.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Fiona Dodwell. Hitchin British Schools: A History of the Buildings. Published by Hitchin British Schools Trust 1999.
* Jacky Birch, Scilla Douglas, Pauline Humphries, Elizabeth Hunter, Rosemary Ransome, Terry Ransome. "Educating Our Own: the Masters of the Hitchin Boys British Schools 1810 - 1929". Published by the Hitchin British Schools Trust 2008.
* Helen Tyler, Education and Social Mobility 1870-1914: a Study of Four Schools in the Registration District of Hitchin in Hertfordshire.

## External links

[edit]

* The British Schools Museum website Archived 2018-03-19 at the Wayback Machine
* The museum on the BBC 'People's War' website Archived 2013-04-19 at archive.today
* The museum on the Hertfordshire County Council website
* The museum on the Hitchin Attractions website
* 6806&Location=hertfordshire&Radius=&CompanyType=0&Page=1&keyword= The museum on the MuseumNet website[dead link]

* v
* t
* e

Listed buildings in Hertfordshire

Grade I

| Broxbourne|

* Eleanor Cross
* Wormleybury

|

Dacorum|

* 130–136 Piccotts End
* Ashridge Business School
* Beechwood Park
* Berkhamsted School Old Building
* St Mary's Church, Hemel Hempstead

East Hertfordshire|

* Aston Bury Manor
* Balls Park
* Benington Castle (remains)
* Hertford Castle Gatehouse
* Hunsdon House
* Rye House Gatehouse
* Scott's Grotto
* Shire Hall, Hertford
* St James' Church, Stanstead Abbotts
* St Leonard's Church, Bengeo
* St Mary's Church, Ware
* St Mary the Virgin's Church, Little Hormead
* Waytemore Castle (remains)
* Woodhall Park (Heath Mount School)

Hertsmere|

* Tyttenhanger House

North Hertfordshire|

* Hitchin Priory
* Holy Trinity Church, Weston
* St John the Baptist's Church, Royston
* St Katharine's Church, Ickleford
* St Mary's Church, Ashwell
* St Mary's Church, Baldock
* St Mary's Church, Hitchin
* St Mary and St Thomas's Church, Knebworth
* Royston Cave

St Albans|

* Clock Tower
* Old Gorhambury House (remains)
* Rothamsted Manor
* St Albans Cathedral
* St Helen's Church, Wheathampstead
* St Mary's Church, Redbourn
* St Michael's Church, St Albans
* Verulamium

Stevenage|

* Rooks Nest House
* St Nicholas' Church

Three Rivers|

* Moor Park

Watford|

* Holy Rood Church, Watford
* St Mary's Church, Watford

Welwyn Hatfield|

* Brocket Hall
* Hatfield House/Old Palace
* New St Lawrence Church, Ayot St Lawrence

Grade II*

| Broxbourne|

* Rawdon House
* Theobalds House

|

Dacorum|

* 173 High Street, Berkhamsted
* Ashlyns Hall
* Bridgewater Monument
* The Bury, Hemel Hempstead
* Cell Park
* Dean Incent's House
* Gaddesden Place
* Golden Parsonage
* The Old Bell, Hemel Hempstead
* St Peter's Church, Great Berkhamstead
* Tring Park Mansion

East Hertfordshire|

* All Nations Christian College
* All Saints' Church, Hertford
* Almshouses, Buntingford
* Bayfordbury
* Chapel at St Edmund's College, Ware
* County Hall
* Cromer Windmill
* Fanhams Hall
* Goldings
* Haileybury and Imperial Service College
* Hare Street House
* Hanbury Manor
* Marden Hill House
* Much Hadham Palace
* Pishiobury Park Mansion
* St Andrew's Church, Buckland
* Stansted Hall
* Yeomanry House, Hertford
* Youngsbury Stable Block

Hertsmere|

* Aldenham House
* Dyrham Park lodges and arched gateway
* Hilfield Castle
* Knightsland Farm House
* Lululaund
* Salisbury Hall
* Wrotham Park

North Hertfordshire|

* All Saints Church, Radwell
* All Saints Church, Willian
* The Cloisters, Letchworth
* St Nicholas' Church, Hinxworth
* Hinxworth Place
* Homewood, Knebworth
* Knebworth House
* Princess Helena College
* Spirella Building
* St Margaret of Antioch's Church, Bygrave
* St Martin's Church, Knebworth
* St Mary Magdalene's Church, Caldecote
* St Paul's Walden Bury
* St Vincent's Church, Newnham

St Albans|

* All Saints Pastoral Centre
* St Albans Town Hall
* New Gorhambury House
* Redbournbury Mill
* St Leonard's Church, Sandridge
* St Nicholas Church, Harpenden
* St Peter's Church, St Albans
* St Stephen's Church, St Albans
* Westwick Cottage

Three Rivers|

* Hunton Park
* Langleybury
* Oxhey Chapel
* Redheath

Watford|

* The Grove
* The Mrs Elizabeth Fuller Free School building

Welwyn Hatfield|

* Ayot House
* Digswell Viaduct
* Mill Green Museum and Mill
* Old St Lawrence Church, Ayot St Lawrence
* Shaw's Corner
* Templewood Primary School

Other boroughs|

* Stevenage

Grade II

| Broxbourne|

* Broxbourne railway station
* Cheshunt Great House (remains)

|

Dacorum|

* Ashlyns School
* Berkhamsted Town Hall
* Goldfield Mill
* The Green Dragon, Flaunden
* Inns of Court War Memorial
* The Mansion, Berkhamsted
* Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead
* Pendley Manor
* Rex Cinema
* Rossway
* Shendish Manor
* Stocks House
* St John's Church, Boxmoor
* Tring Market House

East Hertfordshire|

* All Saints' Church, Hockerill
* Benson Memorial Church
* Brent Pelham Windmill
* Buntingford Manor House
* Button Snap
* Christ Church, Ware
* Hertford Museum Tooke House
* Hopper's Hall
* The Horns, Bull's Green
* Little Munden Primary School
* Panshanger orangery, conservatory and stables
* Red House, Buntingford
* Rowneybury Cottage
* St John's Church, Letty Green
* The Tilbury, Datchworth
* The White Horse, Burnham Green
* The White Horse, Hertford

Hertsmere|

* Bhaktivedanta Manor
* The Chequers, Potters Bar
* Duke of York, Potters Bar
* Dyrham Park Country Club
* The Green Man, Potters Bar
* Ladbrooke School
* The Lion, Potters Bar
* Oakmere House
* Potters Bar War Memorial
* Shenley Hall
* Shenley Lodge
* Wall Hall
* The White Hart, South Mimms
* The White Horse, Potters Bar
* Wyllyotts Manor

North Hertfordshire|

* Ashwell Bury
* Ashwell War Memorial
* Breachwood Green Mill
* British Schools Museum
* Hitchin Town Hall
* Howgills
* Lannock Mill, Weston
* Letchworth Garden City railway station
* Letchworth Town Hall
* Lytton Mausoleum
* Minsden Chapel
* Putteridge Bury
* St George's Church, Letchworth
* St Nicholas' Church, Norton
* St Mary's Church, Letchworth
* Stagenhoe

St Albans|

* The Blue Anchor
* The Boot
* Childwickbury Manor
* The Cock
* Colney Heath Mill
* Fleur de Lys
* Hare and Hounds
* The Lower Red Lion
* The Old Kings Arms
* Ye Olde Fighting Cocks
* The Queen's Head, Sandridge
* Rose and Crown
* The Six Bells
* St Albans School
* Sopwell House
* Sopwell Nunnery (ruins)
* Verulam House
* The White Lion

Stevenage|

* Barclay Academy
* Shephall Manor
* Stevenage Clock Tower
* The Thomas Alleyne Academy
* Trigg's Barn/37 High Street, Stevenage

Three Rivers|

* Croxley Green Windmill

Watford|

* High Elms Manor
* The Old Station House
* St John's Church, Watford
* Watford Grammar School for Boys
* Watford Palace Theatre
* Watford Town Hall

Welwyn Hatfield|

* The Beehive, Welwyn Garden City
* The Brocket Arms
* Digswell House
* The Eight Bells, Hatfield
* Hope and Anchor, Welham Green
* The Horse and Groom, Hatfield
* The Green Man, Hatfield
* The Red Lion, Hatfield
* Statue of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
* Tolmers Park
* The Wrestlers, Hatfield

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States

51°56′46″N 0°16′33″W﻿ / ﻿51.94611°N 0.27583°W﻿ / 51.94611; -0.27583
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template