Markfield is a village approximately seven and a half miles northwest from the centre of Leicester. Now a civil parish, it falls under the district of Hinckley and Bosworth.
Daily Schools for poorer families in 1818 (population 907 in 1811)
There were four daily schools operating in the parish, educating 80 children, but the poor were ‘desirous’ for the means to educate their children.
Daily Schools in 1835 (population 1,088 in 1831)
By 1835, Markfield had a daily school which educated 35 boys and 10 girls and was funded at the expense of their parents. There were also two infant schools in which twenty children of each sex were taught.
Daily Schools connected to the Anglican Church in 1846-7
There was only one Anglican daily school in the parish, which educated 32 boys and 12 girls. It had only one schoolroom which was described as ‘virtually secured’. There was one paid mistress, who was paid a salary of £22 10s. The school was funded through payments from parents and a subscription. It stood close to St Peter’s church, Copt Oak, at the extreme end of the parish, where the population was very thinly scattered.
Sunday Schools
1818
There is no mention of any Sunday school.
1835
The parish had a Methodist Sunday school consisting of 100 males and 50 females, supported by contributions. There was no Anglican Sunday school.
Anglican Sunday School in 1846-7
There was no Anglican Sunday School.
In 1851 (population 1,261)
On the afternoon of 30 March 1851, 80 scholars attended the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday school, and 40 scholars attended that evening. George Gardener, the local preacher and steward, commented that the average attendance usually around 120 in the afternoon and 180-200 in the evening. There was now an Anglican Sunday school, attended by 85 scholars in the morning and 98 in the afternoon.
Return to A History of Leicestershire Schools: A-Z
Sources
- Education of the Poor Digest, Parl. Papers 1819 (224)
- Education Enquiry, Parl. Papers 1835 (62)
- National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church, Result of the Returns to the General Inquiry made by the National Society, into the state and progress of schools for the education of the poor … during the years 1846-7, throughout England and Wales ( London, 1849).
- 1851 Ecclesiastical census