Countesthorpe is a village approximately six miles south of Leicester city centre. It was part of the parish of Blaby until 1935.
Daily schools for poorer families in 1818 (population 593 in 1811)
In 1818 there were several dames’ schools and a school room [on the corner of the churchyard], which together catered for 100 children. Unfortunately, because poverty was such a problem in nineteenth century Countesthorpe, many parents could not afford to provide their children with education.
Daily schools in 1833 (population 839 in 1831)
Countesthorpe now had six daily schools with tuition paid for by the students’ parents. One contained 12 boys and 4 girls; the other five, which had all opened between 1818 and 1833, were small schools containing a total of 41 boys and 47 girls.
Daily schools connected to the Anglican Church in 1846-7
There was one day and Sunday school in connection to the Anglican Church in Countesthorpe in 1846. There were 28 boys and 4 girls who attended on weekdays.
Read about schools in 20th century Countesthorpe
Sunday schools
In 1818
According to the Parliamentary return, there were no Sunday Schools in Countesthorpe in 1818.
In 1833
In 1833 there were two Sunday Schools in Countesthorpe. Both were supported by voluntary contributions. The Anglican Sunday School had 85 boys and 81 girls, while the other, attached to an unnamed nonconformist denomination, had 28 boys and 32 girls.
Anglican Sunday school in 1846-7
There was one day school in connection to the Anglican Church in Countesthorpe which also held a Sunday School. The were 28 boys and 4 girls who attended both the day and Sunday school and a further 86 boys and 68 girls who only attended on Sundays. There were three masters and one mistress. The estimate of the school’s annual cost was £18.
In 1851 (population 949)
There were now three Sunday schools, which each met once on Sundays. The Primitive Methodists met first on 30 March, and 40 scholars attended the morning Sunday school; there were 121 scholars who attended the Anglican Sunday School that afternoon; in the evening, 40 attended the Sunday School attached to the Baptist/Independent Church
20th Century
The Anglican Sunday School was extended in 1913, by adding a building across the road from the church.
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