Castle Donington is in north Leicestershire, just the other side of the Trent from Derbyshire. It is perhaps best known today for the airport and the motor racing track at Donington Park.
Day schools in 1818 (population 2,308 in 1811)
There was a parish school room, where the parish had the power of electing the master and several dames’ schools, attended by a total of 286 children. There were also two boarding schools, one for boys and one for girls, with a total of 35 pupils. Vicar John Dalby commented that the poor were without the means of educating their children.
Day schools in 1833 (population 3,182 in 1831)
There were two infants’ schools in Castle Donington, both for children of either sex. One, which had been established in 1831, had ten pupils whose parents covered the cost, while the other, which had begun in 1833, had 90 pupils and was funded partly by subscription and partly by fees from the parents. There were five daily schools for older children, who were all instructed at the expense of their parents. The two longest established of these were teaching a total of 48 boys and 27 girls, another (commenced in 1828) had 13 male and 17 female pupils, a boys’ school established in 1831 had 33 pupils and the fifth school, which commenced in 1832 taught 10 boys and 4 girls. There were also two day and boarding schools, one with 42 pupils and the second, which had opened in 1821, had 14 female pupils. The costs of these were also funded by the children’s parents.
The Anglican and Methodist Sunday Schools also taught writing on two evenings each week.
Anglican schools in 1846/7
Castle Donington is not included in the Church Schools inquiry of 1846/7.
Sunday schools
1818
There was a boys’ Sunday School and also a girls’ Sunday school attached to the parish church. There were also two Sunday schools for nonconformists, whose denomination is not specified. Together these educated 395 children on Sundays.
1833
There were three Sunday schools in 1833. The largest was connected to the Methodists, and was attended by 124 boys and 136 girls; the Baptist Sunday School comprised 110 boys and 99 girls, while the Anglican Sunday School had 100 male and 60 female pupils. The Anglican and Methodist Sunday schools also opened on two weekday evenings each week, to teach writing.
1851 (population 3,028)
By 1851 there were four Sunday Schools. The General Baptist Sunday school was the best attended, with 207 scholars attending on the morning of 30 March 1851, 176 people attended the Wesleyan Sunday School that morning and 84 went to the Sunday School attached to the Independent Chapel. The Anglican Sunday school met in the morning and afternoon, when 123 and 121 scholars assembled.
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