Nailstone is in west Leicestershire, three miles north-east of Market Bosworth.
Daily schools for poorer families in 1818 (population 293)
There was just one school, and the children had to pay fees. The local Anglican minister, Thomas Adutt, commented that the poor were ‘desirous of more sufficient means of education’.
Daily schools in 1833 (population 421)
A daily school, with a Sunday school attached, was established in 1828 and funded largely by Earl Howe. The daily school had 26 male and 30 female pupils, whose parents also paid a small fee. Earl Howe provided the mistress’s annual salary of £30.
Daily schools connected to the Anglican Church in 1846-7
Two schools are mentioned, but this appears to be because they are counting the boys and girls (who were educated in separate rooms) as separate schools, as was then the custom. There were 17 boys who attended on both weekdays and Sundays, plus 3 who were there on weekdays only and 8 who only attended on Sundays. Of the girls, 20 were present weekdays and Sundays, with another 5 who only came on weekdays and 3 who were only there on Sundays. There was one paid master and one paid mistress, plus one unpaid teacher of each sex. The school was entirely supported by Earl Howe, and the children paid no fees. The master and mistress were said to be very competent and the school was described as very efficient. An annual salary of £65 was paid, but it is not clear if this was for the master and mistress, or just the master.
Sunday schools
In 1818
There was a Sunday school, supported by a subscription.
In 1833
Earl Howe also provided £4 annually towards a Sunday school master. The Sunday school was attended by 31 boys and 31 girls.
Anglican Sunday school in 1846-7
This was fully integrated with the daily school, and the details can be found above.
In 1851 (population 498)
No return was made to the census.
Schools since 1851
The school was extended in 1858.
In 1982, a new primary school named Dove Bank Primary School was opened in the village to accommodate the children in Nailstone, as well as those from the villages of Bagworth and Battram. This was due to the closure of the school in Bagworth in 1981 after subsidence meant that building a new school in Bagworth was impractical and dangerous. This amalgamation of Nailstone, Bagworth and Battram schools was funded in part by the Nailstone Coal Board, as a result of the impact mining subsidence had on the old school buildings. Dove Bank Primary School is still in existence to this day, with the old bells from the original schools in Battram, Bagworth and Nailstone being incorporated into the entrance of the current school building in recognition of their shared history.
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
- Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland
- BBC Domesday Reloaded.