SCHOOLS 



jTiO a year on Ellergill Grange, in Stanhope, and all other lands of Ralph Madison in Ellergill ; and 

 five days later Ralph Madison himself gave another rent-charge of £6 a year from the same lands. 

 It is significant that the sclioolhouse is described as built ' near the chapel or guild of St. Anne ' 

 granted 17 April, 1638, by the then bishop, Thomas Morton, subject to a rent to the Crown of 

 2J. for the purpose. One can hardly help inferring that the old school had been carried on in this chapel. 



The original endowment, however aiiequate at the time, being a fixed rent-charge, was not 

 calculated to produce a very flourisiiing school. It was augmented in 1625 by a grant of 8 acres 

 of the waste of the manor, and in 1628 by 30 more acres, but the last endowment was lost during 

 the Civil War by being annexed by William Darcy, of Witton Park, whose land it adjoined. 

 Under the Commonwealth the Parliamentary Commissioners for the propagation of the Gospel 1 

 granted an augmentation to the school in a payment of ^Tao to the master Ralph Robinson, out of 

 the appropriated rectory of Merrington. Hut this of course ceased on the Restoration. 



In 1807, Shute Barrington, bishop of Durham, purchased a house on the south side of the 

 market place as a residence for the master, then Robert Birkett. In 1814 tlie Rev. Robert 

 Tiiompson became headmaster. But under him the school was little more than elementary. When 

 the Commissioners of Inquiry visited it in 1828 " the income from endowment was only ^^37 a 

 year. There were 55 boys in the school, but of these only 10 learnt anything more than elemen- 

 tary subjects, the fees charged being 30J. a year for the three R's, and £2 2s. a year for classics. 

 In 1858 the old school was sold for ;^526 and a new site bought with the proceeds in South Church 

 Road for ;^40, and a new school erected at a cost of ^^700. But the new site was only 2^ acres in 

 extent, and the master had contributed most of the cost above the sum derived from the sale of the 

 old buildings. In 1864, when Mr. J. G. Fitch visited for the Schools Inquiry Commission,^ the 

 Rev. E. Henley, of Trinity College, Cambridge, was headmaster. There was no other master and 

 there were only 15 boys. The fees were £2 a year for boys in the parish, and £4. from outside ; 

 but only 2 of the 15 came from outside. No mathematics beyond arithmetic were taught ; and 

 only one boy, who occupied the highest class by himself, had begun Latin. The low fees, supposed 

 to be a benefit to the parishioners, were the chief cause of the school being low and of very little 

 benefit to the parishioners. 



In 1870, Mr. M. K. Limolean, B.A. London, became headmaster and reorganised the school. 

 He at once raised the fees to an average of ^^8 los., and so was enabled to pay an adequate assistant, 

 and the instruction given was raised to grammar-school standard. So in two years the numbers 

 increased to 48, of whom 23 were boarders. An application to the Endowed Schools Commissioners 

 resulted in a scheme of 26 June 1873, by which a governing body of 13, including representatives 

 of the Local Board of Health, the Guardians of the Union, the Magistrates in Petty Sessions, and 

 the ratepayers, with 5 co-optative governors, was appointed. The boarding fees were raised from 

 ;^2 7 to £4.0, and the tuition fees were to be £6 to ;^I2 a year. Natural Science was added to the 

 curriculum. In 1877 the buildings were enlarged and improved at a cost of ^^3, 327, of which 

 ;^500 was given by the Trustees of Lord Crewe's charity, and £^,S7<) was raised by subscription. 

 In later years the number of boarders had fallen, owing no doubt to the great improvements effected 

 in other grammar schools, such as Barnard Castle and the like. In 1890 there were 50 boys in 

 the school, of whom only two were boarders ; by 1896 the number had fallen to 30, though the 

 standard of education had considerably risen. By an amending scheme under the Endowed Schools 

 Act, approved by Queen Victoria in Council, 13 May, 1896, the governing body was strengthened 

 by 2 representatives of the County Council, who under the Technical Instruction Act, 1889, and 

 the Local Taxation Act, 1888, had funds to spend on education, and of the University of Durham. 

 The school in 1904 was more prosperous than at any previous period of existence. Its endowment, 

 indeed, is not increased, consisting only of the original rent charges of ;^i6 a year, and the rent of 

 ;{^20 derived from the 8 acres of waste, still a grass field ; but a grant of ;^8o a year from the 

 County Council, and of about ;^I20 a year from the Board of Education enables it to pay its way. 

 The headmaster is Mr. Bousfield, himself educated at the school and at Hatfield Hall, in Durham 

 University, and afterwards an assistant master at the North-Eastern County School, Barnard Castle ; 

 appointed in 1897. Under him the numbers have more than doubled ; as he found 33, and in 

 1901 had 72.* Greek is only learnt by one boy; but Latin is learnt by all, while science and 

 mathematics form the staple of the instruction. 



THE NORTH-EASTERN COUNTIES' SCHOOL, BARNARD CASTLE 



Barnard Castle in 'ancient time' enjoyed the advantages of a grammar school, as appears from 

 the return of the Chantry Commissioners of Henry VIII. in 1546. 'The Guylde of the Trinitie 

 in Barnard Castcll ^ : — The said Guylde was founded and endowed with certen landes by gifte of the 



1 Lambeth MSS. Aug. of Livings, 1006, p. 425. * Ciar. Com. Rep. xxi. 38. 



' Schools Injuity Rcf>. xix. * Endowed Chanties of the Co. of Durham, p. 28. 



' A. F. Lcdch, English Schools at the Reformation. From Chant. Cert. No. 18, 85. 



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