ONGAR HUNDRED 



FYFIELD 



the larger of the two tenements called Bruetts in Fyfield 

 Street, the teacher was to instruct pupils in reading, 

 writing, arithmetic, and the catechism and to supervise 

 them in prayer.* 



The history of the school is obscure until 1807 when 

 15 pupils attended it. They were then being taught 

 according to the founder's direction, the girls learning 

 plain needle-work in addition. Any child might attend 

 whom the rector and churchwardens judged to be 

 poor.' Where the school was held is not clear; it may 

 have been in the master's house. By 1 8 1 8 the managers 

 were planning to expand the school. The charity in- 

 come had recently increased and the master, now paid 

 j^i6 a year, also took paying pupils. ■" In 1819 a new 

 schoolroom was built for ,^170 from the accumulated 

 surplus of the charity income. It was behind the master's 

 house in Fyfield Street, had a playground attached, and 

 could accommodate 70 children." There was no im- 

 mediate increase in attendance, however; in 1827—8 

 there were still only i 5 free pupils.'^ 



From about 1830 the number of pupils increased. 

 In 1832 there were 21 and in 1833 49, some of whom 

 paid fees. The charity income was then £47, the 

 master's salary ;^32. The only other school in Fyfield 

 was one with four pupils.'^ By 1835 there were 30 free 

 pupils at Walker's school, almost all of them children of 

 Fyfield labourers, and 25 paying pupils, of whom 12 

 were boarders. The curriculum was as in 1807 except 

 that the boys were taught some history and geography. 

 The master, who still received £l'2; paid two assistants 

 and hired an additional classroom, presumably for his 

 paying pupils. He also supplied pens, ink, and fuel. 

 No poor child was refused a place on denominational 

 grounds, but all the free pupils attended church and 

 were taught the catechism. Trustees were in control, 

 with the rector as treasurer.''' The school was united 

 to the Diocesan Board of Education's and, at least 

 between 1 807 and 1 847, was administered jointly with 

 the Sunday school.'* It has subsequently been regarded 

 as a Church school, as it probably had been from its 

 inception, but it appears not to have been in union with 

 the National Society. '^ 



Until the Education Act of 1870 there was little 

 change from the conditions of 1837, except that the 

 boarding establishment was probably discontinued at 

 some point; in 1 863 there was another boarding-school 

 in the village.' * In 1867 there were 76 pupils under a 

 master and mistress," but in 1871 there were only 

 about 56.^" In 1871 it was reported that the school 

 could provide 57 of the 94 places necessary to ensure 

 universal education in Fyfield.^' In 1875 a new school 

 was built near the site of the old.^^ The estimate of cost 

 was ;C550- Charity property was mortgaged for ,£400 

 and the deficit met by a voluntary rate.^^ Average 

 attendance increased slightly until 1891, when the 



building was enlarged to provide 130 places.^ The 

 average attendance was 83 in 1893 and 74 in 1905.M 



The school had received a goverpraent grant oi £6\ 

 in 1880 and this rose to j^i 10 in 1899.^* After the 

 Education Act of 1902 the school passed under the 

 administration of the Essex Education Committee as a 

 non-provided school. After a further fall to 58 in 1910 

 the average attendance rose to 78 in 1920 and 84 in 

 1929. In 1926 the annual income was nearly jC6o." 

 In 1936 the school was reorganized for mixed juniors 

 and infants. In 1948 the managers applied for aided 

 status.28 In May 1952 there were three teachers and 

 89 children.29 



The school is a single-story brick building on a T- 

 shaped plan. The larger of the two tenements called 

 Bruetts is still the schoolmaster's house. This was re- 

 built in the late i8th or early 19th century. 



West Ham County Borough Council Residential 

 Open Air School was erected at a cost of ^£8,000 in 

 1885.3° It was certified in May 1885 as an Industrial 

 School for boys, not to exceed no in number.-" In 

 April 1925 it was converted to a residential open-air 

 school for 80 boys.'^ In 193 1 it was enlarged to take 

 60 girls in addition. '^ The school consists of a consider- 

 able collection of buildings. The main block is two to 

 three stories high and of gault brick with red-brick 

 dressings. 



For the 'Unknown Donors or Church Estate Charity' 

 see above — Church. 

 CHARITIES In 1687 Dr. Anthony Walker, Rec- 

 tor of Fyfield, devised property in 

 Fyfield and High Ongar^'t for the provision of a school" 

 and a rent-free house for the church clerk, and for the 

 benefit of the poor. In 1834^^2 12/. was distributed to 

 the poor in bread. This part of the charity, however, 

 seems to have disappeared later, since by 1905 the 

 whole of the endowment was held for educational pur- 

 poses except the clerk's house and a small yearly sum 

 for its maintenance. 



The house left for the clerk was the smaller of the 

 two tenements called Bruetts, in Fyfield Street, the 

 larger being for the schoolmaster or dame. In 1873 it 

 was disputed whether the charity was for the church 

 clerk or the parish clerk ; the decision went in the church 

 clerk's favour, and the house is still occupied by his 

 successor. In 1949 the school charity and the parochial 

 church council both advanced money for the repair of 

 the house, which had been little altered for some cen- 

 turies. It is timber-framed with a steep roof and dates 

 from the i6th century or earlier.^* 



John Collins,37 by will dated 1 75 1,'* left a field in 

 Moreton to the poor of Fyfield. It was let at ^^5 a year 

 in 1834 and in 1907, when it was sold for ;^I20 which 

 was invested. In 1834 the income was spent on bread, 

 distributed with Walker's Charity, and on l^. doles to 



' Ref). Com. Char. (Essex), pp. 225-6. 

 « E.R.O., D/AEM 2/4.. 



'0 Reim. Educ. Poor, H.C. 224, p. 256 

 (i8i9),ix(i). 



" Re/>. Com. Char. (Essex), pp. 226-7. 



■2 Nat.Soc. Ref. 1828, p. 53. 



'3 Educ. Enquiry Ahstr. H.C. 62, p. 276 

 (1835), xli; Nat. Soc. Rep. 1832, p. 50. 



'« Rep. Com. Char. (Essex), pp. 226-7. 



" Nat. Soc. Enquiry into Church Schs. 

 1 846-7, pp. 8-9. 



"> Ibid.; Nat. Soc. Reps. 1828, 1832; 

 E.R.O., D/AEM 2/4. 



" Min. of Educ. File 13/127. 



'» ffhite's Dir. Essex (1863). 



'•> y.C.H. Essex, ii, 561. 



20 Retns. Elem. Educ. H.C. 201, pp. 

 112-13 (1871), Iv. 



21 Min. of Educ. File 13/127. 



22 O.S. 6 in. Map (ist cdn.), sheet xlii. 

 « Min. of Educ. File 13/127. 



24 Rep. of Educ. Cttee. of Council, 1880 

 [C. 2948-1], p. 577. H.C. {1881), xxxii; 

 Rep. of Educ. Cttee. Council, 1886 [C. 

 5123-1], p. 5'9. H.C. (1887), xxviii. 



25 Retn. Schools, 1893 [C. 7529], p. 714, 

 H.C. (1894), Ixv; Min. of Educ. File 

 13/127. 



2' Rep. of Educ. Cttee. of Council, 1880, 

 p. 577; Retn. Schools, 1899 [Cd. 315], 

 p. 70, H.C. (1900), Ixv (2). 



" Kelly's Dir. Essex (i^zd). 



57 



28 Min. of Educ. File 13/127. 



2' Inf. from Essex Educ. Cttee. 



3" Kelly's Dir. Essex (1926). For this 

 school see D. McDougall, Fifty Tears a 

 Borough: the Story of West Ham, 103-4, 

 122 f. 3" Ibid. 



^^ Kelly's Dir. Essex (\<)-i,-^. 33 Ibid. 



3* See Frith Hall in High Ongar. 



35 Sec above. Schools. 



36 Ref. Com. Char. (Essex), H.C. 216. 

 pp. 225-7 ('^3S)> *" (')> Char. Com. 

 files. 



3' Ibid.j Hist. Essex by Gent, iii, 336-7. 



3* This date, given in Rep. Com. Char, 

 (Esfex), p. 2*27, is evidently a mistake. 

 Collins died in Sept. 1750. 



