An Archive of Letters and Documents 1852 - 1947

1852. Unbound. Very Good. [DERBYSHIRE] Church Broughton School - An Archive of Letters and Documents 1852 - 1947. A fascinating collection of letters and papers concerning Church Broughton School in Derbyshire, in all about 140 items. The earliest item is a letter dated December 18th 1852 from John Barber in Derby addressed to Francis Bradshaw at "Barton Park Derby" (Barton Hall was owned by the Bradshaw family and Francis had been High Sheriff of Derbyshire between 1851-52. The estate is situated one mile from Church Broughton and Francis was likely to have been a supporter and sponsor for the school). The letter has a copy of a recent report by a Rev. Blandford upon inspecting Church Broughton School. To say he was not happy would be an understatement: "...good supply of maps towards which a grant had been made about two years since, ten had been purchased, of these eight were in the Master's House & two in the school room: none of them had the appearance of ever having been used; supply of books deficient...no time table or register...only one boy could write easy numbers from dictation...no grammar or geography taught...none of them could write down 110 or forty nine...the Master has taken little or no pains with his school...the girls are taught in the same room with the boys...they were as ignorant as the boys." Barber notes in his covering comments about the report "Church Broughton School & the management of it by the Master of this mess". The second item is an 1869 seven page letter from Newborough Vicarage in Derby to a Mr. Auden from Mr. Roper who had recently made aninspection of the school and was giving his lengthy comments on the syllabus taught and the engagement by the children. Overall, it seems that theschool had made much progress since the visit above and Roper notes "Altogether my day in your school was a highly agreeable one". It appears thata Master was employed however Roper refers to Auden as it being "your school". The next item is an 1894 architectural ink drawing of the "Proposed Boys and Girls Cloakroom For the National School. Church Broughton. Derby", showing the new work coloured in crayon (approx. 250x365mm.). There is a good quantity of correspondence from the first few years of the 20th Century including endowments, various hand written letters from F. Drewry (who worked in the Duke of Devonshire's Estate Office in Buxton) to the Rev. A.M. Auden regarding the (successful) running of the school, there are various other letters from around 1909-10 from P.H. Currey (Surveyor of Ecclesiastical Dilapidations for the Diocese of Southwell) to Auden regarding the purchase of land for the school (and the subsequent complications!). These are accompanied by various lengthy invoices for work carried out by S.T. Nash of Cubley and others over a number of years from 1910 onwards. During the First World War some pasture land belonging to the school is required for crop growing and there are five printed notifications to the school from "Derbyshire War Agricultural Executive Committee" stating what was required as well as the penalties for disobedience. All are dated 1917. The 1930's see correspondence on the insanitary outside water closets, appointment of new trustees and the village memorial reading and recreation room trust (some with edge nibbling), and the installation of a water supply. The writing is soon on the wall following the second world war with a number of official Derbyshire Education Committee printed circulars and letters (addressed to the Rev. Magnus at Church Broughton), stating their intention to close the smaller schools and move them to larger institutions in the area, and several rather impersonal letters in 1947 inform them of the school's imminent closure, bringing almost one hundred years of history to a close. Various sizes, some rusting/staining, chipping and creasing, but overall in good order. An interesting piece of Derbyshire social history.