crich area community news
Crich Schools
Recently Crich Junior School and Crich Carr Primary School have been celebrating their 125th anniversaries. The history of education in the Crich area is an interesting one.
Crich Parochial School (Top School), built in 1848, was not the first school in the village. There was a private school built on the Common in 1799.
The headmaster was John Walker who advertised his fees in the local newspapers. You will notice that the charges were in guineas, the currency of the nobility and well-to-do.
Derby Mercury 17th June 1799
At Crich, near Matlock, a school opened by Mr J. Walker in a Dwelling House and School newly erected on the Common
Entrance 10s 6d
Washing and Mending £1 1s 0d per annum
Board for young gentlemen under 10 years of age £9 9s 0d per annum
Board for young gentlemen of 10 years and upwards £10 10s 0d per annum
Education including English grammatically, writing and arithmetic, Merchants
Accounts. Measuration and algebra: per annum £2 2s 0d.
Note. The pupils, now at school, will have no vacation this summer. New ones will be admitted on 22.7.1799
Originally this house on the Common, was called “Bower” house. In about 1798 it was the village school for “young gentlemen”. Now it is a private residence. The attached buildings were part of the school which was for boarders.
The late Geoff Dawes, in his book ‘A History of Crich’, reported that in 1833 there were, in Crich, ten ‘day’ schools, with one hundred and fifteen boys and one hundred and twelve girls and three Sunday Schools with one hundred and fifty-seven boys and one hundred and forty girls. There were also other neighbouring day schools and Sunday Schools.
Before the Crich Parochial School was built in 1848 there were several Dame Schools in Crich, Crich Carr and Fritchley. Dame Schools were a phenomenon of the Victorian age, and it must be said there was a great contrast in the standards of education the pupils of these unique schools received. They were called Dame Schools as they were usually run by elderly women from their homes. These women were not trained, and often undertook other forms of work such as washing or sewing whilst supervising the children. They usually catered for children aged between two and five, who were too young to work and were often from the poorest of families. Sometimes the children were taught the three Rs, but often they were taught skills such as knitting and sewing, to help them find work when they were old
enough. It was common for fees to be as much as three or four pence a week. It is true to say that Dame Schools were mainly provided as child care for parents who had no choice but to go out to work. It is difficult to know how many Dame Schools were operating in the Crich area during the Victorian era because they were privately run, and there was no formal registration process.
Sunday Schools were started in about 1780 by Robert Raikes of Gloucester. He became concerned about children roaming the streets on their only day off from work. By 1851, as a result of his work and that of his followers, over 23,000 such schools catering for over two million children had been established. These schools offered bible stories, religious education, morals and often basic reading. Right up to the early 1900s Crich had thriving Sunday Schools with several hundred children attending them..