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We have two old school houses in our village, the 'British School' in Spring Lane was set up in 1827 by the Presbyterian Reformed Church and was also called by some the 'Dissenters' School', and the 'National School' in Aston Street was started in 1847 by the Reverend John Hoskyns. He was rector to the two Church of England churches in the Astons for 60 years. The two schools ran alongside each other for 80 years, but the two main village landowners were of different religious persuasions, and workers and children were encouraged to keep separate. Thus the humorous divisions that we now perpetuate between Tirrold and Upthorpe once had a more serious nature. The British School closed down in 1907 and the children transferred to the National School – but came an hour later to miss the religious instruction. The National School closed down in 1972, the children transferring to South Moreton School. Amalgamation of the Aston and Moreton schools
The amalgamation of the Aston and Moreton schools raised the school population in one fell swoop from 58 to 101! The proposal precipitated the retirement of Mrs. Ward who, having served as Head Teacher for 33 years, not unnaturally felt that a younger person was needed to deal with all the problems that the amalgamation entailed – not least the building of 'temporary buildings' for the new pupils. 'Temporary buildings' that only got replaced eventually by the school's extension in 1996! Minutes of a meeting held on 5th.July 1972. "It was agreed to ask that, following the closure of the Aston Tirrold School at the end of the Summer Term, various items of furniture and equipment which might be transferred to the South Moreton School should be retained in the Aston Tirrold premises until the temporary accommodation was available for their reception at South Moreton. In connection with the proposed transfer of the children from Aston Tirrold, the Headmaster formally expressed his appreciation of the high degree of co-operation which he had enjoyed with the Aston Tirrold community generally over the proposed amalgamation of the two village (schools)." The two villages continue to work well together, with churches, pre-school and youth club all providing services to all four villages.
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Education in the Astons |