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SCHOOL HISTORY FROM THE EARLY YEARS.
Prior to Denton having its own school it is thought at that least some Denton boys went to the Rector at Whiston to receive some schooling. There was a school in Yardley Hastings from 1812 but no evidence exists that Denton children attended it.
Denton school (pictured below) was built in 1829 and opened on Easter Sunday 1830. It was paid for by subscription with the principal contributors being the Marquis of Northampton who gave £50, the National Society £40 and the 2 clergy who alternated as incumbents (see section on Church) contributing £5 each. At this time they were the Hon & Rev P. A Irby and the Rev. George Rooke M.A. The National Society was an organisation founded only a short time before in 1811 and had a mission to provide a Church based school in every parish in England and Wales. It also was concerned to ensure that such ‘National Schools’ should have access to adequate reasonably priced religious books for children.
From the beginning in Denton both the daily and Sunday schools were well attended. The original building was enlarged in 1868 by addition of an extra classroom, in 1871 it was refitted and improved and in 1872 a new wing was added as an infant school.
The population of Denton varied only a little over the period from 1830 when the school was built until the 1960’s when there was a significant jump reflecting the substantial building of the ‘modern ‘ houses at Northampton Road, The Leys, Grange Close, Dovecote Drive, Fishpond Close etc. School numbers were similarly relatively static in that the earliest indication of numbers available is from 1885 when it is quoted that Denton had ‘a National School (mixed) for 140 children with average attendance of 100’ which compared with total population of Denton from the 1881 census of 547. By 1898 the numbers had changed little at 97 (34 boys, 43 girls and 20 infants) compared with the 1891 census figure totalled 487. It is also proudly recorded that ‘attached to the school is a lending library of 300 volumes’.
By 1910, after an expansion and rebuilding programme had taken place, the numbers were still little different at 102 (37 boys, 29 girls and 36 infants).
During the war years the large influx of evacuees also meant for a time the school overspilled into using the school room annexed to the Baptist Chapel just 100 yards away up Church Way
HEADS IN CHARGE.
A full list of head teachers is difficult to trace but it is known that in 1849 Martha Underwood was headmistress. Another lady followed, namely Miss Cecilia White who held the post in 1869 and 1874. By 1885 there is the record of a husband and wife David Wesson Brearley and Mrs Sarah Brearley and they remained until July 1888 when they were replaced by another husband and wife partnership when, from October 1888 William Jones and Mrs Louisa Jones moved in to the school master’s house next door to the school itself (see picture below right). William Jones also held the office of registrar of births and deaths for the sub-district of Brafield, Hardingstone Union.
On 3rd October 1921 yet another husband and wife team, Mr & Mrs George Battison, (below) took over and they are fondly
remembered for their kindly approach to education said to be in contrast to their predecessor's methods of fairly harsh discipline. On their retirement in the early 1950's they commssioned village builders Jim and Edwin Cawley to build them a retirement home which is the white house, named Green Hills, at the Main Street end of Northampton Road with a commanding view over the green and trough.
When Mr G. M. L. Jones (an ex-CSM in the Intelligence Corps) came to Denton in 1953 as headmaster there were 47 children on the school roll and he was there until his retirement in 1975 by which time the number of pupils had hardly altered even though the population of the village went up from 449 in 1951 to 650 in 1971. These pupil numbers are, of course, much lower than in the earlier years to reflect the fact that Secondary Education had been introduced in the meantime and the older children now received their education after the age of 11 or thereabouts at the Comprehensive School in Wollaston which took its first pupils in 1958.
For comparison in 2016 there were 138 pupils and25 staff (both parttime and fulltime
It is no surprise Martin 'Taffy' Jones was a Welshman and he and his wife (who taught the infants) moved into the School House. Sadly Mrs Jones was to die of cancer in 1962 leaving the school short of a teacher. The Jones's also had a relatively young son, David, and it was arranged that the late Mrs Jones' sister would move in to the schoolhouse as housekeeper and to look after David. Getting a replacement infant teacher was not so easy in those days as fewer people had cars. After a few short term appointments Mrs Frances Stanton, who already lived in the village, was
appointed 1971 and stayed for a number of years.
School numbers then starting increasing as the new estate of The Leys etc had been built and by January 1973 no fewer than 34 infants needed teaching. A second infant teacher, Mrs Margaret Clemow, who also lived in Denton was employed as a short term measure - and stayed for over 22 years!
In 1975 Martin Jones (pictured left) said a fond farewell and on his retirement moved to Cogenhoe. He was replaced in September 1975 by Miss Sue MacGowan who by the standards of her predecessors only stayed a brief time and moved on in July 1977.
An acting head, Mrs Phizacklea, then filled in for a few months until December 1977 and at the beginning of the next term in January 1978 her permanent replacement, Mr. Richard Wilkins, took on the role.
He presided over the time, in 1982, when the move from the long established school premises to the brand new school built in Vicarage Lane took place and he continued there until December 1984 when he accepted the post of headteacher at the significantly larger primary school at Bozeat. Again there was a temporary stop gap head appointed, Mrs Lynne Wilsher, who held the fort for just a few months. The next person at the headteacher's desk was Mr. Alan Harper who arrived for the Easter Term in 1985 and he brought his own style to the job and was much liked. He, too, moved on to a headship at a larger school after nearly 5 years and this time the acting head was Margaret Clemow who had all this time been assisting the various heads who came and went.She died in 2014.
The final change came about in Easter 1990. David Croot was headteacher at Brafield school just up the road and he was appointed to replace Alan Harper and he remained in the post until his retirement in 2013 . Six years later the declining numbers of pupils at Brafield reached a mained in the post to point where the school was no longer viable and it's closure saw an influx of its former pupils to Denton .Alan Harper died in December 2015,
BRICKS AND MORTAR.
The orignial school building remains substantially unaltered outwardly presiding over the centre of Denton from its impressive position at the back of the village green. It is now one of the very few buildings in Denton used for a commercial purpose being occupied by a business called Elevations who operate an exhibition design and management company. The adjoining house which was previously occupied by the successive head teachers until Miss MacGowan left in 1977. Between then and 1982, when the school moved to the new building, the old school house was used for storage and administration. Soon after the move it was occupied for the first time in its life as a private residence by Mr & Mrs Louis who stayed there until mid 1985. At the end of that year the present occupants moved in.
Once it had become clear the accommodation in the old school was fast becoming inadequate the wheels were set in motion for a brand new school (seen right) to be built on the land adjoining the Recreation Ground (always known locally as the ‘Rec’) at a cost of around £100,000. There were protracted negotiations between the Parish Council and Local Authority, and Compton Estates who owned the land to be used for the new school. Eventually an agreement was reached whereby there was a swap of around the 2 acres needed between the parties involving parish land at the old stonepit just to the East of the village by the main road.
So the new school was able to be built and it opened in September 1982 with Mr Richard Wilkins as headmaster with just under 100 children on roll. Interestingly one of the two mobile classrooms that had become necessary at the old building was required at the new school as well but it was expected the numbers would reduce so that by 1984/5 the new school building alone would be sufficient by itself. In practice numbers grew and it was not long before the school was extended with a new sports hall and extension in 1997. The single mobile has long since been supplemented by another and continuous other improvements in other school facilities have taken place. Once Brafield’s own school closed as a result of falling numbers most pupils came to Denton increasing its numbers still further.
Today the total number of pupils at Denton Primary School is 118 of whom 58 come from Denton with the balance from Brafield and other surrounding villages. This reflects the fact that there is now the opportunity for parents to exercise choice over which school they would like their child to attend. The school is a major employer in the village with a total of 24 working there full-time or part-time, 8 in teaching roles and a further 16 non-teaching staff.
The school has its own website which can be found on www.dentonprimary.ik.org .
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