Monument record 46/0/40 - Former Village School Aynho

The former site of Aynho village school. The school was built around 1830, but certainly before 1845. The building was roughly north/south aligned consisting of one schoolroom with very high ceilings and exposed beams. Attached to the south were separate girls' and boys' entrance lobbies. To the north were three facility rooms (e.g. coal room). It appears that in the 1940s the one schoolroom was divided into two rooms. The western wall featured two large fireplaces. To the south of the building was a playground. The school is now (2012) demolished.

{1} The former site of Aynho village school. A watercolour of the school by Lili Cartwright of circa 1845 shows a gallery seating, lesson posts, blackboard, map stand, writing desks and improving texts. The painting depicts a one storey building with windows along both sides and a central stack at one end. The school is now (2012) demolished.

{2} In 1812 the National Society for the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Church of England reformed the village school teaching in Aynho. By 1813 50 children attended the school. The teaching was conducted in a farm barn as no house large enough existed as yet in the village.

{3} A school plan of Aynho village school dated to 1830 is published in Dawn Griffis, Aynho Village Life, the Way it Was - Then Before and Beyond of 2007. It depicts a building roughly north/south aligned consisting of one schoolroom with very high ceilings and exposed beams. Attached to the south are separate girls' and boys' entrance lobbies. To the north are three facility rooms (e.g. coal room). It appears that in the 1940s the one schoolroom was divided into two rooms. The western wall featured two large fireplaces. To the south of the building was a playground.

<1> Harwood, E, 2010, England's Schools: History, Architecture and Adaptation, p. 23 (Book). SNN111982.

<2> COOPER N.J., 1984, Aynho: A Northants Village, p. 272-3 (Article). SNN42457.

<3> Griffis, D, 2007, Aynhoe village life, the way it was - then, before and beyond, p. 24-5 (Book). SNN115959.

Record last edited

Feb 4 2025 8:40PM