Luppitt's School: An Extract from the book 'Luppitt: Parish, Church and People'

"William White in his Gazetteer and Directory of Devonshire, dated 1850 said that "two small schools are supported by Mrs Eliz. P Simcoe". A Devon Record Office exhibiting label adds that "the 1857 directory lists one charity school attended by about 50 children taught by J Orchard and Mary Stone, James Orchard was still teaching in 1870".

No doubt there were many factors which together contributed to the building of Luppitt school which must have been a big step forward towards the education of Luppitt's children in 1872 - 3. An elementary education act in 1870 was probably one of these factors, as a grant from the Board of Education was available. The school deed has been deposited at the Devon Record office which also includes the conveyance of the land on which the School was to be built. This deed is a long and detailed document and too involved to be copied in full; it is hoped that extracts will be sufficient to give enough information.

"Mr Geo. Potter Blake to the Minister and Churchwardens of the Parish of Luppitt enrolled in Her Majy's High Court of Chancery the twelfth day of October in the year of our Lord 1872 (being first duty stamped) according to the tenor of the statutes made for that purpose. Dated 30th May 1872. George Potter Blake of Greenway within the Parish of Luppitt in the Country of Devon Gentleman under the authority of the Acts of the fifth and eighth years of the reign of Her Majesty for affording facilities for the conveyance and endowment of sites for schools do hereby freely and voluntarily and without valuable consideration grant and convey unto the minister and churchwardens of the Parish of Luppitt in the County of Devon and their successors all that piece of land containing by estimation one rood be the same more or less being the South West portion of Church Croft situate in the Parish of Luppitt and nod 431 on the tithe map for the said parish and which said piece of land is now in the occupation of the Reverend George Watts Grainger, clerk as tenant thereof to me and is bounded on the north and west by other portions of the said church croft on the south by a road leading to Hents Moor and on the west by a road from Luppitt village to the church which said premises are delineated in the map drawn in the margin hereof together with all easements appurtenances and hereditaments corporeal and incorporeal belonging hereto or used therewith and all my estate right title and interest in or to the said premises."
Here follows a section dealing with the conditions of use of the school.
"A committee consisting of the principal officiating minister for the time being of the said parish, his licensed curate or curates if the minister shall appoint him or them to be a member or members of the said committee and such of the churchwardens for the time being of the said parish as shall be members of the said church and of seven other persons of whom the following shall be the first appointed that is to say George Potter Blake, gentleman of Greenway in this parish Captain John Kennaway Simcoe, RN and JP of Wolford Lodge in the adjoining parish of Dunkeswell Samuel Doble, yeoman of Windsor, Henry Godfrey, Yeoman of Spurtham, Clement Griffin, yeoman of Gullylane and John Pearcy, yeoman of Barnfield, all in the parish of Luppitt such other persons continuing to be contributors in every year to the amount of twenty shillings each at the least to the funds of the said school and to be members of the church of England as by law established and either to have a beneficial interest to the extent of a life estate in the least in real property situated in the said parish or to be a resident therein or in a parish or Ecclesiastical district adjoining thereto."
Copy of a paper which has survived:
"Luppitt National School. These schools were built in the year 1873 and opened on 7th July the same year by Mr George Berry (master) and Mrs C Berry (mistress). The managers then were: The Rev George Watts Grainger BA, Vicar (Treasurer and Correspondent), Capt J K Simcoe RN of Wolford and George Potter Blake Esq of Greenway. The contractor was Mr Trask of Taunton and the architect Mr Edwards of Exeter. Cost about £900.

A cloakroom was commenced on Tuesday, 14th November 1893. Mr Robert Manfield of Beacon, Contractor, James Totterdell and Fred Hurford, workmen. Amount of contract £12-5-0.

Mr Geo Jas Berry (master), Mrs C Berry (mistress), Master W E Berry (teacher).

The managers now are A F Bernard Esq (Coombe Raleigh), Treasurer and Correspondent, the Vicar, Messrs John Sage (Lower Shelvin) and John Venn (Mountstephen) Standing Committee, and Isaac Loveridge (Colehill) and John Bishop Pearcy (Beacon) by reason of their office as Churchwardens.

The number of children on books are
boys 60 
girls 40 
total 100

Mr Berry here lists the names of these boys and girls in classes:
1st class 7 boys 10 girls
2nd class 11 boys 12 girls
3rd class 10 boys 4 girls
infants 32 boys 14 girls

Parish Officers:
Rev W T Perrott- Vicar
Isaac Loveridge- Churchwarden
John B Pearcy - Churchwarden
Geo J Berry- Clerk and Organist
Chas Wright- Overseer
Joseph Pring- Overseer
Willm Blackmore- Guardian

Population of Parish at last census 1891 was 547."

Dated Luppitt December 1st 1893.
It was explained to me by an uncle, one of the infants in the list, that at the time of the cloakroom work, Mr Berry wrote this paper and put it into a bottle and the bottle into a wall being built. In October 1965 this was explained to our sexton and he said that he had such a paper with a list of schoolchildren and it was subsequently copied. The sexton, Mr Lawrence Rowland, had often worked for Mr Fred Pulman, who had done work at the school. 

© 2000 - J. Sage