Description:

A school ‘for the education of children and adults or children only of the labouring, manufacturing and other poorer classes in the Township of Longtown’ was opened in about 1869. The school was built on land donated by the Marquis of Abergavenny and soon after opening was funded under provisions of the 1870 Elementary Education Act which enabled compulsory education for children from age 5 to 10, later extended to 12.

Head teachers were required to keep log book records of ‘ordinary progress’: these entries provide an on-going record of the school which can be seen in our digital archive. The Ewyas Lacy Study Group are indebted to the governors of Longtown Community Primary School for permission to publish some 900 pages covering the years from 1873 to 1910. They provide in vivid detail a record of the early formative decades of compulsory schooling in a rural community.

Head teachers named (year of starting]:

Click the links below to see photographs of entries for relevant dates:

Many themes emerging from the log books have been drawn together in a research paper: ‘Self portrait of a village school: Longtown school log books 1873-1910 which can be seen on this website. (Click here to see)