Celebrating two centuries of schooling for village youngsters

Inskip School Juniors calss with Mrs Walmesley in 1953

For it is 200 years since the village started providing formal education for it’s youngsters.

Villagers are planning to mark the great achievement with a host of celebrations.

People of all ages have been sharing their memories of the village school and the current children are learning all about its history.

The youngsters have discovered a wealth of facts about their school - which is still housed in the original building - although they have discovered that a wall was built around the playground in 1871.

The bricks were donated by the Earl of Derby.

Compulsory education was introduced in principle by the Elementary Education Act of 1870.

Back in the 1800s people had to pay to send their children to school and, according to the school’s mini historians, the first mention of an attendance officer visiting Inskip took place in 1877.

The school house was widened to take up to 110 pupils back in 1872 - but numbers are considerably lower now.

Inskip is named in the Domesday Book among the manors of Earl Tostig in 1066.

Its subsequent history is very obscure

Before the Reformation there was a chapel at Inskip, but it disappears afterwards, probably claimed as private property.

The school is named after the parish church of St Peter, which still plays a pivotal role in thhe life of Education in the village

In 1848 St. Peter’s was consecrated for the services of the Church of England. The vicar of St. Michael’s is patron.

The school is also supported by Inskip Baptist Church, which also started nearly 200 years ago.

On Saturday from 10am to 4pm, there will be an informal BBQ with maypole dancing and children’s games through the ages and a display of the history of the school.

Sunday continues the celebration with the harvest festival service at 10 am which will include contributions from the children and the church will be open for refreshments and a further opportunity to see the display until 4pm.

So if you fancy a trip down Memory Lane go along.