The above image shows the part of the school on Gillingstool Hill in Thornbury which was opened in 1863. Unfortunately this photo was taken around 1970 as we have no images from the period when the separate entries for boys and girls were still being used. During its history, the school has had many names. It started life as Thornbury British School before becoming Thornbury Board School. It later became Thornbury Council School as well as The Leaze and then Gillingstool Primary School in 1985.
We are grateful both to Thornbury and District Museum and to Tony Cherry whose research led him to publish his book ‘ The History of a School,’ which provided much of the information here.
British Schools were set up as an attempt to provide universal free education. Up to this time, children were educated either in expensive private schools or by schools provided by the Church of England and intended only for children attending the parish church. This meant only a small percentage of children had even a minimum education. British schools were started by a society founded by Non-Conformist and Evangelical churches. The full name of the society was the ‘British and Foreign School Society for the Education of the Labouring and Manufacturing Classes of Society of Every Religious Persuasion.’ It still exists today under the shorter title of the British and Foreign School Society.
Thornbury already had a British School which was located in Bulsey’s Lane (now Bath Road), according to the Tithe Map of 1840. This was probably just a schoolroom inside a small cottage.
Handel Cossham who was born in Thornbury in 1824 was a committed Non-Conformist. He later became a wealthy mine owner. Education was hugely important to him as it was to all Non-Conformists who believed that everyone should be able to read in order to study the Bible and religious texts for themselves. He had already established a British School in 1850 near his colliery and later an infants school at Pucklechurch as well as British Schools at Mangotsfield and Staple Hill. He was now determined to have a purpose-built British School in his home town of Thornbury. He bore the full cost of the purchase of the land and of the erection of the building, amounting to more than £700. Click here to read more about Handel
As the inscriptions still visible over the doorways show, the building was commenced in 1862. Handel’s commitment to this school must have inspired others. When he officially opened the school in March 1863 the newspaper report of the time said that Mr Lawrence, a builder from Bristol, prepared the plans ‘free of expense and executed the carpentry on liberal terms.’ Apparently the other tradesmen undertook work ‘in a similar spirit.’ The masonry work was carried out by T & R Ann of Alveston, Mark Ann & Son did the plastering and painting, and Mr White did the glazing.
The school was to be similar to those British and Voluntary Schools already existing in the country. It was not to receive aid or be subject to inspection or control by the government. Its purpose was to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, scripture, history and (in the case of girls) plain needlework. The Bible was to be read daily and explained but no child was to be required to learn the Church Catechism or to attend any Sunday School or Place of Worship to which the parent or guardian objected.
The founding deed of the new British School stated that there must be at least 10 trustees but no more than 20, who were to be elected annually with a subscription of at least 5 shillings. In 1863 the trustees of the British School in Thornbury included Handel’s father, Jesse Cossham, a builder, and brother-in-law Joseph Wethered, a coal owner of Arley Hill, Bristol.
Most of the other trustees were from Thornbury or nearby. These were Edward Harwood of Woodhouse, John Hatcher of Marlwood Grange, Thomas Ricketts, cooper, Henry Knapp, ironmonger, George King, baker, Charles King, tin plate worker, Henry James Dodd, draper and grocer, James Screen, baker, William Shepherd, draper, Charles Augustus Porter, accountant, Thomas Hignell, farmer, John Honeyborne, grocer, James Eley, carpenter, Revd John Morgan and Revd John Matthews, two Dissenting Ministers, Jonah Whitfield the Younger, miller, George Fryer Elliot, draper, Charles Olds, bootmaker, John Williams, tailor and Thomas Ann, builder.
The remaining trustee was Joseph Benjamin Brain of Dale House, Bitton, a coal owner.
It was intended that the building could also be used for public meetings, Temperance meetings, lectures, concerts, and any other purposes ‘of an elevating and moral character,’ providing that any profit from these events could be used for the benefit of the school. It is interesting to note that the children were obviously encouraged to play, which seems a very modern concept. The playground was provided with swings and roundabouts ‘for the purpose of developing the muscular energies of the youngsters.’
When the government assumed responsibility for elementary education with the Elementary Education Act 1870, British schools became locally administered board schools. This must be why the school’s log books show that it was subject to regular inspections, despite the original intention to be free of state control.
The original school in Gillingstool comprised of a single building with separate entrances for boys and girls. It very quickly proved too small for its purpose. We understand that in the annual report on the Infants School of 1873 the inspectors complained about the very limited size of the room and in 1874 the Infant school was closed for a two-day bazaar to raise funds to expand the classrooms. In 1878 the Infants school transferred to the Quaker Meeting House in St John Street. However this move did not give the Infants the facilities that the inspector insisted upon to the extent of threatening to withhold the annual grant to the school.
The above photo shows the new infants school opened on 23rd June 1899. The new buildings were constructed using Milbury Heath stone with Bath freestone dressings. The roofs were covered with Littleton tiles. Water from the roofs was collected in two rainwater cisterns and used to supply the wash basins. Drinking water was procured, as previously, from the nearest hydrant.
The building works cost £2,603 and included an extension of the existing school. Additional furniture brought the overall cost to £3,000. In order to accommodate the new building, a plot of land had been purchased next to the existing school, at a cost of £150, and two cottages on the site had been demolished. At the same time an adjacent parcel of land had been purchased from the Grammar School to provide a playground for the Infants.
Over the next 50 years, very few changes were made to the buildings. The range of subjects taught expanded and new rooms provided for a library, cooking, woodworking and needlework classes. A garden was established and evening classes introduced for adults. In 1935 flush toilets replaced the old bucket style toilets and in 1937 electric lights replaced the old gas lamps. During the Second World War air raid shelters were constructed in the playground and also a large new canteen that produced meals for distribution to schools in the surrounding area.
After the War the population of Thornbury began to grow rapidly and there was insufficient space in the School. Classes were held in rooms provided by the Baptist and the Methodist Church and the Church Institute in St Mary Street. Temporary buildings were also constructed within the school grounds. By the mid 1960s there were 10 such buildings. It carried on this way until 1989 when a new Junior School was opened on the site of the old kitchen block. Further ‘temporary’ buildings were still being built up to 2001. Later when facing possible closure it was decided to create a new school on a site shared by New Siblands Special School. The new schools opened in 2010.
We have added another page with a brief history of some of the head teachers of the school. Click here to read more