In 1870 the Education Act (also known as the Forster Act) was passed by Parliament. It required the establishment nationwide of elementary schools for children between the ages of 5 and 13.
Before this, there were many small schools in existence, run by churches, guilds, and private individuals. There is some evidence of such a school in Littlehempston. It may have been run by Mrs Eleanor Cole in her home (which was probably what is now Post Cottage – see the 1851 census). R.Bovett, in ‘Historical Notes On Devon Schools’ writes:
‘The first reference found to a regular school (in Littlehempston) is in the Directory of 1873, which mentions a National School and gives the name of the school mistress who later took charge of the new school. With no previous references in Directories, or elsewhere, that can be traced, it would seem that some accommodation was found temporarily in an existing building, pending the erection of the school, for which a site had been acquired in 1873.
‘The site immediately opposite the road to Parsonage Cross, and lying between Littlehempston Bridge on the north, the road through the village on the west, and the railway on the east, was conveyed by the Duke of Cleveland to the Rector and Churchwardens for a National School. (See copy of conveyance document.) The School was duly built in 1875.
‘After the 1902 Act, under the LEA it continued as a Voluntary Church School, but only up until 1919, when it closed, and the pupils transferred elsewhere.
‘The school building is still there, and evidently consisted simply of a schoolroom with a porch at one end, and is now a private dwelling of two storeys, the upper floor having been added and dormer windows inserted in the roof.’
The first reference to a schoolmistress in the village appears in the 1871 census. She was Victoria Matilda Osment, aged 30, born in Exeter. She appeared again in the 1881 census, now living in Church Cottage. Other teachers mentioned over the years were A.White, E.Jordan, W.Field, Susan Pearse, Miss Hosking, Mrs Davies, Miss Arthur, and Miss Hardwick.
In 1901 Mrs Alice Andrews (1855 – 1917) took over as headmistress. She lived with her husband George in ‘The School House’ on Ackrells Hill. She died of pneumonia aged 61, and was buried in the churchyard (without a stone) on January 12th 1917.
The school closed down in 1919, and the pupils dispersed elsewhere -mostly to Berry Pomeroy. The building then became a Parish Room, and many village social events were held there. The facilities are remembered as somewhat primitive (an Elsan behind a curtain!), but many good times were had there. It was offered to the village as a permanent village hall, but the offer was not taken up, and it became a private house in the 1960s.
