Rampton: Education

Education

In the early 17th century one of the curates kept a school and in 1685 there was a dame school. (fn. 1) No reference has been found to educational provision in the 18th century, but by 1818 the rector was paying for a day school for 40 children, which continued in 1833 with a smaller number. (fn. 2) A National school in a new brick building opposite the rectory was opened in 1845 and had 58 pupils by the following year. (fn. 3) In 1861, however, the rector reported that only a few children attended regularly, and the one-legged schoolmistress, appointed to prevent her becoming a charge on the parish rates, had recently been dismissed. The rector's application to use part of the income of the Town Lands charity to support the school was evidently refused and the school closed. (fn. 4) There was a dame school in the early 1860s and in 1868 children attended schools in Cottenham and Willingham and a Sunday school held at Rampton rectory. (fn. 5) A Baptist Sunday school was being held in 1862. (fn. 6)

A school board was formed in 1874, the only Rampton member at first being C. E. Ivatt. Unable to persuade Cottenham to form a joint board, it rented the National school building in 1875 for a nominal sum. (fn. 7) Half the revenue of the Town Lands charity was assigned in 1878 to scholarships for regular attenders. (fn. 8) Average attendance remained above 30 until the First World War but fell afterwards. (fn. 9) The older pupils were sent to schools in Cottenham and Willingham in 1923 and the school closed in 1963 with 20 pupils. (fn. 10)