THE VICTORIAN ERA

Bromley Common Infant School opened in 1837 in the parish cottages on the Westerham Turnpike (Oakley Road).

A New School was built next to the church in 1847. There is a picture and a map.

Church and School  There was a close relationship between the school and Holy Trinity Church. There is an idealised engraving of the school and the church in 1861.

The Teachers  Some were good and some were bad. We know quite a lot about Mr and Mrs Parker and their son, Alfred who ran the school from 1857 to 1871, enough to give them their own page. The last couple to run the school in the Victorian period were two of the best, George and Julia Moate. They also have their own page - with pictures. The Head Teachers page provides brief details of all the head teachers from 1837 to the 1950s.

Monitors and Pupil Teachers  In Victorian times, few teachers were college trained; most were taught their trade in the classroom. This page tells us about some of those trainee teachers, particularly Lillian Casselden who later returned to Bromley Common as the sewing mistress. 

Inspectors  They came but once a year, usually for only half a day, but the teachers and children prepared for their visit for months. Find out what the inspectors thought of the school.

The Curriculum  Some clues as to what the teachers taught.

The Managers  The Victorian equivalent of our school governors. They included a director of the Bank of England and a friend of Florence Nightingale.

Pupil Attendance  I am afraid that this page is mostly about why they did not go to school.

School Discipline  Not all Victorian children were well-behaved!

The Night Schools  Evening classes for the older boys who had left school.

Health  A contaminated well, the itch and some deadly ailments; not very healthy.

Children’s Pence  Education was not free, even for the poor, but still they went to school.

The School Grows  A new classroom in 1874 and an iron room on Shooting Common - all to avert the threat of a School Board. It did not work.

The Iron Room  An ultimatum leads to another new classroom in 1900: and there is a plan of the school.