It was in 1837, the year of Victoria’s accession to the throne, that the internal walls of two of the Parish Cottages were removed to make one large room. This was then furnished for use as an infant school: Bromley Common Infant School. Another cottage in the row was repaired and furnished for use by the teacher, Mrs Corfield.

 
Plan of the Parish Cottages in 1865. It is not known which cottages were used for the Infant School and the teacher's home.

The cottages were not a particularly suitable home for a school;  despite having been built only a few years earlier, there had already been complaints about damp. The only toilets were two earth closets at the end of the row.

The single room of the new school was about the same size as a modern classroom but long and narrow, about 12 metres by 3.8 metres. As the average number of pupils ranged between 60 and 114 according to the school's accounts, it must have been very crowded. It must also have been rather dark inside as the photograph below shows that the cottages had very small windows.

The Parish Cottages shortly before their demolition in 1894.

The accounts that were published and distributed to the supporters of the school each year are our main source of information about the school. From these, we know that most of the income of the school came from the more affluent local people in the form of donations and subscriptions, and from the penny a week that the children paid. The government gave nothing. 

The main items of expenditure were the mistress’s salary of £30 to £40 a year and repairs to the schoolroom. 

In 1846, Mr Rawson, the vicar of Holy Trinity Church, described the school as "merely two cottages thrown into one and dilapidated." It is difficult to see how any school could be effective in such poor accommodation.

Fortunately, plans were being made for a new school. With the school accounts for 1844 came this message, “In consequence of the inadequate accommodation afforded by the present infant schoolroom, it is proposed to erect another as soon as possible by voluntary subscription and, should the future admit of it, to build a house for the mistress in addition to the school room.” 

The proposed site was next to Holy Trinity Church which had been built just three years earlier.

When the new school opened in January 1847, the infants (and the £14 left in the Infant School funds) were transferred there and the Parish Cottages reverted to their previous use. They were eventually demolished in 1893 having been condemned as "insanitary" and "filthy".