Little information is available to us about the school before the 1860s, but at that time a school log book was started, giving brief but daily accounts of school life at a time before compulsory education was introduced. Many of the entries are repetitious and routine, as might be expected from a small rural village school, but not all! Collectively they give an insight to the life of the village through the activities of the school children and the teaching staff.
The Web Museum features a series of entries covering life in Winsham School from 1863. Also included are extracts from School Inspector’s and Diocesan Inspector’s reports. They indicate how children’s lives have changed since those days, but whether children themselves have changed much is much more open to debate! These records tell of happy times, uncertain times and events of sadness and poignancy, which resonate across the intervening years.
Currently the period from 1863 to the 1880s is covered. Eventually it is hoped that the extracts for the period covering the next forty years will be included.
Click on a period of time in the buttons below to view the diary entries.
Looking for a specific word or phrase? Use the search here to find all references within the logs.
Please note that spellings for names may frequently change. The original spellings are displayed as they occur in the records used. It is also worth noting that some names in log entries have been abbreviated e.g William is often recorded as Wm.