Dame Schools are interesting buildings that give insights into the early education of children. Not many former Dame School buildings have survived making this a really lovely example.
The school building was built in about 1780 by Yeoman farmers of Raisbeck. Raisbeck is situated in the historic county of Westmorland. The building is located on a site still known as “The Green” which was common land excluded by the Enclosure Act in 1769. The building is now in the ownership of Orton Manor Court.
The old school is a small two-storey stone building with a roof of local slate. It has one room upstairs and one room downstairs. The walls are built with coursed, squared rubble with quoins. There is only 1 fireplace, with the chimney on the north-east gable end.
The children of the locality would have received their earliest education at the school, and perhaps their only one before they started bringing money in for the household. However, there was little control over the standard of the teaching. The curriculum would have likely included the church catechism, reading, knitting, and sewing, as well as anything else the trustees thought suitable. Unfortunately no records exist of former pupils or teachers. However, tales handed down through generations give tantalising glimpses back to what school life was like in Raisbeck. One such tale mentions that both the boys as well as the girls were taught to knit.
The schoolhouse was repaired in 1857 after it had been declared to be in bad repair and unfit for use. A meeting of inhabitants of Raisbeck was held to discuss how it could be repaired – a sum of nearly £30 was raised (a considerable amount at that time).
From 1862 to 1867 the school was let to a local man. It is unclear why this occurred so recently after the renovations, and the census of 1861 shows there were a number of children of school age. The Education Act of 1870 and the subsequent moves towards the provision of compulsory education had probably signalled the end of the building as a school. This and subsequent Education Acts possibly led to the closure of many of these types of schools. Before this act there was little formal provision for working class children in England and Wales. So you can see why schools like the one in Raisbeck were established. The majority were found in rural areas and areas of poverty.
The old school building found a number of different uses around the turn of the century. In the 1890s more repairs were undertaken. In the early 20th century the room was used a clubroom by the many hired hands working on the farms in the area. It was then used as a temporary residence in the mid-1920s.
By the 1970s the old school building was in a bad condition. It is thanks to Michael Ffinch and local supporters that the building was designated and restored. The Dame School is now open to the public. Interpretation panels have been installed inside giving its history, this includes a poem written by Michael Ffinch.
Well worth a visit if you are in the local area or walking the Coast to Coast path!