Victorian Schools
The Schools
In Victorian times, there were three day schools in the main village of
Burley. There was also one at Burley Woodhead, but that is not covered
here.
Greenholme Mills School, opened in 1856
Burley schoolgirls and boys with a teacher outside their building
which is now the Annex to the Queens Hall. The pupils were half-timers
working half-days at the Mills and half-days at school. The school
closed in 1897 as the demand for half-timers had virtually ceased and
the cost of the school was becoming a burden on the finances of the
Mills.
Burley school boys and teachers possibly about 1880. The headmaster, Thomas Clark, is standing at the end on the left. Other male assistant teachers can also be seen. The boys were all half-timers at this period. Thomas Clark had been appointed as the head teacher in 1856 when the school opened, and he was to remain head until the school closed in 1897.
He became in his thirty-nine years in the village a much respected man.
The National School, opened in 1837
The former school building, opened in 1898, to replace the old school in
Back Lane. It opened amid much argument in the village about church
schools and non-denominational schools. At the same time as it opened, a
non-denominational school opened in Methodist Church buildings in Main
Street. In year 2000 the above school was closed after much argument
about school reorganisation and church schools in the village.
Some of the younger boys and girls of Burley National School in 1899, after its move from Back Lane to the new premises in Aireville Terrace.
On the right is the new headteacher, Mr. Richard Gossop. He was head until his retirement in 1934.
The Township School, opened in 1817
A modern photograph of the Township school building. It is now owned by a
private company , but the exterior remains much as it was in the 19th
century, when it also provided accommodation for the Burley Local Board
of Health.
Burley Infant boys and girls with their teacher outside the Township
School. The names of the pupils and teacher are not known, but the
little boy holding the board identifies the school (it is clear on the
original). The year is about 1890.
Burley infant boys and girls probably in the 1890s.
The name of the photographer survives on this print: Radcliffe Bros of Leeds. They operated at the address shown until 1898.
For further information about the Schools in Burley and Woodhead see the publication of the Burley Local History Group
M. & D. Warwick, Our Schools: A History of Schools in Burley–in–Wharfedale, 1998