Jenner's School is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

former school in Bath Road,

Cricklade Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...

, Wiltshire, England. It was built in 1652 and then became a

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

. It became a school again in the 19th century and is now a community hall.

History

The school was built in 1652. It was founded by Robert Jenner (died 1651), a goldsmith of London, and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

, by a legacy from his estate which included £20 per year for the schoolmaster. There is a monument to Jenner in the north aisle of the parish church,

St Sampson's St Sampson (Guernésiais: ) is a parish of Guernsey, an island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, directly north of St Peter Port. It is on the north-west and north-east coasts of the island and is split into two sections, intersected by Vale. The pa ...

, which is adjacent to the school. Only boys were admitted and they were taught in Latin, as stipulated in Jenner's will. The school had closed by c. 1690. From 1719 the building was the parish

, and it was enlarged in 1726–27. In 1840 most of the building was bought for use again as a school, and in 1843 a government building grant was obtained for work to be carried out on the structure. This became St Sampson's National School. National schools were set up in the 19th century by the

National Society for Promoting Religious Education The National Society (Church of England and Church in Wales) for the Promotion of Education, often just referred to as the National Society, and since 2016 also as The Church of England Education Office (CEEO) is significant in the history of educa ...

. These schools provided elementary education, in accordance with the teaching of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, to the children of the poor. In 1923 it was changed to an infants' school. The school closed in 1959. The former schoolroom became the Cricklade parish hall and was renamed the Jenner Hall. It is run by a charity.

Architecture

The two-storey three-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

building is of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

rubble with

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

dressings and a stone slate roof. The northern end of the building houses the single-storey schoolroom. The entrance is via a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d porch on the north side.

References

External links

{{Schools in Wiltshire Grade II* listed buildings in Wiltshire Buildings and structures completed in 1652 Former school buildings in the United Kingdom Defunct schools in Wiltshire Cricklade