Local History Group
The Local History Group normally meets on the first Thursday of each quarter at Old Holly's, Tubbs Lane at 8pm. Please contact Ron Snipp (details below) if you are interested.
Having a clearout? Before you ditch those old local documents or photos, think of us. See below for details of what we are collecting.
What we do
- Collect documents, photographs and other material of local interest
- Talk to older people about their reminiscences
- Maintain a database of records and other material received or loaned
- Project 2000 (ongoing) - collation of history of individual properties
- Mount regular displays on a theme inside the display panel in the village hall
- Update our records, and look for interesting facts and connections
- Produce occassional publications, e.g. Highclere Past & Present
- This booklet is just one of the items on our local history CD-ROM - for details see below
Feature
Highclere School
With schools opening after the summer, let's look back to Highclere School in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
In the nineteenth century the village school was located in 'Old School Cottages' adjacent to Highclere Park. In 1897 it opened in new buildings, just down the road and closer to the church. An 1848 directory of the area lists Highclere School as a 'free school' with Thomas Hughes as headmaster.
The picture above is thought to have been taken around 1910. The school was sold to the County Council in August 1931. It finally closed in 1977 and was converted to the house you see today.
Here are some memories from local resident Nora Wickens who attended the school as a pupil:
"In 1935 there were two classes at the School, the Infants and the Juniors. Possibly the number in the School did not exceed thirty. There were children from the Village, Highclere Street, The Castle and Penwood.
We walked to School via the Coach Drive and normally came home for our lunch. Some of the children stayed at School with their sandwiches. I well remember the enamel mugs and plates. At morning break we all had a bottle of milk.
In the playground there was a sand pit and fish pond. The toilets were outside.
During the war children were evacuated from Portsmouth and Southampton. These children and their teachers joined us at the School. It was during the war that a pupil - Hazel Russel - was accidentally killed by a stray aircraft bullet - this happened in the playground."
There is a whole section on local schools on our local history CD.
Material in this section is © copyright of Highclere Society and contributors and must not be reproduced without their permission.
Highclere History CD
Produced in 2003, this CD contains over 500Mb of content. It includes the Highclere Past & Present booklet and has 20 detailed sections from which the booklet was derived:
- Village halls, barns, churches and chapels
- Great and Little Pen Wood, The Chase, The Castle and the Park
- Houses and residents, maps and aerial photos
- Milestones, Parish minutes, Penwood model railway
- Post offices, shops, tradesmen and public houses
- Engineering works, schools, sports and playing fields
- Transport - roads, railways stations, early cars, buses, garages
- Trees, hedges and hedgerows
- Women's Institute, miscellany, e.g. ghosts, Swing riots of 1830, wartime.
The CD-ROM was made possible with a grant from the National Local Heritage Initiative Scheme as well as support from Nationwide and the Countryside Agency. You can access all this wonderful material by contacting Ron Snipp (details at the bottom of this page) for the princely sum of £5!
How you can help
We are still collecting, scanning and promptly returning photographs and documents illustrating the History of the Village. Here's how you can contribute to our growing collection:
- Loan us your photographs or documents - if you have such material relating to the area please allow us to scan them and extend our database. They will be returned safely to you after being scanned on to the computer.
- Tell us about the history of your property - this started as Project 2000 for the millennium. If you haven't done so yet, please download and complete this form (PDF) with as much detail as you can provide about the house you live in - who lives in it now and previously if you know - when it was built etc. In fact anything that you can discover about it.
- Come to our meetings - these are informal and we usually have some material to share or review.
Any document we receive is protected and filed in ring binders and will be available to be read as part of an on-going Parish History. If you want to present material for archive purposes but do not wish it to be published, then we will respect your wishes.
Thank you in advance for your involvement and help.
For further information
If you think you may be able to help in any way please contact Ron Snipp (Tel: 01635 254026) or email rgs*highclerevillage.com (substitute @ for *).
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