DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE SCHOOL BUILDING GRANT PLANS-ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

Plans

In August, 1833, Parliament granted a sum of £20,000 annually, to be administered by the Treasury, in aid of private subscriptions for the erection of schools for poor children. In 1839, the Committee of the Privy Council on Education assumed responsibility for the allocation of these grants-in-aid, which in 1843 were extended to cover teachers' house, desks and apparatus. In 1843 and 1844, Treasury Minutes authorised grants-in-aid in respect of training colleges for teachers and practising schools. No provision was made in the Elementory Education Act, 1870 (33 and 34 Vict., c. 75) for continuation of grant to voluntary bodies and applications subsequent to 31 December, 1870 were not accepted.

The plans listed in this inventory are those relating to elementary schools in Hertfordshire (with the exception of DES 17, which relates to training college practising schools) and have been presented as an outright gift to the County Record Office by the Department of Education and Science, with the agreement of the Lord Chancellor, as required by S.3(6) of the Public Record Act, 1958 (6 and 7 Eliz 2, c.51).

The actual applications, which complement these plans and give much information about the circumstances surrounding the foundation and status of the schools concerned, form class Ed. 103 of the records of the Department of Education and Science now preserved in the Public Record Office.

The plans, normally on embrittled tracing paper or stout cartridge paper liable to cracking, are in fair physical condition and should be handled with care. They are in the case of each school, contained in the original envelope used in the predessor offices of the Department of Education and Science, bearing the parish name, school name and former departmental reference number, the latter possibly being linked to the application reference in class Ed. 103.

This inventory lists the plans for each school, arranged alphabetically by parish names. It is specified in each case whether the plans refer to schools and/or teachers' residences. Where drainage systems are shown this is also noted. The type of plans, e.g. of school site, school building, elevations, sections etc., are indicated in the descriptive entry and, where they are given, builders and/or architects' names are included. The dates are those on the plans themselves, where n.d. is used, the plans are undated.