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Summary

School is depicted on the late 19th and early 20th century historic maps of Princetown. It was built in 1874 for the children of prison officers only, who had to pay for each child who attended. It was built by (and cleaned and maintained daily) by convicts. Eventually became the Princetown Primary School.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57SE/345

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• PRIMARY SCHOOL (Constructed, XIX - 1874 AD to 1874 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

'School' is depicted on the late 19th century historic map.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Unchanged from the late 19th century historic map depiction.

Joy, R., 2002, Dartmoor Prison A Complete Illustrated History Volume 2 The Convict Prison 1850-Present Day At Her Majesty's Pleasure, 61, 149-150, photographs (Monograph). SDV359843.

The prison officers' school was built in 1874 for the children of prison officers only. The men had to pay for each child to attend, so in large families, not all children were able to attend. Convicts built the school and carried out the daily cleaning, which included the lighting of the peat fires in the classrooms each morning. They also had to spread and rake screened sand over the playground, then called the parade ground. This continued into the 1920s. The men who carried out the cleaning/maintenance were known as the scavenging party and were chained together with a cart containing their rations. They were carefully guarded by armed officers.
The first parts of the school to be built were the boys' school and the headmaster's house, followed by the girls' school and the infants' school. The school roll was over 270 pupils and teachers were in short supply; the headmaster and his wife assisted by six pupil teachers (possibly older pupils from the school).
The school was handed over and eventually became the Princetown Primary School.

Ordnance Survey, 2016, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV359352.

'Princetown Community Primary School' is depicted on the modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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