The village school and schoolmaster were essentially creations of the second half of the nineteenth century. Before then schools were scarce, and such teachers as there were untrained and often incompetent. The advent of the village school made general literacy possible and opened new doors of opportunity for many. It represented a profound social change and helped to shape political and industrial change also. Yet, in many ways the development of universal elementary education was haphazard and uneven and created considerable problems. In spite of the sweeping changes of recent years, the English education system still owes much – good and bad – to its nineteenth century origins.

Some of the old school buildings, most of them erected between 1840 and 1880, have gone, demolished or destroyed by fire. Others have changed use but remain as an integral part of the village scene, their original purpose still obvious. A number, with some modernisation and new buildings added, still serve as places of education in the 1980s – a tribute to the soundness, if not always to the beauty, of their design.

The present volume endeavours to present original material that will help recreate something of the tensions, problems and achievements of the formative period of our education system. A wide range of material has been drawn upon, but it is important to remember that much of it was written from the point of view of those in authority – inspectors, teachers, clergy. There is very little documentation to record how parents and pupils saw things and it would be easy to over-emphasise what educationalists often regarded as uncaring or hostile attitudes.

Although the emphasis of the volume is on the village school, all the major returns include those for Bedford and Luton, as well as the small market towns of the county. There are also occasional references to the latter for points of comparison or contrast.

The material in the following pages was mostly collected while the author was writing a thesis, The School Board Age in Bedfordshire 1870-1902,for an MEd degree at the University of Leicester. A copy of this thesis is deposited at the County Record Office.