Longhope Church of England (C of E) School was unique in that it was built within
the rectory grounds in 1829. More specifically, it was built on Glebe Land that was owned by the church.
An infant gallery was erected in the school room over the Christmas holidays of 1880 but on the children's
return to school was found to be too narrow for the children to be able to sit comfortably and had to be
altered. Alterations were made to the school in 1911 as a plaque bearing the letters
"C. E. Sch. 1911" (taken to mean Church of England School) exists high up in the wall of the building.
The growing population of the village meant that the school room could no longer hold the amount of children
wanting to attend school so was extended again in the 1930s when a couple of terrapins were put up.
Class one (formerly the canteen for those of us who remember it being so), situated
closest to the rectory was originally a stable. The Rectory though is now a home for the elderly. A photograph of
the school entrance, taken in 2001, is shown pictured on the left. As this was originally a Victorian
school, the separate entrances for girls and boys are clearly visible on either side of the building,
although they are no longer used as entrances.
The everyday events of the school were well documented in the form of the school log book, as was
required from 1862 [2]. The early sections are quite detailed with regards to when children were admitted
to and left school along with reasons which were often because of work or because the parents moved
to a different parish. A memo exists written by the headmistress of the school in 1881 to "complain
of the practise of taking children from neighbouring parishes without a good & sufficient reason. 15 or
16 children are taken in at Huntley belonging to this parish" [1]. The log books are available in the
Gloucester Records Office should anyone wish to view them.
Longhope School was not without its characters. On Monday 4th. March 1901 "the School was
dismissed" owing to the "inexplicable absence of the Master" [1], who shall remain
anonymous throughout. School commenced as usual the following day but under the supervision of
Rev. Barr, chairman of the managers who "gave the Religious Instruction until 9-40, when,
having marked the Registers, he handed over the conduct of the School to Mr. George Hodges
Humphreys, late Head Master of Colubrook Boys' School, Slough, Bucks ..." [1]. He was still
absent on Wednesday until, on Thursday:
"It transpires that ... has been off 'on the drink'
- he left the parish on Monday morning, + did not return to his home until after midnight on
Tuesday - actually Wednesday - a.m. Although he was home all day yesterday (Wednesday) neither
he, nor his wife (the Mistress), reported the fact." [1]
Later that day, after receiving two letters from the headmaster explaining his conduct and
whereabouts the managers held a meeting and
"not considering these letters a satisfactory explanation of ... absence,
or excuse for his abominable conduct, which unfortunately is known, + freely discussed,
throughout the parish; + also having regard to the prejudicial influence of such conduct on the
School, unanimously agreed, + decided, that they could not condone such offence by reinstating
... in the Mastership of the School; and further that his conduct should be brought under the
notice of H. M. Inspector; + also the Secretary of the education department." [1]
Unlike nowadays when schools are closed at the smallest speck of snow, Longhope C of E School was
only closed when the snow became so bad that it meant that the children were unable to walk to school.
It was often the case during heavy snowfall that the younger children could not attend while the older
ones could.
The school was well known for its quality and success rates in the national
Key Stage 2 Test. Sadly though, Longhope School closed in June 2003 to make
way for the opening of Hope Brook School in the centre of the village which
will accommodate children from both the existing schools.
The Nature Garden
Longhope School's Nature Garden was founded by Jean Hawkins at the start of the 1990s and
was situated in the shade of the lower parts of the orchard. It was intended to allow
pupils to learn more about nature, including plant and pond life. A picture of the Nature
Garden is shown in the photograph on the left.
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A building of such importance for decades has been left to fall into ruins
and become overgrown with weeds and a variety of other thriving plant life. We photographed the current
state of the school in June 2007 and some of the pictures are displayed here. The "Little Playground", so called
because it was much smaller than the "Big Playground", was sandwiched between the main school building and the
toilet block. It now hosts a large selection of plant life, including several buddleias.
The history of Hopes Hill CP School is currently being researched.
