PEG Activities - Alresford Primary School

The original school was constructed in 1846 and was situated in what is now a private residence directly opposite the school. It was erected by William Warwick Hawkins, a rich Colchester timber merchant who resided in Alresford Hall.
We are lucky to still have the school log books from 1870, which provide a history of the institution and the growth of the community.
In contrast to now, Alresford was very rural in the 1800s.
There are numerous examples of the school being closed due to snow, which suggests that the weather was harsher back then. The children walked kilometres to school in all types of weather.
The Log Books contain instances where funerals for schoolchildren were held.
Events that occurred outside of Alresford are noted in the log books.
In the First World War, students received a day off from school to go blackberry picking for the Ministry of Food, and songs were performed for Mafeking's relief.
The arrival and eventual departure of evacuees from London are documented during the Second World War.
The books gradually begin to document events that are more familiar to us today.
The Log Books contain a lot of boring information, including visits to the school by individuals whose names are recorded but who are not identified or their purpose for visiting is not given, and the very difficult-to-read Victorian copperplate handwriting.
But what remains is the impression that those of us currently enrolled at the institution are continuing the work of previous generations of students and professors and will soon be written into its history as it moves forward.