Times Gone By

Sowton Village Hall hasn't always been a Hall. It started out life as a barn then was turned into a Parish School. At that time the population of children was greater and village/parish schools were the norm. Later after the war the building no longer required as a school and was set up in trust as a charity village hall, like many village schools. The education authority at the time disbanded the village school and built new, larger schools in an effort to be more efficient. Below are some snapshots that have remained.

SOWTON SCHOOL PUPILS in 1923 27 in photo

Back row

Ivy Coldridge, Donald Betts, Ginger Brearley, Willy Collingwood Sidney Coldridge, Peter Drew, Ronald Seldon, Sidney Hole

Middle row

Harry Collingwood, Chievley Drew, W.Foulds, Frank Collingwood, Audrey Seldon, Reta Vickery,

Richard Vickery, Arthur Dunster –Tucker, Joan Tucker, Winnie Coldridge, Ethel Fowles

Front row

Daisy White, Lesley Collingwood, Sid Sanders, Doris Lane, Cyril Collingwood, Edith Brealey

Everyone had to walk to school – no transport was provided

Brealey’s lived at a farm building at Honiton Clyst end of village. Father was a farm labourer. Betts lived at Rectory Lodge. Father was a gardener to Rev. Cullen and in Exeter. Coleridge’s lived in the centre block of cottages at right angle to the road. Mother was a widow. Collingwood’s lived at Fawns Cottages and walked to school over the marshes. Drews lived at the bottom end of village by the canal (leat?) in farm cottage. Father was a farm worker. Dunster’s lived at third cottage down from the school. Father was a gardener at Bishops Court. Fowles came from between Bishop’s Court and Clyst St Mary on “new path”. Holes came from Seldon Nurseries – now part of Sowton industrial estate. Seldon’s lived in second cottage from school; Father was a chauffeur to the Garretts at Bishop’s Court. Vickery’s Mother was a widow, ran Cat and Fiddle, they walked down lanes to Bishop’s Court and

round to the new path (when flooded they were allowed down Bishop’s Court Drive)

Whites lived at Virginia Gardens up the hill. Father Bob White, market gardener.

School Mistress: Mrs Harris, then Miss Aldridge

The infants were looked after by the senior girl pupil – Ivy Coldridge.

What is interesting, is that a lot of the surnames of these children at the village school can also be found on the village Great War Memorial (see the War Memorial page)

This is Jesse Scott and her father, who was a gardener. The photo was taken in the garden, opposite what was now Ann Wilmington's home and is now Ange and Mark Thomas's.