Only boys from rich backgrounds were educated and this was for the Church. The Church had a lot of power and influence and governed the structure and behaviour of society. Towns were built around monasteries and abbeys, whereas villages were built around small priories. In Hanslope there may have been a priory down Park Road between the old vicarage and Ivy Farm. These religious communities cared for the local community; they provided health remedies, looked after the poor, composed music for the church and provided education for the priesthood. One third of the population would have been connected with the church in some way.

Types of Education

Cathedrals, abbeys and monasteries. The clergy were the teachers. Only boys were allowed. These could be boarders or day boys. The books were all hand written in Latin and the education had to be paid for. Bradwell Abbey 1431 "There were some teachable children. Instructed in reading, singing, and elementary branches of knowledge. They ate with the monks."

Grammar Schools. These were in towns and taught Latin.

House of priests or canons in small towns and villages.

Exchange system. Where sons of the gentry would exchange with other noble families to learn knightly chivalric skills.

Villages. The priest would teach in the church.

The Poor. There was no education for the poor. They learned from the pictures and the stained glass windows in the church. The church walls were plastered white and then covered with paintings. Hanslope's church had the plaster removed from the walls in Victorian times. There are still some paintings to be seen at the churches in Lathbury and Broughton.

18th Century onwards.

Big public schools started for boys only. The teachers were still mainly clergy. In the towns the number of grammar schools increased. In villages, charity schools appeared where the patron either built a school or paid for education to be given by the clergy in church property. In Hanslope the charity schools were Lady Pierrepoint 1721, Feoffee Trust and a school built by Squire Watts in 1840.

The dates of some of the schools are approximate as precise dates have not been found at the time of producing this web page.

Return To Map

The Parochial School

Benjamin Hindes Boarding School circa 1761.

Benjamin Hindes was a farmer who gave up farming to open a boarding school. Adverts for his school appeared in the Northampton Mercury in 1761 and 1762. The site of his school may have been at Holiday Lane, as an old map shows the site of a large building at the end of the lane. This location would have been half a mile from the village as stated in his adverts. Holiday Lane was so called as the only time the students were seen was when they came down the lane to go home for holidays.

The Manor house was built c.1450 by Thomas Stokes, it was on the site where the Watts Arms and Western Drive have been built.

This was a boarding school for boys. Mr. Addison was the headmaster. The school was in existence from pre 1786 (the date of the advertisments) to circa 1800.