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The Victoria History of Essex records that Tiptree Heath, now enclosed and cultivated, extended into several parishes. It was evidently part of the Great Essex Forest. An inquisition of 1401 shows that Tiptree Heath comprised several thousand acres in which free-holders and tenants of the parishes of Inworth, Layer Marney, Great and Little Braxted, Totham, Tollesbury, Wigborough, Maldon, Salcott, Goldhanger, Wickham Bishops and Langford had common right for their cattle and estovers of the trees and under-wood for repairing their buildings, hedges and for fuel.
In
1841, a London business man, Mr J.J. Mechi, purchased land in Tiptree
Heath and brought his considerable powers to bear to turn this very
poor farm land into a prosperous holding, which, because of the
revolutionary methods of agriculture he adopted, was to become
nationally famous within a few years. It is from this time that the
history of Tiptree C.E. Primary School really begins. Mechi is credited
as being the initiator of the efforts to build a church for the people
of Tiptree Heath; he was a generous subscriber towards the cost
involved.
An Act of 1843, which made possible better provision for the spiritual care of populous parishes, enabled Mechi and his colleagues to approach the Ecclesiastic Commissioners to form the new Ecclesiastic District of Tiptree Heath. Under the terms of this Act the outlying portions of the parishes of Inworth, Messing, Tollesbury, Tolleshunt Kinghts, Tolleshunt D'Arcy and Great Wigborough, together with the extra-parochial piece of land known as “Longlegs” were formed into the new district. Funds were raised by voluntary subscription to erect a church of 500 sittings on land given by the Earl of Verulam, Lord of the Manor. The church was completed in 1856 at a cost of £1800, and was consecrated as St Luke's, Tiptree Heath, on 17th October, 1856. The new district became a new Parish on the 11th November, 1858, the details being published in the London Gazette, 24th June, 1859.
Under the 1861 census the new Parish had the following total population:-
| Great Wigborough 109 | Tolleshunt D'Arcy 11 | Messing 85 |
| Tolleshunt Knights 134 | Inworth 473 | TOTAL 877 |
A parsonage was erected at a cost of £900 in 1859 and the first Rector, the Reverend W. Frend, installed. Thus the way was now clear to begin collecting money with which to erect a school-house and a dwelling for the teacher.
In 1862 the population of the parish was quoted as 853, consisting chiefly of agricultural labourers scattered over an area of 3000 acres. At this time, however, there was silk factory in the village, which had been opened some years before by Messrs Hall of Norwich and Coggeshall silk throwsters. This factory employed about 80 people.
In the parish there were two inefficient dame schools, held in small badly ventilated cottages. One of these averaged an attendance of 50 children, the other – 12 children. In addition, within a mile of the new Church of St Luke's, Tiptree Heath, was a Dissenters' Meeting House to which was attached a British and Foreign Society's School opened in 1844. This averaged an attendance of 35 boys and girls. There were also Church of England day schools in the villages of Messing, Tollesbury, Great Totham, Birch, Great Braxted and Kelvedon, which served the needs of these villages. The children living on the outskirts of the new Parish may have been able to attend one of these, but for the greater number of children the distances would prove too great.
The first official record of the plan to build the school-house and teacher's dwelling is found in a letter dated 18th March 1861, from the Rector of St Luke's, Tiptree Heath, the Rev. W. Frend, sent to the National Society for the Education of the Poor. This first letter asked for a form of application for financial assistance towards the cost of building the new school proposed for the parish. Eighteen months were to pass before the Rev. Frend was able to submit this completed form to the National Society for consideration, by which time he had raised £152:16s:0d. by voluntary effort and had been promised a grant of £20 from the Diocesan Board.
Grant aid of this kind was made by the National Society only if it were clear that there was a need for a school and that there was enough financial support available in the area to sustain the school when it was opened. No grant aid was actually made until the building was completed and all bills met. This is brought out very clearly by a letter sent later, in which the Rector of Tiptree Heath states that he has an overdraught at the bank through paying all charges against the school, so may he please have the grant promised to enable him to clear the overdraught.
It was proposed to erect a school-house 36 feet by 16 feet by 14 feet to accommodate 76 boys and girls, with a dwelling for the teacher at a total cost of about £350. The National Society promised a grant of £20, provided that the school when opened, were conducted on the principles laid down by the Society. No request was made at this time to the Government's Privy Council on Education, as the Rector and his colleagues wished to be independent of Government aid.
The task of raising money to complete the building of the school-house went on. Appeals were made to parishioners and interested clergy outside the parish, while local endeavours in the form of bazaars and sales of work were arranged. One of these is fully reported in the Essex Standard of August 1863, which was held at Tiptree Hall, the home of Mr J.J. Mechi. This bazaar was particularly successful, as can be seen from the following extract of the newspaper report.
“On Thursday last a most successful Fancy Bazaar was held at the home of Mr J.J. Mechi, Aldreman of the City of London, in behalf of the school now in the course of erection for St. Luke's District, comprising Tiptree Heath, the spiritual condition of which until recently was very much neglected...
To
give an additional attraction to the bazaar, Alderman Mechi, who has
been most assiduous in his exertions to further the erection of the
school kindly allowed use of his charming grounds for the occasion and
invited his agricultural friends to inspect his model farm and to give
their opinion whether it looked anything like paying. The invitation
was most cordially accepted and a large number of landed proprietors
and tenant farmers strolled over the farm making a minute inspection of
the crops. The bazaar was opened at 12 o'clock. During the day 1000
persons paid admission at the gate, including most of the elite of the
county. Among the company present during the day we observed Earl
Lonsdale and the Lord Rayleigh, together with a tolerable muster of the
leading agriculuralists of the county. The weather was delightfully
fine and among the many attractions were the Wizard entertainment,
fancy stalls, wheels of fortune, Aunt Sally, archery, boating on the
lake and the band of the West Essex Militia. A substantial sum will be
handed to pay off the debt of £150 existing on the school. On Friday
the grounds were opened again at a reduced charge of 6d. The children
of the school were admitted free, were well fed and cared for, while
the band was detained for an hour to enable the rural families to
listen. The remnants from the refreshments were converted into good
soup, which on the Saturday evening was distributed to the labourers of
Tiptree Hall Farm, who with their wives and children assembled on the
lawn in front of the mansion. Alderman Mechi and his family formed part
of the assembly and a happy evening was spent.”
The school-house was completed and the school opened in January 1864, but as there is no record available, it is not possible to say who was the first teacher or to comment upon the school's organisation. However, it is recorded that in December 1866, Miss Frances Mary Noble, aged 19, was the teacher. She was of “excellent character, but had not been previously employed as a pupil teacher, was untrained and uncertificated.”
By January 1871 the population of the village had so increased that it was necessary to enlarge the school, which had been built to accommodate 76 children. The average attendance was between 60-70 children, there being 90 on roll. The school was also used as a Sunday school and in the winter as a night school.
The Reverend W. Frend had been succeeded by the Reverend F.R. Laurence in 1866 and it was he who now made application to both the National Society and the Government Committee to the Privy Council on Education for grant aid to enlarge the school. There is nothing in the records to show why at this time governmental aid was sought, but it is likely that the provisions of the recently published Education Act 1870 suggested that there was everything to be gained by seeking such aid. One of the factors that may have had great importance was the danger that if a church school was proved to be inefficient or insufficient, a School Board could be formed in the area to provide adequate means for the children's education.
It was proposed to erect another classroom at right angles to the room already in use, and at the same time make a small classroom for infants by extending the earlier building. The estimated cost of this was £300 towards which only £60 had been collected. Grants were received from the Diocesan Board (£40); National Society (£30) and the Government Committee (£52).
Miss Noble, the school teacher, received a salary of £25 per year plus the vale of the “school pence” which at this time amounted to £6:16s:0d and she lived at the school dwelling free. The “school pence” was a payment made weekly by each child attending school charged according to the means of the parents and the number of children from each family. Thus infants were charged 1d per week, some older children 2d per week, some 3d per week. When there were more children from the same family the charges would be reduced from 3d to 2d and from 2d to 1d.
The Trust Deed laid down the general principles on which the school was to operate and the qualifications and constitution of the Management Committee. The following is an abstract set out in the School Managers' Minute Book, 1892-1903:-
“Abstract of the Trust Deed – Trustee – Archdeacon of Colchester.
The School shall be absolutely a Church of England School for Messing and Tolleshunt Knights.
The Committee shall consist of the Rector, the Curates or Curate if appointed by the Rector; the Church Wardens and three others elected.
The lay members of the committee are to make and sign a declaration in the presence of the Chairman, that they are bonafide members of the Church of England. Those elected must be possessed of at least a life interest in property situated in the “District” of Tiptree or must be residents and contributors of at least 20/- to the school funds during the current year.
The electors must be contributors of at least 10/- to the school funds during the year, be qualified as regards residence and membership of the Church of England as the persons elected. They may vote at a meeting duly convened for the purpose or if not present, may do so by a paper sent before the meeting to the Chairman. They are allowed to make one vote for each 10/- subscribed, but not more than six votes in all.
The teachers shall be members of the Church of England. The Rector is ex officio Chairman of all meetings; in his absence a chairman is to be elected by the meeting. Differences of opinion among the Committee will be settled by the Bishop, whose decision will be final.”
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