THE DOORS have closed on more than 150 years worth of history at Bicester’s oldest primary school as former pupils look back with fond memories.

Pupils past and present have bid farewell to St Edburg’s Church of England in Cemetery Road.

The school left the building – which is said to be one of Bicester’s oldest dating back to June 1859 – at the end of last term and moved to a new location on the Kingsmere development on Monday, January 7.

To mark the move, pupils have been learning about the school’s history including hosting a bellringing ceremony with the original school bell and a Victorian school day to turn back time and get into character.

Headteacher Margaret Kunzer said: “The school itself is more than 150 years old and we held a special history topic as we prepared to open on a new site on the Kingsmere development.

“This was a really special time for the school as it celebrated its history and looked forward to moving to a wonderful new building.”

Ahead of the move, many students past and present took part in a school memories event held at the old building.

Fond memories were conjured up for many looking back on their time at St Edburg’s, including three generations of the Twynham and Moore family. Claire Twynham is a past pupil of the school, as are her children Saskia, 14, Anouska, 16, and William, 12, and mother Pat Moore.

She said: “We all have very fond memories; my grandmother, mum, myself and my three children went there.

“I remember there used to be a lot of swifts that would fly around the playground and we would have our sports day over in Pingle Field – where you would get a ribbon on a safety pin if you came first, second or third.

“I have lots of silly memories like that, having great fun in the playground with friends.

“My grandmother also said that when she went from Launton, the school gave her a free bike to get there as I think it would have been the only primary school back then.

“I really am sad to see it go and it is very close to the church in Bicester, which I think they will miss that link at the new site.

“I met my best friend Sarah Zdyrko at St Edburg’s and we are still friends now and our children are friends. It has been a part of all our lives.”

A committee was formed to plan and build the school and headed by the Rev John Watts, Vicar of St Edburg’s, whose name can be found on the foundation stone laid in July 1858.

Initially boys and girls were taught in two separate classrooms at the school as well as having separate playgrounds.

The primary school welcomed its first ever computer in October 1986 and later welcomed the then Banbury MP Tony Baldry to have a go on its first computer.

The building was extended in 1972 and further work followed in the early 90s. At one time, pupils were being taught in 40-year-old pre-fabricated buildings alongside the original building.

Caversfield resident Peter Marsh, 44, attended St Edburg’s School in the 1980s.

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He said: “I am still friends with people I went to school with.

“My little brother Simon and friend Paula Mann have known each other since school because our names were next to each other on the register.

“We laugh about memories like playing British Bulldog in the playground and going over to Pingle Field looking for bugs, or the school nit nurse and the dentist that came in.”

The Diocese of Oxford – which owns the site in Cemetery Road – is in the process of selling it to help fund the new building.

Work on the new school building in Whitelands Way started in November 2014.

It will allow the school to double its current pupil intake of about 150 students.