Families at Bladon had the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough to thank for the opening of their new village school.
The worthy occupants of nearby Blenheim Palace at Woodstock felt it their duty to make sure village children were properly taught.
They provided the money for the new building. However, they didn’t feel that education should be free for everyone because “people always valued most that for which they had to pay something”.
We published a picture (Memory Lane, September 13) showing pupils celebrating the village school’s centenary in 1958, despite not knowing the exact date it opened.
The only record that existed was a long scroll with the words “The Duchess of Marlborough School, erected 1858, enlarged 1889 and 1894” carved into the stonework near the entrance.
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The opening date is still a mystery, but thanks to reader Shirley Martin, we now have a copy of a report of the foundation stone laying which appeared in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on Saturday, May 1, 1858.
The Duchess had laid the foundation stone on the previous Monday (April 26) in front of a large group of wellwishers.
The newspaper reported: “Her Grace was accompanied by the Duke, the Rev G Brown, chaplain, the Rev Messrs Geare and Steele, many of His Grace’s tenants, several ladies and gentlemen from Woodstock and the neighbourhood, and a large concourse of the villagers, anxious to testify their appreciation of His Grace’s endeavours to improve the education of the district.”
The Duke and Duchess arrived after 3pm and climbed on to the platform. After prayers and a hymn, the Duchess laid the foundation stone.
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Picture 1 shows Bladon Primary School celebrating a good Ofsted report in 2000. In picture 2, villager Vera Hoad meets school pantomime monster Benjamin Tomlin, eight, in 1983. In picture 3 Bill Cook, of British Glass, presents a £400 cheque to Laura Banks, 11, and headteacher Sue Hawkier in 1992. Picture 4 shows a traffic survey by teacher Roz Harper and pupils Huw Bevan, Lucy Beesley and Daniel Wright in 1994. In picture 5 Kendall Williams and Francesca Davie are in the new school library in 2001. And picture 6 shows a heritage education award for pupils from the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough in 2000.
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