A school was built by the Marquis of Bath in 1845 (Log books began in 1863) 1862
There was a National School at Longbridge Deverill in the 1840s, and a new building of 1851 accommodated 100 pupils. Owing to falling pupil numbers, the school was closed in March 1970 and pupils transferred to the school at Sutton Veny. The building remains in use as the village hall.
A school was built by the Marquis of Bath in 1845. It had accommodation for 95 children and by 1846 there were 30 children at the day school and 70 in the Sunday School. There was a master who received a salary of £18 a year, paid out of subscriptions and fees. In 1858 there were between 40 and 50 children being taught by an uncertified mistress in what was described as a good schoolroom with boarded floors and parallel desks. There was an unfavourable report on the standard of discipline and instruction. In 1863 the schoolroom is described as being 35 feet long by 18 feet wide by 20 feet high, while the classroom was 13 feet 6 inches by 13 feet 6 inches by 15 feet high.
The school continues as Crockerton C of E Primary School.
The school logbooks begin in 1863 and present an interesting picture of the school in the 1860s and 1870s. In 1863 there was a mistress, a pupil teacher, a paid monitor and a junior monitor. Monitors were aged from 14 to 16 years and pupil teachers started at 16. Pupil teachers were taught by the head, outside normal school hours and took examinations at Salisbury. Some monitors also went to the Diocesan Training College at Salisbury to become teachers. Between 1863 to 1872 there were 4 mistresses here, with only one staying any length of time. Some Crockerton parents sent their children to Longbridge Deverill School as that was kept by a master, but in October 1872 Sydney Horlock, the assistant master at Longbridge Deverill took over at Crockerton. He remained headmaster until February 1906. During the 1860s the HMI reports indicated that the school was improving (1866 – ‘children are in nice order and passed a very fair examination’) but from 1869 to 1872 both instruction and discipline declined. The report in early 1873 indicates that the new master was improving matters, although the children were still backward. The reports for the 1870s are fairly good although the school seems to have suffered more than most from lengthy absences of many of its older pupils and this adversely affected performance in HMI exams.
By 1903 this was described as an elementary (all ages) school and it was taken over by Wiltshire County Council in c.1907 when the average attendance was 60. In 1930 the older children (11+) went to secondary schools in Warminster, and Crockerton became a junior and infant school. There were only 27 pupils here in 1955 but this had increased to about 50 in 1968 when there were two classrooms of 476 square feet and 388 square feet, as well as a staff room. In 1998 there were 2 large open plan classrooms, a small office/staff room/library, cloakroom and toilets. There was also a mobile classroom on a small playground and a plot of land for a small playing field. The school serves Crockerton and surrounding villages and in 2002 there were 85 pupils.
The trust deed is a foundational document that shapes the history, purpose, and character of Church schools. Understanding it is essential for maintaining the Christian ethos and celebrating values.
This is our Trust Deed...
2. The Board shall hold the said premises respectively to be used for some one or more of the following purposes with power to vary any such purpose from time to time:
a) For the celebration of divine service in according with the rites and ceremonies of the CofE
b) For religious education in connection with the CofE in the Parishes of Longbridge Deverill and Crockerton respectively
c) As a residence or residences for a teacher or teachers of any school or schools which may be held in the buildings respectively
d) As Sunday schools or classrooms or as meeting rooms or lecture rooms.
e) As places of meeting for religious or social conferences of the clergy and of church workers and of or in aid of any societies designed to promote the religious, intellectual, social or moral welfare of members of the CofE.
f) For any other object and or purpose which may promote the spiritual, intellectual, moral, social or physical welfare of the members of the CofE in the Parish or Diocese but not necessarily to the exclusion of others from sharing in the advantages provided under this or the foregoing subsections.
