The Parish Church was the centre for most of a town’s activities in years gone by and formal education was no exception.

The first evidence of a School in Rayleigh dates to the year 1548 when records show that the porch of Holy Trinity Church was used as a schoolroom for six children.

In 1640 Isaac Gilbert donated both property and money to help educate the poor children of Rayleigh and by 1763 the Rev. A.A. Sykes had given £200 (£15,000 in today’s terms) to teach poor children the 3 R’s (reading/writing/arithmetic).

The Gilbert and Sykes charity was formed by the early 20th century and had been grouped under the “Rayleigh Charites”.

The first proper schoolroom dates to 1792 when the Rev Moor, the Curate of Holy Trinity, loaned the churchwardens the sum of £75 (£4,000 today) to discharge the expense of building a new schoolroom for the use of the Parish.

In 1863 the building was demolished and rebuilt and became the National School. A sign on the brickwork at the front of the building states ‘Boys National School Rebuilt 1863’. The building is now called “The Old Parish Rooms” and is a weddings and private hire venue.

The Baptist Church under the Rev James Pilkington who came to Rayleigh in 1797 catered for the non-Anglican children and he opened his “Classical and Commercial Academy” which is now the site of the Roebuck Public House. When the Weatherspoon’s chain took over the site the initial intention was to name the pub “Pilkington’s” after the former use (as they do with all of their pubs) but a number of locals thought it “inappropriate” to name the pub after a teetotal Baptist Minister. Hence the name “Roebuck” which is a derivation of Rayleigh’s name.

In the year 1864 a new building to the side of the Baptist Church became the British School. At this date education was not compulsory and children were often absent from school helping on their parents’ farms or indeed attending such events as the Trinity Fair.

In 1895 the first council school was built in Love Lane and accommodated 72 infants. In 1904 a boy’s school was built alongside and soon after another block enabled the school to accommodate girls as well.

With the town’s continual growth of population by the 1930’s temporary blocks were built in the playground. Indeed by the 1920’s a number of other buildings (Parish Hall, Royal British Legion Hall, Caley Hall, and Salvation Army Church, amongst others) were used as temporary classrooms.

In 1934 the Essex County Council planned a senior school in the Hockley Road to accommodate 480 pupils. A condition of the funding was that every classroom had a sink in it so that in the event that war broke out the school could be requisitioned as a hospital with each classroom able to become a hospital ward.

The School now Fitzwimarc opened in November 1937 and although war was declared in 1939 the school was never requisitioned. The first boy to be canned was on the first day for sliding down the bannisters.

Post World War Two education acts, combined with a further increase in the town’s population, required more primary and secondary schools to be built. For example Sweyne School opened in 1958, and was flooded on its first day!

The year1966 saw two new primary schools, Edward Francis and Our Lady of Ransom, both of which celebrated 50th anniversary in 2016. Rayleigh now has eight primary schools as well as our two senior schools to accommodate current demand. In addition there are a number of pre schools and nursery’s dotted around town. With the proposed further housing in and around town the pressure for more schools will no doubt continue.

This brief article is by no means a complete list of the history of education in our town, more a glimpse into certain aspects. For those who wish to investigate in more detail I recommend a visit to the Rayleigh Town Museum where you can find Noel Beer’s excellent booklet “Education in 19th Century Rayleigh” as well as those books by Ernie Lane and Ian Yearsley with more detail. Indeed as part of the ever growing collection of Rayleigh artefacts in the museum you will be also be able to view some of the minute books from the “Gilbert and Sykes Charity”.