Whitwell schools
A School House was recorded on Sleigh [Slay] Lane in Whitwell, Isle of Wight in 1851. The schoolmaster was Richard Barnes, and his wife Pheobe the schoolmistress (both aged 62), their granddaughter was an assistant teacher.
In 1861 Richard and Pheobe Barnes were still in residence as schoolmaster and mistress.
A new building for a mixed National School for 120 children, with a residence for the master, was built on the High Street in 1863; in 1898 the average attendance was 90. In 1911 the school was an Elementary school under the Isle of Wight County Education Committee and the average attendance was 93.
The school, then Whitwell Church of England School teaching infants, juniors and seniors, closed in 1944.
Today (2021) the school building is the Whitwell Village Hall and the master’s house is a private residence.
