Memories of 178 years of St Paul's

ONE hundred years after the first attempt to shut it down, Boughton St Paul's Nursery and Infant School must finally close its doors to children.

The school, in Victor Street, will close next Friday, July 18, as part of Cheshire County Council's Transforming Learning Communities which blames falling rolls across the county.

Parents, staff and governors campaigned unsuccessfully for months to save the school but finally had to admit defeat.

Chairman of governors Susan Churchill says: "For generations Boughton St Paul's school has been an integral part of the community, offering not only superb education in a small, friendly environment but providing help and encouragement to the whole family.

"Over the difficult period of the closure of the school, families and friends have come together to help maintain that support for the children and teaching staff and have shown wonderful spirit.

"We will be sending our children on with a positive outlook and a secure knowledge base and a true value of friendship to spread to their next schools."

The school was founded in 1830 when St Paul's Church set up a day school in the parish for children of the workers of the mills and the leadworks.

In 1852 an additional school, Boughton Industrial School, was built on the corner of Hoole Lane and Boughton for destitute, orphaned and neglected children.

Five years later St Paul's Day school found a new home in the grounds of the industrial school and the next 50 years passed without incident.

In 1908, the year that whippings are listed in the punishment book, attempts to close both St Paul's Day School and the Industrial School failed.

In 1941 Boughton Nursery school moved to a new premises on the corner of Hoole Lane and what was Richmond Terrace.

The school as it is known today was built in 1972 and opened in 1973 on land adjacent to the existing school - the old school remaining in ruins for 10 years before Boughton Retail Park was built.
Ten years later, the school came under a second threat of closure, this time from Cheshire County Council but campaigners succeeded in keeping it open.

In 1995 a new school hall was added before a third attempt to close it in 1999.
In December 2006 Cheshire County Council's TLC (Transforming Learning Communities) programme is launched, threatening a number of primary school in the county with closure.

Unable to avoid the chop, campaigners eventually threw in the towel and pledged to celebrate the school's 178 year history and enjoy the final terms before closing the gates for the last time.

The school will be celebrating with a service at St Paul's Church on Wednesday July 16 at 6pm and all are welcome.