Court de Wyck Church School

As a teacher at a small village school, the Local History Fellowship offered an opportunity to connect with and be inspired by colleagues from across the country as well as developing my knowledge of incorporating local history onto my school’s curriculum. My school has mixed aged classes necessitating a complicated three-year rolling program for all foundation subjects. Located 12 miles from the heritage rich and diverse city of Bristol, we had previously dismissed the history of the village itself as not having enough of interest to build into a meaningful enquiry. How wrong we were!

Amongst the many gems which I have already uncovered whilst diving into the wonderful world of local history, I came across a local Friends Meeting House. Upon discovering that this Grade 2* listed Georgian building was a mere 10 minutes’ walk across the fields opposite our school I arranged to meet the clerk of the management committee for a tour. For a small village which started life as a farming hamlet it was amazing how this one building provides interesting links to national history as well as some fascinating characters whose stories warrant further exploration. William Penn, the founder of the state of Pennsylvania, visited the meeting house with other prominent Quakers of the 17th century. The grandfather of renowned astronomer, and prover of one of Einstein’s theories, Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington is buried in the grounds. The building itself was rescued by donations from the prominent Clarks family from Street who have their own ancestral connections with the village. These snippets of history provide the starting point for an exciting exploration into the past inhabitants of the village and prove that all around us are stories waiting to be uncovered and brought to life once more.

Fern Hunt, Court de Wyck Church School, Claverham, North Somerset