The Hundred Pound School

The first edition of this book was written in 1992 to celebrate the tercentenary of Richard Durning's Endowed School, a rural primary school at Bispham, near Ormskirk, Lancashire, UK. The book was an important part of a year of celebrations. The school still occupies the original building which has been extended and modernised. Key to the existence of the school is the foundation Charity, Richard Durning's School Charity, set up by the founder to support the school and provide money for the binding of apprentices. Though the school is now run as a state primary school the charity still helps the school and its former pupils who can now receive grants to help them learn a trade or profession. The charity possesses every minute of every one of its meetings since 1693. This edition of the book has been updated to bring the story up to the present (2016). A new chapter on the history of the building has also been added. The book will be of interest to anyone connected with the school. It will also be of particular interest to those studying the history of English education to see how the various acts of parliament have affected life in a rural endowed school.