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Peterston super Ely History Trail
Peterston super Ely Church in Wales Primary School
Peterston super Ely Church in Wales Primary School – this is the second school to be built in the village, and opened on 13th May 1974 with 133 pupils.
History Trail
As part of our 50th celebrations we created a history trail of the village. Click on the map to see some of the interesting features of the village and their history.
Peterston Castle
Peterston Castle - Ruins of a former Norman castle. You can still see a substantial stretch of wall, approximately 4 metres high standing between the houses known as Castle Bungalow and Caehir, this is all that remains of the North eastern tower of the castle built by the Norman lords of the manor, the Le Sor family in the mid 13thcentury. It replaced an earlier structure destroyed by the Welsh which in turn was sacked and destroyed by Owain Glyndwr in 1403.
Old School House
Old School House – this house is the original site of the school.
On March 10th, 1847, the school inspector David Lewis visited the Dame School and Church School at Peterston Ely and reports “Both schools are held in a small wretched cottage near the village. The “Dame” received £5 per annum which is provided by the Rector and Curate. Four children read from the Testament, but only one appeared to be at ease with the reading”.
The ‘present’ school was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Spencer Ricketts, of Buckinghamshire, who owned land in the parish, although a deed conveying the rights to the rector and Church Wardens, is dated 1857, the school was not built until 1866, and was enlarged in 1892 to accommodate 118 children.
The first entry of the school log book reads:
June 11th, 1875. These schools were reopened in connection with the Education Department on Monday, June 7th when I took charge of them. 15 children. 11 boys and four girls, were admitted on Monday morning. This number increased to 21 viz. 16 boys and five girls in the course of the week. Attendance very regular. Sewing Mistress took girls in sewing on Monday and Friday afternoons. Boys had drill on Friday afternoon.
Signed George Griffiths. Master.
St Peter’s – This is a large stone built medieval church with battlemented West tower. The churchyard also contains an ancient yew tree. The first historic reference to the church is in the valuation of Norwich of 1254 although the present Norman church is thought to have been built on the site of an earlier Celtic church, and dates mainly from the early 15th century. The sturdy tower houses a ring of six bells, originally cast in Chepstow in 1717. The lychgate at the entrance to the churchyard was erected in 1922 in memory of the men of the parish who died in the Great War.
More recently the church has been used in television shows such as Gavin and Stacey.
Village Hall - In 1924 Mrs Ada Brocket, a resident of the village whose husband had been killed in the Great War, expressed a wish to provide facilities in the village primarily for young people where they could meet to prove their talents and develop their organising abilities, but also for the social and related needs of the people of Peterston. She met the entire cost of the land and the building, which was opened in 1925. The hall is able to seat 250 people.
History of Peterston School-
The current school has been on it's existing site since May 1974, when it opened with 133 pupils. The Headteacher at that time Mr J.Ewart Jones collected some of the more interesting log book entries of the school, dating back to June 11th 1875.
Special Deals
Inspired by The Heart of Sitges written by Joe Woodhouse, one of the village residents, Year 5 and 6 wrote their own book about the history of Peterston and called it Galon y Pentref - (The Heart of the Village) You can read it by clicking on the link.
Many thanks to Jean Silvan Evans who kindly gave permission for us to use many of the articles originally written by Dennis Silvan Evans which appeared in the Parish Magazine through the 1990's.
We would also like to credit to J. Ewart Jones who compiled many of the school log book records.