| Administrative History | The records of the St Mary's schools are complicated by the rearrangement of parish boundaries in the nineteenth century.
The original parish of St. Mary-on-the-Hill included the township of Handbridge. However, in 1887 the new church of St. Mary-without-the-Walls, (in Handbridge) was substituted as the parish church with part of the former parish area inside the walls being transferred to the parishes of St. Bridget and St. Martin. Finally in 1891 the church of St. Mary-on-the-Hill became the parish church of St. Bridget's parish.
An infants' school was opened in Handbridge in 1828 under the auspices of the Chester Infant School Society. A boys' department was also in existence in 1840 in Handbridge, which discontinued in 1844. At that time there were also girls' and infants' departments housed in the rectory (within the walls).
In 1846, with aid from the Government and the National Society, a building was erected within the walls to house St. Mary's National School which consisted of infants' and mixed departments.
In 1861 a new school, presumably to replace the 1846 school, was built and paid for by the Marquis of Westminster.
By 1863 the reports in ZD/ES/11/1 show that the mixed department was operating as separate Boys' and Girls' schools, while Handbridge St. Mary's opened in 1828, continued as an Infants' School.
In 1876 a new school was built in Handbridge called the Handbridge St. Mary's National School. It took girls only until 1887, when a boys' department opened. It is not clear whether this consisted of the transfer of all or part only of the Boys' school from within the walls. Soon after the reports on Chester St. Mary's National School [St. Mary's Hill] only mention Girls and Infants [see ZD/ES/11/1].
Later St. Mary's Hill became as Infants' School only.
Handbridge St. Mary's became a combined Junior and Infants' school from 1948.
The records of these schools are complicated by the rearrangement of parish boundaries in the nineteenth century.
The original parish of St. Mary on the Hill included the township of Handbridge. However, in 1887, the new church of St. Mary without the Walls in Handbridge was substituted as the parish church, with part of the former parish area within the walls being transferred to the parishes of St. Bridget and St. Martin. Finally, in 1891 the church of St. Mary on the Hill became the parish church of St. Bridget's parish.
An infants' school was first opened in Handbridge in 1828 under the auspices of the Chester Infant School Society. A boys' department was in existence in 1840, which was discontinued in 1844. In 1876 a new school, called the Handbridge St. Mary's National School, was built in Handbridge, principally with the help of the first Duke of Westminster. It accommodated girls and infants only until 1887, when a boys' department was added. Handbridge St. Mary's School became a junior and infant school in 1948.
The present St. Mary's School, Handbridge, was built principally with the help of the first Duke of Westminster and opened in 1876, although there are references in the records to a school in existence there before this date. In 1828 an infants' school was opened in Handbridge under the auspices of the Chester Infant School Society. This school closed in 1860, but the infant school in Handbridge may have been continued by St. Mary's parish. The school opened in 1876 accommodated girls and infants, and a boys' department was added in 1887. In 1948 Handbridge St. Mary's became a junior and infant school. |