| Administrative History | In 1787 a committee of the established church in Chester called the Society for the Promotion of Sunday Schools and Working Schools for Girls was inaugurated. It was inspired by the work of the Methodist Sunday Schools and the ideas of John Heygarth, physician at the Royal Infirmary. [See Fowler op. cit. p. 15-16.] The proposal was for 4 schools teaching a separate home craft at each of which girls would spend one year. Three only were established.
By 1808 the schools had declined to two. Another committee was organised to revive the movement and resulted in the establishment of several new Sunday schools and the increase of working schools to five [see Fowler op. cit. p.40 on].
In 1809 the Sunday schools were amalgamated to form a Central Sunday School meeting in the Union Hall, Foregate Street, with about 240 pupils and another in Handbridge with 100 pupils. Efforts were made to rent the Union Hall for a day school but the rent asked as too high, so in 1810 the Central Sunday School moved to the Blue Coat School.
In 1816 the Working and Sunday Schools were consolidated and a committee of ladies was appointed to superintend the new school to be known as the Chester Consolidated Sunday and Working School. It continued to use the rooms in The Blue Coat School. In 1820 it was united to the National Society and in the same year a ban on teaching writing was imposed which lasted until 1839, in which year the Chester Diocesan Board came into existence to superintend all National Schools in Chester.
The school eventually moved to premises in Princess Street in 1854, having been accommodated in temporary premises in Grosvenor St. John's School since 1852.
By 1886 with the establishment of many parochial schools in the intervening years, the Consolidated School had become a non-parochial school competing with them. It was decided to reorganise it as a Higher Grade School where girls, whose parents were willing to keep them at school for two or three years beyond the age for compulsory attendance, could obtain a more advanced education [see Fowler op. cit. p.171.] New classrooms were added on an adjoining strip of land along Hunter Street in 1894.
Following the Education Act of 1902 control of the school passed to the Local Education Authority as a `non-provided' school.
In 1919 it was designated a Selective Central School land in 1963 the building was closed and the school amalgamated with the College School to form a mixed Secondary Modern School, the Bishop's School at Blacon [see Fowler op. cit. p.193.] |