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From the beginning there were close ties with St. Mary's Church, the schoolmaster being required to conduct what we would
call a Sunday school, and the Vicar giving Scripture lessons at the school. The building was also used for Church meetings
out of school hours.
The school was so successful that in the early 1800's it was suggested that Fairford girls should also receive an
education. At that time it was considered unnecessary to educate girls, and there was considerable opposition to the idea.
Eventually the matter went to litigation. The Court made the enlightened decision that the original foundation did not
specifically exclude females, and girls could be admitted. The school buildings were extended and a Girls school opened
in 1815. It was totally segregated and run separately by a Schoolmistress. The boys' accommodation was upstairs and
approached by an outside staircase, and the yard was divided by a stone wall into separate boys and girls areas.
In 1871, having been sanctioned by Parliament and approved by the Charity Commissioners, the funds from
Lady Jane Mico's apprenticeship charity were amalgamated with those from Mary Barker and Elizabeth Farmor, to form a
new educational charity, administered by trustees, which still continues today.
Co-education came to Fairford in 1922, when the Boys and Girls schools were combined under one Headmaster,
Mr. Herbert Hedges, and the school changed its name to Farmors Free School to honour its major benefactoress.
A plaque on the school wall pays tribute to the remarkable service of Herbert Hedges, who served as Headmaster of the
school for 25 years, and Churchwarden for St Mary’s church for 38 years. A second plaque commemorates an earlier Headmaster,
Richard Green, who died in 1767, recording “the uncommon assiduity and abilities with which he discharged the duties of his profession”.
From Victorian times, the school was the centre of education in the community, and there are records of the Vicar giving
lectures on advanced subjects such as "Electricity". Adult education classes started officially in the building in 1925,
when the Fairford Evening Institute was formed. Initially, only vocational subjects were studied, but later the range was
extended to include arts and recreational subjects.
In the post war period of educational growth, after the Secondary Education Act, the building became the secondary
school for the whole area, including Lechlade and surrounding villages, and became very overcrowded. Gloucestershire
County Council, the statutory education authority, built a new secondary school, Farmor's School, in Fairford Park and
in 1961 the pupils moved out. In return for the new school, the old building passed into the ownership of GCC, and became
the centre for all sorts of community activities, meetings, playgroups, old peoples clubs, but particularly the Youth Club.
By the mid 1960s, there was a large and thriving Youth Club with a full time Youth Leader living in the building and
dividing his time between the Centre and the new school. The Council had an office and the County Library also used
part of the building. Unfortunately, GCC was not in a position to spend money on maintenance and modernising, and,
though reports were made on work which needed doing, it was not forthcoming.
In 1977 the people of Fairford decided to make the refurbishment of the Community centre its official Silver Jubilee
project. Money was collected by public appeal, and the old building was redecorated, re-fitted and adapted, and reopened
in February 1979. For some time there was a period of greatly increased community activity and enjoyment, new clubs and
societies were started to take advantage of the improved facilities, and the usage was high. However, as the years passed,
the building once again began to deteriorate. New regulations meant that the kitchen was inadequate, and the heating and
electric wiring were unsatisfactory. By the year 2000, GCC had decided that it would be uneconomical to maintain the
building to the standard required, and it was put on the market.
St’ Mary’s PCC and Fairford Town Council were both interested in acquiring the building for largely the same purposes,
and it quickly became apparent that co-operation would be more productive than competition. A joint committee was formed
to investigate the state of the building and consider its future possibilities, and in November 2002 the building was
bought for the town. The PCC and Town Council each purchased part of the building with the intention of raising money
for restoration and refurbishment and then managing the building as a whole, for the benefit of Fairford and to meet the
changing needs of its people for the foreseeable future. After serving the town for almost 3 centuries the building will
be subject to a one and a quarter million £ renewal project which will bring it up to 21st century standards and give
it a new role in the community.
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