History

The British Schools Museum bills itself as the Home of the Education Revolution a bold claim but one that has a great deal of truth about it.  The museum is built around and authentic early Victorian school established in the 1830’s and is remarkably unaltered since it was opened. The history of the museum goes back to 1810 when an old malthouse on Queen Street was transformed into a schoolroom for 200 boys and 100 girls, the children of Hitchin’s poorest residents.

There are 4 authentic school classrooms that make up the museum experience. One is the Monitorial Classroom built in 1837.  The Monitorial classroom is a huge hall, built to hold 300 boys, taught by a single Master with the aid of 30 monitors, or older students. This style of teaching was based on the Lancasterian method established by Joseph Lancaster and is the only surviving example in the world. It is an eye-opening experience to see how the boys were seated in row upon row on long benches, facing the Master. 

The second classroom is the Gallery Classroom, built in 1853 to house 110 students under a single master. By 1905 the Queen Street school was taking in 700 local students.  To handle the numbers two new classrooms were built.

The British Schools Museum provides a fascinating glimpse into a world of Victorian schooling.

Reported paranormal activity includes full body apparitions, loud footsteps and crying voices are often heard.