Did you know?
St. Mary’s Church of England Primary school was 450 years old in 2013, making it one of the oldest schools in the country.
A school house was built at the side of Old St. Mary’s Church in 1563 which housed our first pupils of varying ages. The school then moved to the other end of Church Street, before it moved again to our current site in Barn Street in 1866.
In 1945 St. Mary’s became a primary school. Older children who attended the school were moved to Church Street Secondary School, now William Pattern Primary School. With the demolition of some shops and houses on the Barn Street site in 1980, St. Mary’s acquired some more land to extend the school along Barn Street. In 2000 the school opened its Nursery building enabling the school to admit pupils from 3 years to 11 years.
In 2013 the school community celebrated 450 years of the school which included a Shakespeare themed production and the making of the school stained glass window.