At HitchinTV, we love supporting local businesses. When we were looking to sponsor a worthwhile charity, the choice seemed obvious. The British Schools Museum, located near to the town’s market, is a fabulous example of the importance of keeping history alive, making it captivating and real for adults and children. We are now proud to be the principle sponsors helping to maintain the British Schools Museum, keeping its fascinating history alive.
The museum is hailed as the home to the education revolution. Educational pioneer Joseph Lancaster visited Hitchin in 1808 and inspired William Wilshere and a group of likeminded philanthropists to set up a school where children of the working poor could be educated. Lancaster established the ‘Monitorial method’, whereby one master could teach up to 300 children in one large schoolroom.
This was an era when impoverished families wouldn’t otherwise have dreamed of being able to secure education for their sons, let alone their daughters. From 1810, all were now welcome to the opportunity gain an education, to escape the desperate poverty in which they lived.
The school world’s last remaining purpose-built Monitorial schoolroom remains beautifully preserved in the British Schools Museum building, and dedicated volunteers donate their time to provide interactive tours and demonstrations.
The selection of videos we’ve created help raise awareness of all that the British Schools Museum offers. If you would like to give your own support, while enjoying a sociable night out, check out our Haunted Hitchin page or book a place on one of our highly successful Haunted Hitchin Film Nights now.
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