Church Sunday School

Beginnings

The Rev. George Turner implied in 1851 that there had been no Sunday school until he built the schoolroom and set up a Sunday School. There are however records of Sunday School attendance in 1817 and 1826 which contradict Turner’s assertion.

1817 Sunday School pupils

The following return shows a list of 16 children who were members of the Sunday School organised by the Rev. Howard (the curate) with James Rudling being the teacher; it also lists 11 children who left that year, with the books which they received as leaving presents.

1826 School report

The formal part of the return from August 30^th 1826 relates to the Sunday School at Morley, but the curate, the Rev. R.M. Cremer, also makes some uncomplimentary remarks about the Deopham school which is under his care:

… I am sorry to add that the school at Deopham under my care & a day school have not made that progress I did expect. The children are small & the Mistress not so good a scholar as I could wish, but the best I could find here to undertake the business – I trust however that the five pounds with which I am indulged from the society is not lost, but that the school, now in an infant state, will in future make a greater improvement.

1851 New Schoolroom

On May 31^st 1852 the vicar at the time, the Rev. George Turner, wrote to the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury saying that there were forty children attending the Sunday school, and that he expected the number to rise during the summer.
There is a reproduction of the original of this letter here.

Banner

The Sunday School Banner:

Photo: G. Sankey, September 2022

1908 Fund raising

1969 End of an era

The following extracts from the P.C.C. minutes mark the retirement of Mrs. Jenny Sewell from her duties of running the Sunday School:

Reproduced with permission from Deopham Church.

Reproduced with permission from Deopham Church.

There were discussions about setting up a joint Sunday School with the Methodists, but this does not seem to have got off the ground.

1989 New beginning

The PCC minutes of October 4^th 1989 record that Mrs J. Thorp of the Gables was willing to start a Sunday School, initially to be held on the 3^rd Sunday of each month at 10:00 in the church. She had received offers of help from Miss Waylay Slade and Rachel Cudmore. On December 28^th 1989 it was reported that the Sunday School “has opened very successfully and membership at the moment is 13”.

Date	Change
19/12/23	Published