Keysoe School in 1904

Keysoe School about 1900 [X396/150]

Bedfordshire County Council became Local Education Authority for the county in 1903, following the Education Act 1902. In 1904 the CountySurveyor reported on the condition of all the council and voluntary schools in the county under LEA control, excluding those on Bedford and Luton Boroughs which had their own executive arrangements. The surveyor's report [E/SA2/1/1] took the form below. 

KEYSOE COUNCIL SCHOOL

GENERAL WORKS                         £87/13/10
SANITARY WORKS                        £190/0/0
HEATING & VENTILATION             £33/10/0
NEW WORKS                                   -
                                                                                    £331/3/10

House

GENERAL WORKS                         £30/9/1
SANITARY WORKS                        £10/0/0
HEATING & VENTILATION             -
NEW WORKS                                  -
                                                                                    £40/9/1
            TOTAL                                                            £351/12/11

Keysoe School and House (Council)

These are brick built, with stone dressings, and tiled roofs, quite modern, of good proportions, well lighted, the top portion of each light to windows opens for ventilation purposes

Large Room – 52 feet 3 inches x 18 feet 9 inches x 14 feet 3 inches to 21 feet 9 inches high

The floor is badly worn. Nearly one-third of the boards need restoring

The fire places need repairs, the stoves securing, fire bricks and hearths renewing, and chimney pieces repairing.

The Tortoise stoves need stone slabs 3 feet square and 3 inches thick, rubbed face, and square edge solidly bedded, and fixed flush with floor.

The horizontal stove pipes should be abandoned, and direct vertical pipes set up through roof, with proper flashings, and heat cooling space tube to save contact with wood. Ladders should be fixed up slates for easy access to these, off gutters, where possible.

The stoves as now provided are said to smoke. The above provision should remedy that defect.

Two Exhaust Vents and 10 Tobin fresh air inlets should be provided.

The room needs thorough renovation, viz: whitening and colouring renewing, painting two coats, stained and varnished work touching up, as before.

Infants’ Room – 30 feet 3 inches x 18 feet 9 inches x 14 feet 0 inches to 20 feet 0 inches

The same general repairs are needed to this room.

A small air Exhaust is fixed on this roof.

Four Tobin Tubes are necessary.

Lobbies

These are fairly spacious, but not well lighted or ventilated; this should be remedied. All need repairs and cleansing.

Each Lobby should be provided with three Lavatory basins and wastes, and, for a water supply, galvanised iron tanks should be fixed overhead to receive the rain water to the extent of 6 feet 0 inches x 5 feet 0 inches x 2 feet 0 inches, with overflow to outer drain of full capacity, and supply pipes laid down from such Tank to each basin, the taps to be under lock and key. A manhole into tank should be provided for cleaning and repairs.

A 3 inch glazed socket-pipe drain requires laying from the basin wastes to a Slop well built and rendered in cement, remote from building, and a jack pump providing to irrigate land when necessary. The tank should be 9 feet deep, 3 feet diameter, and covered with a stone cover-lid.

The doors need repairing and hanging, making sound, also locks and fastenings, and new ones providing where worn out, also window fastenings, furniture, blinds and cords.

Offices

These are all slightly built, common privies, within a few feet of several School Windows, and also very near to the Well.

They should all be cleared away, and properly constructed Earth Closets and Urinal Vessels provided, as at Maulden. There appears to be plenty of land for this. The continuance of existing conditions may, at any moment, lead up to a serious epidemic.

A Coal Barn for the School is in this Block.

External Repairs

External repairs are necessary to brickworks of buildings, fence walls, roofs, Bell turret, eaves pipe, down pipe, pointing, and flashings. All defects to these should be soundly restored, and all pointing renewed. All wood and ironwork previously so done before to be painted two coats, and all new woodwork four coats.

The iron gate should be repaired and renewed, and the fencing thereto made good with vertical iron fencing, at 7s 6d per lineal yard as may be directed.

Drains

All drains, traps, surface grates and pits should be cleared, repaired, and left in working order.

Playground

This is extensive, but does not show signs of much use.

House

This is a six-roomed dwelling, somewhat larger than usual. The rooms are as follows: -

13 feet 0 inches x 12 feet 0 inches x 9 feet 9 inches and Bay
12 feet 8 inches x 10 feet 0 inches x 9 feet 0 inches
8 feet 9 inches x 8 feet 4 inches x 9 feet 0 inches

Three bedrooms over are the same size.

Damp rises in all the walls, causing a very unwholesome smell, damage, and dry rot; a damp course should be inserted.

The Tile roof over the Stairs and front doorway is too flat a pitch to discharge the water, hence damp and decay. This should be soundly re-installed, and slated, with lead step flashing or a lead flat and parapet.

Coal and Copper Houses

These need repairs

House Privy

This should be at once converted into an Earth Closet, as it is very near to the Drinking Well.

The house, excepting points named, was in very fair order.