Photograph of Overton and its Penny School
Taken about 1865
The substantial village of Overton, which had a population of about 1,500 in the mid 1800s, lies between Andover and Basingstoke, not far from Whitchurch. In this view of the area once known as 'Dublin' (now the Kingsclere Road) the principal building is the Penny School, which was built in 1836 after a schoolroom ceased to be available in the Overton Workhouse. The project was championed by the Reverend David Williams, who had promoted the education of the poor since coming to the village as curate in 1816.
He succeeded in obtaining a grant to help finance the scheme from the National Society which had been founded in 1811 to promote education of the poor in the principles of the Established Church. Other subscribers included the Bishop of Winchester and the wealthy Portal family from nearby Laverstoke House (makers of bank-note paper), and the Reverend Williams gave generously from his own pocket over many years.
The building was enlarged with the addition of a second schoolroom in 1849, perhaps to better accommodate girls whose attendance was no longer restricted to Sundays by this time. However, a decade or so later the site's shortcomings were being increasingly recognised and the building of another new school for Overton was under consideration.
The photograph was taken by Winchester photographer William Savage (1817-87) and is found in an album entitled 'Hampshire Views of Churches, Country Houses and Public Buildings'.
