Photograph of Overton National School
Taken about 1868
The village of Overton, which could boast a church and two chapels, an annual sheep and lamb fair, a railway station, a reading society (for men) and numerous trades and shops, gained a new National School in 1868. It was situated on a corner of the crossroads in the centre of the village, a healthier spot than the old location by the river. The benefactor was George Lamb, a solicitor with local connections who purchased and donated the site in 1863 and paid for the building as a memorial to his parents.
The building was the work of the prominent Winchester architect John Colson, who designed about twenty church schools between 1847 and 1871. The two schoolrooms at right-angles and the adjacent teacher's house can be seen here; John and Mrs Shorten were the master and mistress at this time.
The children standing in the playground would have been taught reading, writing, arithmetic, holy scripture and church catechism, with geography and history for the boys and domestic economy and needlework for the girls.
The photograph was taken by Winchester photographer William Savage (1817-87) and is found in an album of his work.
