Who was Richard
Coates?
When did he die?
He was a merchant who lived at
Horton Grange.
He died in the reign of George
I.
What has he got to do with
Ponteland?
In his will he left instructions
for a Charity School to be built in Ponteland to
educate 15 boys and girls. He also provided money
for grey coats and caps for the boys and grey
dresses or capes and petticoats for the girls.
There was no other school in Ponteland at
that time.
So was he very rich if he
left all that money and why did he leave it for a
school?
He wasn't VERY rich. The money
for the school had to come from the rents of houses
he owned in Newcastle.
We don't know why he left it for
a school. He did not have any children of his own,
so PERHAPS he wanted to help other
children.
Is the old first school still
here in Ponteland?
Well! Sort of! It is the
building on the corner of Main Street and North
Road.
It's now an estate
agent's.
When it was first built it was a
single-storey building just used by a small number
of children aged 7-11. Then more children came to
the school and an upstairs room was added.
When children left school, they
went to work.
Was it just like our school
with the same lessons and
everything?
Oh no. For a start, it was very
strict with lots of use of the cane and the strap.
The children did not have books to write in. They
had to bring their own slates. There were no
textbooks to begin with. Books were very expensive
in those days. The only lessons were in Reading,
Writing and Arithmetic. The children had to learn
many things by heart. The Vicar came to school
every day to hear the children recite from the
Prayer Book.
If they had to walk so far,
what did they do if the weather was very
bad?
They got very wet and cold and
had to try to warm up and get dry round the small
fire in the classroom, which sometimes smoked so
much that the Master did not have it alight.
Sometimes there was such bad
flooding or heavy snow that the school was closed.
The only light was from small windows or oil lamps
- if there was any oil left.
So that was the Richard
Coates School then and now there's one on Thornhill
Road?
No. That was the first one. In
1872 that school was so overcrowded that the
Inspectors said they would not give it any more
money.
A new school was built next to
the Church, where the Coates Green is now.
That had many more pupils, about
175 but was still very crowded, with three or four
classes all in one room, all chanting their tables,
catechism and spellings. Very noisy! They sat in
desks for eight children too, so not much
space.
What did they do at playtime
and lunchtime?
The only playground was just
covered in soil and was often very muddy or frozen.
Later it was sometimes covered with ash, so you can
imagine it would scrape and scratch. There were
only earth lavatories, with no running water, which
might get flushed once a day from the pump in the
yard.
At lunch time local children
went home, but some children walked up to four
miles to school, so they brought a sandwich and a
tin bottle with perhaps some tea in
it.
What happened to the school
next to the Church?
The Coates Endowed School which
opened in 1874 was there until 1968. Schooling
became compulsory in 1870 so there were many more
children at the school, including, from 1910, a
large number from the Cottage homes (now the Police
Headquarters).
In 1909 it had been decided to
build another school on the North Road. This school
had no connection with the Church of England or the
Richard Coates Foundation and some pupils were sent
there on religious grounds. This school became
known as the Top School or Council School and after
some time it took older children.
In 1930 the Coates School became
an Infant/Junior School.
Ponteland Coates Endowed
Secondary School ~ the Third School
This school opened in 1959 in
Thornhill Road. It had been proposed by the
Governors of the Coates Educational Foundation in
1939, but the Second World War started in September
1939, so it was not until after the war and the
lifting of building restrictions that the new
school was built.
Ponteland pupils who passed the
11+ exam were to go the newly-built Walbottle
Campus School and no more pupils would go to
Gosforth Grammar School.
Richard Coates C of E Middle
School ~ the present day.
In 1970 the Northumberland
Education Authority proposed reorganising schools
into a 3-tier system. First schools 5-9, Middle
Schools 9-13 and High Schools 13-18.
The Coates Endowed Secondary was
to become the new Middle School and still
is.
Despite all the changes that
have taken place in Ponteland, the name of Richard
Coates, who founded the first small school in 1719,
two hundred and eighty-eight years ago, still lives
on.
Richard Coates was a
true benefactor.
Coates School
Badge
The badge is divided into four
quarters.
One quarter shows the mitre
(bishop's hat) and another the castle. Both connect
Coates School with the Diocese of Newcastle.
The other two show
demi-leopards. These are "heraldic beasts" and can
be seen in the 14th century window in St. Mary's,
Ponteland.
They are believed to be part of
the coat-of-arms of William de Valence,
half-brother of Henry II and once Lord of
Ponteland.
EXTRACTS FROM THE
SCHOOL LOG BOOKS
1868
Oct 20 A number of scholars
away gathering potatoes.
Nov 4 Two boys who forgot
their slates and Reading Book were kept in at
noon.
1872
June The building has been
condemned by the Inspector of Returns & I can
only confirm his opinion. There are absolutely no
offices of any sort nor any playground.
My Lords will be unable to
continue their grants to your school, unless
satisfactory buildings be provided.
Kennick Prescott (Vicar of
Ponteland)
Resident Master & School
Manager
1883
Sept 17 Attendance
satisfactory considering that harvest operations
were in full work at the time, employing many of
the children.
1885
May 14 Attendance during the
week interfered with by the May changes. (Airing
Day)
1886
March 2 The storm continues
to rage increasingly. The roads are all blocked
with snow - all traffic stopped - no mail today
-only 11 children presented themselves at school
this morning.
1893
March 14
Scholarships
Ponteland School
7x£3
Higham Dykes
Mason Board School
4x£3
Dinnington C of E School
3x£3
1901
May 21 Dismissed at 3.05 to
celebrate the Relief of Mafeking.
Oct 18 Attendance has fallen
off somewhat this week owing to potato picking.
Several cases of illegal employment have
occurred.
1902
Nov 4 Infants room full of
smoke at 9a.m.
Fire raked out as
before.
Nov 6 Work just possible with
door and all windows open.
1914
May 8 244 children on
books.
Aug 17 only 15 children have
gone to new council school.
The school still v.full &
3 children from Homes refused
permission.
