~ THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, WINCHEAP ~
THE HOME FOR CHILDREN
CANTERBURY
Industrial (girls), Wincheap, erected in 1859, for 20 girls; average attendance, 16; Miss Annie Baldock, Mistress
1891
The home for Children, formerly called the Industrial School, Wincheap, provides a safe home and good instruction for respectable girls who desire to become household servants; the school consists of 19 girls, of whom 14 are partly paid for by subscribers or friends; these enter at the age of 8 or 9, and ordinarily stay in the school till 15 years of age; a few wear the old-fashioned school dress & are boarded, lodged & educated gratuitously; these go by the name of "The Blues," and are the survival of the Grey & Blue schools which existed in Canterbury for nearly 200 years: the school has a small endowment; Rev. William Medows Rodwell, hon. secretary; Lieut. Colonel S. N. Dickenson, treasurer, The Precincts.
1903
"The Blue Coat School was founded by the mayor and commonalty out of a gift by Queen Elizabeth of an hospital with the lands belonging to it. In it 16 boys are clothed, maintained, and instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and on leaving school, apprenticed with premiums. They are nominated by the mayor and commonalty." Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1851