Monument record 10863 - Industrial School, Boughton

Historic maps record an industrial school for boys and girls on the junction between Hoole Lane and Boughton Road. It was originally opened in 1852 as a Ragged School - charitable organisations established for the free education of the poor in the 19th century - but later converted into an industrial school. The site closed in 1908 (4)

Industrial schools were established in England following the 1857 Industrial Schools Act to care for ophaned and abandoned children in a boarding school environment. (1, 2)

During the Second World War the school was used as a decontamination and rescue depot and had air raid shelters built on the site. (6)

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1872-1875, Metric Ten Foot Scale Town Plan of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH6780.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

<3> Swift, Roger E, 1994, Chester Ragged Schools, 1852-70: Some Statistical Evidence (Article in Journal). SCH6324.

<4> Chester Local History, 1996-Present, Chester Local History News, Summer 2007 (Newsletter). SCH4494.

<5> Lewis C.P & Thacker A.T. (eds), 2005, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume Vii, The City of Chester - The City of Chester, Culture, Buildings, Institutions, p277 (Book). SCH6522.

<6> Lowry, B, 1998, The Defence of Britain: WWII buildings in Chester (Unpublished Report). SCH7074.