Colliery National School

This school was built by the church at the end of a street of houses. The site of the houses later became part of the pit timber yard. The date of opening is unknown. In January 1779 there was an advertisement for a school master in the Newcastle Journal. The census of 1851 lists a school mistress living in Sandygate near St. Cuthbert's Church. In 1870 the school master was Philip Blackman who lived in Sandygate. It must have been a boys only school until 1871. Mr. I Coates was school master 1870-1880. Mr W S Telford 1875-1877. Mr N G Maguire 1880-1882. Mr W Franklin 1882-1884. Lawrence Dewhurst from October 1884. An inspector's report of 1893 stated that the school is located in an angle between two colliery railways. The children had to cross these at the level crossing. The eastern line was at the bottom of a bank down which a child could slip. The school was on a slope that faced east. The floor is lower than the ground outside on the west side. There was a steep staircase from the school to the girl's offices. In the girl's yard there was a 'cliff' which was not protected by a fence. The ash-pit collects rain water from the yard so the floor was wet and muddy. There were no cloakrooms. There was no ventilation apart from the windows and a hole 2 inches in dimaeter in the roof.