THE HISTORY OF OUR SCHOOL & LOCAL AREA

Our school originated as the Union Charity Schools founded and maintained by subscriptions and by payments of a penny a week from scholars. The school became a board school in 1873 and was run by Brighton Borough Council from 1903. The Boys' and Girls' Junior Schools were combined as a Junior Mixed School in July 1930, with the Infants' School also amalgamated in 1935. The school was rebuilt on the same site in 1974.

THE FIRST 100 YEARS  1805-1905

                  
 Middle St. School 1805-1905 and its author -Mr G.Haffenden -Headmaster 1905

Click on the pictures below to see excerpts from this history of the first 100 years of Middle Street School -

In the mid-19th Century the school was very much run on the schooling system created by Joseph Lancaster. Click the picture to find out about Lancaster and read his booklet on 'The British System of Education'.

Headteachers were required to keep a daily log-book of events and incidents. Click the book for a sample of items recorded in the Middle Street log-book for 1869-1902.

THE SECOND 100 YEARS  1905-2005

Click on the photos to view photographs from the second hundred years of the school's history:

                
Pre-1920s                       1920s                             1930s                            1940s

                 
         1950s                     1960s & 70s                    1980s & 90s

We would be delighted to hear from you if you have any additional photos or memories of the school. Please email 200years@middlestreet.org

Click the picture to see some of the models of people and incidents from the first 100 years of our school's history that our children made for display in Brighton museum. 

Click to see the models and other artefacts on display at our 'Old School' exhibition at Brighton museum.
For Brighton & Hove Museum's record of the exhibition- click here.

Year 4 children also produced an animation of some of the above characters and incidents. Click to see the video.


Test Yourself!

When you've read all about the history of the school - test yourself by playing the 'Fling the Teacher' game.
Change the teacher's face. Answer all 15 questions correctly and catapult the teacher through the air!
Click the picture below.

Whole School Photograph

To celebrate the bicentenary we took a photograph of everyone in the school.

 

Click for photos of our Bicentenary Celebration Day.
 

 Click for press coverage of our celebrations.

Click for photos & video of Year 4's as Victorian day.
 

Old Pupil Memories

Read some fascinating memories of 'old pupils' here.

For interviews with ex-pupils from the 1930s & 40s click the play buttons below (interviews are by Robyn, Stanley, Esme & Chloe and last 15-25 minutes each).
 

Joyce Hill      Pat Sprinthall
Peter Guy     Sheila Dyer  

For a transcript of a few short sections of the interviews click here.



If you would like to add your own memories of the school - please email us at:             

200years@middlestreet.org

Uncovering two hundred years of a seaside school



This double-page spread on the history of the school appears in  'The Story of Where You Live' recently published by The Reader's Digest. For a video clip of four of our children talking to the editor of this book on the CBBC TV channel click here.

150th Anniversary
To see what happened for the 150th anniversary click this photo.

School Buildings

Middle Street School 1905
Click here to see more photographs and drawings of the building over the years.

Ghosts near our school!

Here is Kai's description of the Ghost Walk in the Lanes around our school. Click the Play button-

The Green Man


A Brighton character that the first pupils at the school in 1805 would certainly have been familiar with was 'The Green Man of Brighton', who promenaded the seafront and Steyne near to the school.

Find out more here.

THE HISTORY OF THE SURROUNDING AREA

Click on the pictures -

The sea-front end of Middle Street in 1833
 

See how many people lived in the houses opposite our school in 1891, and what sort of jobs they had:
1891 Census of Boyces Street
 

Animated Postcards of Brighton

Historic pictures of Brighton


 
Historic maps of Brighton
 

Postcards by Flora White

THE HISTORY OF BRIGHTON - WEBSITE LINKS

History of Photography in Brighton & Hove

Brighton & Hove - Black History

An education pack based on the QueenSpark books archive

My Brighton & Hove

Old Sussex Mapped

Brighton's Architecture

A2A - Access to Archives



allows you to search archives held throughout England. For example searching with 'Middle Street school' as Keywords and 'East Sussex Record Office' as Location brings up several results, including:

   Middle Street County Primary School, Brighton

      Photographs
         FILE - Middle Street School Boys' Brigade - ref.  E/SC/24/7/1  - date: 1889
         FILE - Middle Street School Old Boys' Club group photographs, 1909-1913 and cameos of founders, 1913 - ref.  E/SC/24/7/2-9  - date: 1909-1913

      Other records
         FILE - Middle Street School roll of honour - ref.  E/SC/24/12/1-8  - date: 1914
         FILE - List of Middle Street School records and notes for the history of the school - ref.  E/SC/24/20  - date: 20th century

Historical Directories

Try using this site to search old trade directories for details of particular streets. For example the Boyce's Street entry from Kelly's Directory of Kent, Surrey & Sussex, 1891 reads:

The Spas of England, and Principal Sea-bathing Places - 1841 - has a chapter on Brighton

Memoirs, Letters, and Comic Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, of the Late James Smith - 1840 - has a poem about Brighton

The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge - 1843 - describes Brighton at the time

The Elements of materia medica and therapeutica. v.1, 1854-57 - suitability of Brighton for various types of invalid