The first schools in Darlaston were Sunday schools, founded by local churches. Shaw in his Staffordshire history mentions the following:

A school was built in 1793 in the churchyard and had a large number of pupils. Sunday schools were first established here in 1790 and are supported by voluntary subscriptions, and about £10 which is annually collected at the church on the Wake Sunday, the Sunday after St. Lawrence, when sermons are preached for that purpose.

The Elementary Education Act was Passed in 1870, but it took 8 years for the School Attendance Committee of the Local Board to be formed under the provisions of the Act, which stated that:

The Act allowed women to vote for the School Boards and serve as candidates on them. Something that was unheard of in local government at the time.

Slater Street school in a state of dereliction.

Unfortunately the committee didn’t live up to expectations and little was done to provide the school places that were required under the terms of the Act. As a result the Education Department sent a peremptory order to the town in 1883 demanding that the terms of the Act be followed.

Boys & Girls

Infants

Slater Street School playground.

St. Lawrence’s School

Often called the Parish Church School opened in April 1869 when the old school established in 1836 in the graveyard was demolished. The buildings were enlarged twice within the first 20 years and the school possessed a good playground. In 1880 evening science classes began and were attended by 165 students.

St. George’s Board School

Opened in  1844 as a Sunday school and was handed over to the School Board in 1883. An new school was built in 1894 at a cost of £5,550.

All Saints’ National School

Opened in July 1874 with an infants department at James Bridge built in 1894.

The Wesleyan School

Opened in 1846 as a Sunday School. It was built by Thomas Adams at a cost of £439.19s.6d. and designed by G.W. Green. It became a day school under Government inspection in 1860 and was enlarged and improved. In 1865 there were approximately 100 pupils and by 1901 the number had risen to 479.

Mr. Harold P. Fullwood. Headmaster of the Wesleyan School in 1901.

Miss Baggott. Infant Mistress of the Wesleyan School, in 1901.

St. Joseph’s Catholic School

The school was founded in 1875 in Church Street and rebuilt in 1964 in Rough Hay Road. The buildings were expanded in the 1980s and a new nursery opened in 1993, and enlarged in 2002.

The Central Board School

Built by the Board and opened in July 1885 and enlarged in 1893. The first headmaster was J.E. Cherrington who retired on 30th November, 1925. The school closed in the mid 1960s and continued to be used for a variety of purposes for many years. Unfortunately the buildings suffered from a series of arson attacks in February 2005 and as a consequence were demolished at the beginning of March 2005.

The Opening Of Dorsett Road School

Dorsett Road School was the first of a new generation known as the Staffordshire type of school. It opened in February 1907 but was very different from the earlier types of school building featuring better ventilation without draughts, more compact construction, and very economical running. It created a healthier environment than the other overcrowded schools of the day. A visiting school inspector remarked after a visit on a cold February day:

I could see how the ventilation was working. It was a cold day, and there was some snow. It was remarkable that when I walked into the classrooms there was no smell.

The headmaster claimed that there were far fewer coughs and colds than in other schools where he had taught. The school was demolished in the 1940s to make way for an extension of Longmore's factory.

As the population of Darlaston continued to grow in the 20th century, many other schools were required. The original schools have now disappeared and have been replaced by modern buildings with up-to-date facilities.

Pinfold Street Primary School
      

Pinfold Street Primary School.
   

In 1887, Darlaston's first sewage works opened at Bentley, but it still took another 40 years before sewers were laid in all of the streets, so the old fashioned privies, and the night soil men prevailed. At this time Darlaston was a thriving town, with plenty of shops catering for all of the population's needs. King Street had a look of affluence that has now been forgotten. The shops in King Street were listed in Kelly's Directory for Staffordshire in 1885, some of the more interesting ones were:

Street
Number

Proprietor

Type of Business

Next to the Black Horse pub in Pinfold Street was the shop of William Winn; grocer, wine and spirit merchant. In the early 1890s he purchased an electricity generator, and was one of the first people in the area to have electric lighting. He let it be known when the lights would be switched on, and people flocked from miles around to see them. He was a very successful businessman and did a record trade at this time. He ended up buying Ilmington in Crescent Road, which was, and still is one of the most splendid houses in Darlaston. He was a member of the council, and made a gift of the trees in Crescent Road to the town.