Burley District Schools
1817 to the present day
Note: Sunday schools in the 19th century were not the same as what we think of them today. They were sites of education, for all ages, that took place on a Sunday.
1817 - 1862 Burley Township Day School & Mechanics Institute located at the junction of Moor Lane & Town Street (now Station Road & Main Street). The building was paid for by public subscription. Initially Wesleyan, then from 1848 non-denominational Sunday & Day School.
1832 - 1976 Burley Woodhead School, Moor Road. In 1976 the site closed & the school moved & was renamed Burley & Woodhead Church of England (CofE) First School, Sandholme Drive, Burley in Wharfedale.
1836 - c1838 Non-denominational Sunday school plus evening classes. The school was located in the upper floors of 3 cottages built by John Peele Clapham next to Post Office Yard, Main Street. Available to all children over the age of 5.
1837 - 1898 Ladysmith National School, Back Lane. Anglican or Church of England. Operated as both a Sunday School and Day School. From c1881 to 1895 Walter Gledhill (1854-1917) was a teacher & headmaster.
1840 to c1940s - Salem Congregational Church Hall & School built by John P Clapham, behind Queens Head, Main Street. (He also built Salem Chapel & The Grange in the same year). Non-denominational Sunday & Day School. 1873 the building was enlarged to take upto 300 children.
c1849 - c1867 Scalebor (Park) Hall School, located near Scalebor Park Farm. Owner & Headmaster William Lawrence. Boys boarding school.
1856 - 1868 Greenholme Mills School, Greenholme Mills, Iron Row. Non-sectarian British School. Owned by Wm Fison & Co. Headmaster Thomas Clark. The pupils were half-timers working half-days at the Mills and half-days at school.
1862 - 1905 Burley Township Day School was relocated into a new building on land at Hill Top off Main Street, owned by Thomas Emsley. He had the Township & Mechanics Institute building demolished as it overlooked his residence The Grange. Accommodation for 92 infants.
1867 - 1905 Wesleyan Sunday & Day School, Main Street. The old Wesleyan Chapel (built 1816) was converted to the school, when the new Wesleyan Chapel was built next door on lands that had been part of The Lawn estate.
1872 Enlarged to take up to 300 pupils. 1898 headmaster George Brealey.
1872 Enlarged to take up to 300 pupils. 1898 headmaster George Brealey.
1868 - 1897 Greenholme Mills School, moved to the eastern end of the new Lecture Hall (Queens Hall), Main Street. Owned by Wm Fison & Co. Thomas Clark was the headmaster for its entire existence. Accommodation for 152 boys, girls & infants.
c1873 - Mrs Ward's Private School, Burley Woodhead. 78 boys, girls & infants.
c1870s - c1884 Rose Bank Villas School, No.4 Rose Bank. Headteacher Mrs Hartley. Boarders & Day school.
c1891 - 1916 Mount Wise High School for Girls, Hag Farm Road. Later renamed the Arnold-Forster High School. Day pupils & boarders. Headmistress Miss M C Coates. In 1916 Arnold-Forster High School was absorbed into Annandale School, Wells Road, Ilkley with its premises on Hag Farm Road becoming a hostel for the boarders of Ilkley. Being virtually next door to Burley in Wharfedale Railway Station, the pupils caught the train to school in Ilkley.
1898 - 1950 Burley National School, Aireville Terrace. Anglican or Church of England (CofE). Headmaster Richard Gossop, until he retired in 1934. All age & mixed school upto 14. (The school had previously been located at Ladysmith (1837-1898) on Back Lane).
1902 - 1903 Private boarding school for boys. The Mount at Stead. Headmaster Dr J. A. Etches.
1905 - 2005 Clevedon House Preparatory School, The Mount, Stead. Headmaster Ernest W. Stokoe MA
1905 - 1950 Wesleyan (Methodist) Sunday & Day School, Main Street. Renamed Burley Main Street Provided School.
1905 - 1922 The Burley Township School, Hill Top off Main Street. Renamed Burley Infants Provided School.
Both non-denominational.
1905 - 1922 The Burley Township School, Hill Top off Main Street. Renamed Burley Infants Provided School.
Both non-denominational.
1914 - ???? Primitive Methodist School, Sun Lane. Attached to rear of Primitive Methodist Chapel, Victoria Road.
1930s Howdean Private School - initially at the Township School, then at Dial House, Main Street.
Miss Muriel Smith of Otley, x20 infant & junior aged children.
Miss Muriel Smith of Otley, x20 infant & junior aged children.
c1931 - 1963 Littleburn Home School, an independent primary school. It was situated at the end of Menston Old Lane & Endor Crescent. Montessori and P.N.E.U. Teaching for boys and girls age 3 to 10 Years.
1935 Burley Preparatory School, location not currently known. Possibly an alternative name for Howdean Private School or Littleburn Home School (see above). Boys & girls.
1940/1941 - 1971 St Philips School, Burley House, Main Street. Independent co-educational day & boarding.
Relocated from Scalby, near Scarborough. Initial evacuation in 1940 to "Brookside" house, Burley in Wharfedale.
1942 - 1954 Burley Day Centre & Nursery, Grange Road. Re-opened as a Child Welfare Clinic in 1955 that included nursery provision.
1950 - 1972 Burley National School becomes Burley Junior & Infants Church of England (CofE) School. Locally the school was known as Burley CofE Primary, Aireville Terrace. Head Teachers Albert Simmons (1950-57); Frank Newbould (1957-1972).
All children over the age of 11 moved to Ben Rhydding / Ilkley Secondary Modern School or Ilkley Grammar School or Prince Henry's Grammar School, Otley.
All children over the age of 11 moved to Ben Rhydding / Ilkley Secondary Modern School or Ilkley Grammar School or Prince Henry's Grammar School, Otley.
1972 - 1999 Burley CofE First School, Aireville Terrace. Headmaster Frank Newbould (1972-73). Children aged 5 to 9 years.
1972 - 1973 Burley Middle School shared Aireville First School premises until their Langford Lane site opened in 1973.
1973 - 1999 Burley Middle School, Langford Lane. Headmaster Mr Leslie Hall.
1974? - 2006 The Grange Adult Education Centre, Main Street.
1976 - 1999 Burley & Woodhead Church of England First School, Sandholme Drive. First Head Anne Bell - 1976-1988
1982 to present Burley Nursery School, The Manse, 48 Station Road.
1993 to present Esscroft Nursery, Ilkley Road.
???? to present Cliffe House Day Nursery, Back Lane.
1997 to present Jolly Tots Nursery, Queens Hall, Main Street.
1999 to present Burley Oaks Primary School, Langford Lane
1999 to present Burley & Woodhead Church of England Primary School, Sandholme Drive.
2006 to present Ghyll Royd School & Pre-school, Greystone Manor, Ilkley Road.
Burley Community Library & Burley Archive, Grange Road, Burley in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire England LS29 7HD
Please refer to the Home page for up-to-date opening times. Closed Wednesday & Sunday
Burley Archive & Local History Group: Drop-In Sessions Friday 2.30pm to 4.30pm. For other times please contact us
Burley Archive & Local History Group: Drop-In Sessions Friday 2.30pm to 4.30pm. For other times please contact us