CHARNEY HALL Contemporary Preparatory Schools

September 12, 2021

From 1966 the following thirteen years saw the closure of four of Charney Hall’s contemporary preparatory schools. Laurence House which I believe was a larger school, with more pupils, being located farther south, in a wealthy part of Lancashire, followed in 1993.

Only Rossall which has a Senior School has survived…

Why did all the prep schools that Charney played against at cricket and football, bar one, either close or lose their identity? Whilst we saw the school as a place of education, sport and temporary accommodation, the headmasters and their masters looked upon it as a business that generated their income. Although the profession of teaching is considered a vocation, in the world of private education the cost of running such an establishment has to be viable. Unlike the state school there is no public money to rely on. The relation of income to outgoings must ‘stack up’.

There is thus an instant conflict of interest, a dichotomy, that of providing the best possible education in accordance with current specified standards, being competitive in fee structure with other schools but also generating enough income to pay staff, overheads and provide some profit for future investment in enhanced facilities.

In 1966 the UK rate of inflation was 3.91% whereas by 1979 it was running at 13.42% per annum. People will remember the enormous increase in interest rates and in house prices that occurred in the mid ‘70s. It follows that operating costs would also be increasing, interest on business loans likewise, and if school fees were not keeping pace there could be problems of cash flow and liquidity.

The majority of these schools supported over 60 pupils, however with such a small number the advantages of economy of scale would not have been on their side.

It is therefore highly likely that the above scenario, coupled with a reduction of pupil intake, would not have been retrievable by any business - in short, the end of an era for small preparatory schools located in the remoter parts of the northern counties.

Charney Hall, Grange-over-Sands 1882-1973

Cressbrook, Kirkby Lonsdale 1913-late 1970s

Then became a school for children with emotional/ behavioural difficulties,

eventually being absorbed into Sedbergh School in 1976.

Ernseat, Arnside 1900-1979

Properties occupied from L-R : Inglewood Court (formerly Merlewood), Heron’s Reach (Earnseat),

Ashmeadow House (School extension used for classrooms from 1918).

I am reliably informed by Mrs Wendy Brown, Charney Hall’s last science teacher that the remaining pupils were transferred to Ernseat at the school’s closure in 1973.