Himbleton School first opened its doors on 2nd April 1874 with a total of 14 pupils under the guidance of headteacher, Elizabeth Soley.  By the end of the year, the number of children attending had risen to 43.  Mainly from farming backgrounds and ranging from three years old to twelve years old, children often missed school to support their parents in the fields harvesting, fruit-picking, haymaking, potato planting, picking primroses and other flowers, weed-pulling and gleaning.  Sadly, the school log books record very poor attendance in the first years of the school, but this may have been as a result of children having to walk distances of up to 4 miles in order to attend!  Just like the issues faced today, many of the children lived on the other side of the Bow Brook which was subject to flooding after heavy rainstorms, relying on a horse and cart to get through from one side of the deep water to the other.

School log books record some very unsettled and difficult periods for the school and for the children; on a number of occasions the school had to close due to epidemics of infectious diseases such as Whooping Cough, Mumps, Meales, Diptheria and Scarlet Fever.  Water was drawn from a well and the toilets ("offices") were on the playground and separate from the main school building.  As a result, lessons in personal hygiene were a necessary part of the curriculum, but the log books record that teachers still had an uphill battel to teach children the importance of cleanliness!

In 1956, there was considerable uncertainty around the future of the school, but thanks to the installation of mains water and modern toilet and washing facilities in 1962, the school thankfully stayed open and continued to thrive, celebrating its 150th anniversary in December 2023 and becoming the much-loved place that it is today, serving the community and those further afield and providing a wonderful educational start to the lives of so many.

Himbleton CE Primary School marks its 150th anniversary - Worcester News