The schoolroom
Writing slate
Rubbed clean so often the frame is polished.
- Made by
- Unknown maker
- Date
- About 1910
- Material
- Slate, pine
- Size
- 23 by 30 cm
- Cost new
- A penny
- Came from
- Neepsend Board School, closed 1964
On view The schoolroom, on a desk in the front row. First floor.
Children learned to write on slate because paper was dear and slate could be wiped with a sleeve. This one came from the board school at the top of the hill, where four Merrin children were taught, with forty other slates in a crate.
The frame is polished pale at the bottom corners where small hands held it.
More from the schoolroom.
Inkwell and dip pen
Unknown glassworks, about 1915The schoolroom, on the teacher’s tableCost new: fourpence
School satchel
Unknown saddler, Sheffield, 1928The schoolroom, on the peg by the doorCost new: four shillings
Dinner plate, riveted
Unknown pottery, Staffordshire, about 1900Made to Mend, in the long caseCost new: threepence; the mend, a penny
Where to see it
The schoolroom, first floor.
You’ll find it on a desk in the front row, on the first floor. The lift is by the front desk.
Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00, and until 20:00 on Thursdays.