An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St.Helens
Part 10 (of 58) - The History of Education in Sutton
a) Introduction | b) Henry Vallancey and the Sutton National Schoolsc) Sutton 'Nash' in the 20th Century | d) St.Anne's School | e) Robins Lane
f) Marshalls Cross School | g) Clock Face School / St.Aidan's | h) Sutton Library
Researched & Written by Stephen Wainwright ©MMXI Contact Me 
a) Introduction to History of Sutton Education
Historically, the provision of education for the less well-off has been linked to the Church. So Sutton's lack of churches and parish of its own until the 1840s, was a considerable handicap to the development of regular schooling for children of working families. Private education at differing levels was available for the youngsters of better-off families and 1833 statistics reveal that Sutton, with a then population of 3,173, had six day schools that accommodated 237 pupils. They were mainly 'dame' schools, and probably offered little more than a foundation in the basics.
An advertisement placed in the Liverpool Mercury in 1849 for Green End House School
By the end of the nineteenth century, Sutton was reported to have had two private schools. When 94-year-old Catherine Williams wrote her Sutton memoirs in 1983, she refers to a Miss Wainwright having had a dame school in Ellamsbridge Road. Around a dozen pupils of various ages were taught in her front parlour for fourpence a week. Catherine also described how teaching nuns at the Sutton convent nearby, took in pupils for sixpence a week, with piano lessons available for an extra tanner.
By this time free education was available to all and much of the credit has to go to Reverend Henry Edward Francis Vallancey (1807 - 1888) and Father Bernadine Carosi. Funding was difficult for both C of E and Roman Catholic parishes as they managed the educational needs of a rapidly expanding Sutton populace. Vallancey was able to call on a number of wealthy parishioners and, coming from a well-off family, initially subsidised his schools from his own pocket.
The Passionist Fathers had a much smaller pool of benefactors and had to cope with a massive rise in parishioners in just half a century. It's been said that there was only 30-40 Roman Catholics in total in Sutton and Bold during the 1840s. However, by the mid-nineties, there were around 1000 Catholic children who needed educating. The resources required were a huge challenge for both Christian religions and this page will detail how this was accomplished.
b) Henry Vallancey and Sutton National Schools
Rev. Vallancey was the first vicar of Sutton Church (see dedicated page) who took up his benefice in 1849. As soon as he arrived in Sutton township, Vallancey set about improving the education of local Sutton children. Although Sunday or Sabbath Schools had begun in 1806, he was shocked to find little other provision for the poor and in a letter dated 13th December, 1849 to Brasenose College in Oxford, who were the owners of a small Sutton estate, he wrote:
On taking possession of my living, I found everything had to be created in the parish. My attention was first of all directed to the almost total want of schools...A further survey of my parish having convinced me of the extreme necessity of schools, I am determined to avail myself of the only spot suited for the purpose, the old Township poorhouse of which I have agreed to take a lease for 21 years....I have obtained an excellent schoolmaster and mistress. 
The accounts for the schools' first year of operation show that it was educating 95 boys and 74 girls with a budget of £120 that was spent on equipment, fuel and pay for the two teachers who were a young married couple, Mr. and Mrs. T. Carter.
Annual fêtes in Sherdley Park began immediately and a Liverpool Mercury article of August 13th, 1852 reported that at that year's gathering, Rev. Vallancey had presented to the two teachers a "handsome Bible" in recognition of their services, as they were both leaving to take up positions at a Lake District school. During the couple's stewardship, the school population had risen to 336, double its first year total.
On May 19th 1855, the Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser described how a two-day fundraising bazaar had been held earlier in the week at St. Helens Town Hall. The event was in aid of the Sutton National Schools with "a choice collection of useful and fancy articles" on sale. In another letter written in June 1856, Henry Vallancey said that his schools were now firmly established. However, he felt that they were located too far away from the St.Helens Junction / Sutton Oak district where most of his congregation lived and worked:
My present schools are contiguous to my Church but far removed from the mass of my population. The great mass of my people reside around the works and many have to come more than a mile every day and some nearly two miles. Down where the majority reside, there is a population of full 2500 and, as much building is going on there can be no doubt that the population will increase still more. 
Advertisement for Sutton ''Nash' girls' school placed in the Liverpool Mercury dated January 15th, 1895
Vallancey obtained sufficient funds to build two segregated schools and in August 1863, the foundation stone was laid on land in Ellamsbridge Road, that had been donated by copper smelters, Newton Keates & Co. The new schools were opened in February 1864 at a cost of £1300. The philanthropic British & Foreign Copper Company - the trading name of Samuel Newton and his partner William Keates - had supported an infants school on the land since 1850, so it was a natural development.
Memorial to 'Sutton Nash' Headmaster James Plews in Sutton Parish Churchyard
On January 1st, 1859, John Newton Brooks was reported in the Liverpool Mercury as being "master of the National School, Sutton" when they reported on his marriage to Jane Hepworth Booth.
James Plews (1837 - 1911) was a headmaster of Sutton National - or 'Sutton Nash' as it was locally known - for thirty-four years. His worst moment was no doubt on October 14th, 1881 when a severe storm struck Sutton. At about 11am the gale blew down the school belfry and a stone weighing about 16 cwt. crashed through the roof of the infants school. There was about 40 pupils in the classroom and eight of them were buried in the debris. Ellen Challoner and Josiah Marsh were severely injured and four-years-old Harriet Bradbury was killed outright. Almost every bone in the child's body was said to have been broken. The headmaster reported that he found:
...the room filled with a cloud of dust and saw, through it, Miss Hannah Rosbotham, in the act of lifting out of the wreck a little girl completely covered with slates, timber, bricks and broken plaster. 
Hannah was awarded the Albert Medal for her bravery and the people of Sutton held a collection which raised the sum of £13 (about £900 in today’s money) as a ‘thank you’ for her courage. James Plews, who lived in Garnet Street and came to Sutton from Sunderland, was also a warden at St.Nicholas. He died in 1911, and has a prominent memorial at the front of the New Street church.
As the school moved towards the twentieth century, so it had to face the demands of an expanding local population. In May 1897 a committee that had been formed to consider the options for further accommodation recommended the addition of another storey to the present building and the creation of new infants' classrooms. Architect F.S. Biram and local builder T. Woods were commissioned and the work, which was scheduled to cost about £3000, was completed in late 1898.
c) Sutton 'Nash' in the 20th Century
In 1914, four-year-old Frank Bamber began attending Sutton 'Nash' infants school. In his memoirs, 'Clog Clatters of Old Sutton', he explained how each class had about fifty pupils who had to share ten to twelve wooden desks between them. Frank also discussed the school's design: It was of different architecture than the senior school, it was built of bricks and stone and had high mullion windows arched like church windows at either end. It had one large room divided up into four classes by wooden upright poles with iron bases and these carried horizontal poles which were ringed to carry green curtains which could be drawn at will. It has come to my knowledge that a boy in this school has uttered a swear word. I have lectured him and told him I will not allow anyone to swear in this school and if he uses that word again I will have no option but to wash his mouth out with soap and water. 
Sutton National schoolchildren in the infants school in 1924 - contributed by Brenda Macdonald / Joan Heyes
Joan Heyes (née Williams) also attended Sutton 'Nash' infants and is seated on the second row of the above photograph. She's sat next to her friend Margaret Baines, whose at the end of the row, with both girls wearing hair ribbons. Margaret's Dad kept the Bowling Green Inn in Robins Lane.
Joan says that the windows behind the pupils were sliding partitions that were folded back to make a school hall when needed. She adds that the youngsters sitting at the front, were disadvantaged children who didn't have breakfast at home, so the school would provide some for them.
Marion Roughley describes how her father John Hughes, who was born in 1919 at 95 Waterdale Crescent, was one who qualified for free breakfast:
Only the first born qualified and it consisted of treacle butties. My Dad told me that it was an art to get to school and be in the queue at the right place in order to get the bottom butties. The treacle would soak through to those and so they tasted better! In his memoirs, Frank Bamber describes the school as a red brick building that was 'L' shaped, with the girls on the bottom floor and the boys on the top floor. The boys would enter the school via Ellamsbridge Road, then walk across the playground through large opening inward doors that led into a very large entrance hall. This had a wide stone stairway about fourteen feet across, that had eighteen or so steps that led onto a landing. This in turn had two stone stairways, one to the right and another to the left, which was in a reverse direction to the main stairway. These led into another entrance hall and then divided off into various classrooms that had very high ceilings.
Frank Bamber remembered that a Mr. Rigby looked after the heating of the boiler and he was also a stone mason, who made gravestones at his premises where the petrol station in Ellamsbridge Road now stands. Frank also recalled his first day in the senior school:
And so in 1917 and the Great War still being waged, all us 7 year olds after morning prayers were assembled in the Infants School and formed into twos and led by Miss Saunders. We marched into the Senior school to meet our new teachers, Mrs. Mills and Mrs. Brown who taught two classes, Standard IA and Standard 1B. Entering the classrooms after being divided up, we took our places and sat in the combined wooden forms and desks, each of these forms sat four of us together. The desks had a sloping stop towards us with four ink wells and a groove along the desk below the ink wells to position the ink pens and pencils and a shelf was provided under the desk top to place our books and caps, and so we began our education as 'Standard Ones'. 
'Sutton Nash' schoolkids posing for a class photo about 1948 - contributed by Margaret Ward (née Foy) - View full photo
Being considered 'Cock Ot' Class' or 'Cock Ot' School' was a prized status symbol and Frank remembered many pre-arranged fights taking place between boys at the back of All Saints Church after school.
The Church did a grand job of screening the two battlers and spectators from the main Ellamsbridge Road and generally we had no interference from anyone except a very big woman who at times would rush across the field from Carnegie Street with two buckets of water and try to hurl the contents at us, which prompted us to either cheer, jeer or boo her; it was all good fun and excitement. As well as an educational centre, Sutton National School was also used as a form of community centre where various gatherings took place, including political meetings. The Sutton Conservative Club held an annual tea party there and it was also used as a polling station during elections. In February 1938 the St.Helens Newspaper reported on a "splendid" boxing tournament that had been held in Sutton 'Nash' that was promoted by former pupil and boxer / coach George 'Bold' Thomas.
Sutton National School in Ellamsbridge Road - contributed by Margaret Ward (née Foy)
A new Sutton National school was opened in 1965. It was completed in eighteen months and it was built at a cost of £49,000.
d) St.Annes RC School
When Rev. Henry Vallancey was seeking funds for new C of E schools in 1856, he makes reference in his correspondence to a day school at St.Annes RC Church. This was then the only school located close to the main working Sutton population. It had opened three years earlier but was just a large schoolroom attached to the monastery.The Passionist church congregation grew very quickly and by 1861 had 2000 parishioners. As Sutton Parish had Rev. Vallancey to fight for education for their poor Church of England children, so the Passionist Catholics in Church Road - (renamed Monastery Road in 1902) - had their Father Bernadine Carosi.
The old St.Anne's Roman Catholic boys school - contributed by Ian H. Campbell
The St.Helens Weekly News of May 25th, 1861 reported on a "tea party and soiree" that had been held in the St.Anne's Schoolroom. It was to celebrate the feast of St.Bernadine, whose name their Father Superior had adopted. Two hundred parishioners and clergy heard a stirring tribute from Rev. Albin, who said Father Bernadine had for "so long been our beloved pastor. He praised him for erecting schools at Sutton and at Peasley Cross (St.Joseph's) "certainly not without much opposition, trouble and anxiety".
By this time 300 children were attending the schools and a new Burtonwood school attended by 40 pupils had recently opened. As the Catholic population expanded, so improved school buildings in Sutton were needed to accommodate an increasing number of youngsters. The difficulty was in finding the funding.
St.Annes Church, Monastery and Schools had a number of benefactors during the nineteenth century, with John Smith and the Borrows family of locomotive manufacturers especially generous. However Smith, who was a director of the St.Helens Canal & Railway Company, died in 1863 and the Borrows' Providence foundry in Peckers Hill Road, that was named after their Roman Catholic faith, only began operating in 1868. It took some years before they became successful and able to provide financial support to their church. So raising sufficient funds for a new school was a slow process and it took until 1869 before its foundation stone was laid. This took place on April 11th before what the Liverpool Mercury described as a "vast concourse" of people.
After a church service, a procession was formed which included members of the Sutton Catholic Philanthropic Society and Peasley Cross Guild, plus a number of little girls dressed in white and wearing long flowing veils and coronets of flowers. Within the stone that was ceremoniously laid, a time capsule was inserted which contained coins, documents and a local newspaper. The new school building was built on the opposite side of the road to the monastery and completed in 1870. It accommodated 500 pupils and provided living accommodation for the master and mistress.
Shortly afterwards a new wing was added but the new building soon proved inadequate. So on September 16th 1883, the foundation stone for a new girls' school was laid. It was opened on April 22nd 1884 at a cost of £1500 and was designed by architect Albert Vicars and built by Fisher's builders of St.Helens. It was constructed in a Gothic style out of bricks with stone dressings and measured sixty feet by twenty-seven feet.
The cost of the buildings plunged the Passionist Fathers into debt for many years and fundraising activities to pay it off included an annual prize draw that boasted some unusual prizes. A Dublin newspaper of 1885 revealed that the "Great Drawing of Magnificent Prizes at St.Annes Schools included a pearl ring valued at £100, a chest of carpenter's tools, an "extraordinary (missing link) Smoking Monkey (a prize of great novelty)" and a revolver. Although it seems strange for a church to offer a gun in a prize drawer, it was quite common in Victorian times for fairly well-off individuals to own a pistol. Some members of the clergy possessed one.
Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser of Dublin - January 4, 1886 & December 5, 1885
The Passionists became victims of their own success. As soon as they'd paid off the debt on the last school that they'd built, a new one needed constructing. So in 1895 a new infants school was built. The increase in school attendees is indicated by a report in the St.Helens Reporter of August 2nd 1895 which describes the annual 'demonstration' of the Catholics of Sutton and Burtonwood. Over 1000 boys and girls processed to Mr. Willis's field in Sutton Junction where a fête was held. Roughdale's Brass Band led the procession followed by masters W. Murphy, J. Taylor, Ged Taylor, H. Leadbetter, W. Clare, Geo Jones, Jas Parr, Joe Case, Peter Almond, W. Nolan, P. Holland, and John Ashton. These were the Morris Dancers who performed as the procession journeyed along Church Street and Robins Lane as the newspaper commented:
Much delight was shown by the populace at the artistic evolutions portrayed by these boys...Along the route through the various streets bunting and other decorations enlivened the scene beyond description...When the processionists arrived at the field, the sun shone out magnificently. After about 1000 children had been substantially fed, various sports and entertainments were indulged in. A stage had been erected where the children of Sutton Infants School delighted their hearers with a commendable performance. Miss Bickerstaffe played the harmonium for them most satisfactorily. 
Elizabeth Prout (pictured right) was a headmistress of the girls' school in Sutton and superior in the convent nearby. She was foundress of the Sisters of the Cross and Passion who helped young children employed in the Manchester mills. Currently Elizabeth Prout is one of only four English men and women whose Causes for Sainthood are being considered by the Vatican and her remains lie in a shrine at the present church (see this blog post).
The old St.Anne's Roman Catholic girls school - contributed by Ian H. Campbell
These days Saint Annes Catholic Primary school has modern premises in Monastery Lane near to the new church and social centre. The photograph above shows the old girls school built in 1895 and sent into this website by former 'Pudding Bagger' Ian H. Campbell now resident in Atlanta, Georgia who writes:
The portion on the left corner was a class room and a stage and is where the church boys choir used to practice during the winter months. The choir master was Fr. Peter Paul, if I remember correctly. Next to the playground was the infant school, and then further left was the canteen. 
Although the church has changed its name to St.Anne's & Blessed Dominic, the school has retained its original name. In fact St.Anne's is the only nineteenth century Sutton school to have continued into the twenty-first century.
e) Robins Lane Schools
Robins Lane was a notable school throughout the twentieth century and continues to this day to educate Sutton youngsters, albeit under a different name and in a different location. It opened on March 1st, 1909, with a roll of 489 boys and girls. The secondary school pupils were educated separately on a single site in Robins Lane, with a primary school located nearby.
Robins Lane Secondary Modern school - contributed by Kathleen Fehrman
Unlike Sutton 'Nash' which was a church school, Robins Lane was a council school, funded by the then St.Helens Corporation. Despite having few sports facilities of its own, Robins Lane Secondary Modern (as the senior school became) was said to have been successful in rugby league, football, life-saving and athletics competitions, winning the town sports for eight successive years.
Robins Lane Senior Boys School c.1957 - contributed by Dave Almond
Drama was also encouraged at Robins Lane, and under popular 1940s and '50s headmistress of the girls' secondary school, Doris Gee, the Christmas productions were renowned. Every other year there was a Nativity and she also produced A.A. Milne's "Make Believe" and "Beauty and the Beast".
Robins Lane Nativity Dec 13th, 1952 - Joseph and Mary played by Anita Ramsdale and Sheila Martin
Picture taken by Wright Brothers of Robins Lane and contributed by former teacher Ivy Swift
Class 2A at Robins Lane Junior School in 1947 - contributed by Ken Whittaker
Although Sutton National Schools have now closed and its buildings demolished, the relocation of the Secondary School enabled the creation of a new, enlarged primary school in Robins Lane and the building of Sutton Oak Primary in Ellamsbridge Road. Modern-day education in Sutton also includes St.Theresa's Catholic Primary, Eaves Primary and a new St.Annes & Blessed Dominic School. Appropriately Henry Vallancey's first site for his trailblazing Sutton National Schools project in New Street / Workhouse Lane is once again in use as Sherdley Primary School.
The teaching staff at Robins Lane Secondary Modern girls school in 1951 - contributed by Kathleen Fehrman
Back (L-R): Miss Ivy 'History' Ashton (Mrs.Swift from '52), Miss Burgess, Mrs. Eden, Miss Newsham, Mrs. Bates,
Florence Parr, ?, Beryl Chisnall (secretary). Front row (L-R): Miss Enid 'Music' Ashton, Miss Savage, Mrs.Martin,
Miss Doris Gee (headmistress), Miss Nichol, Mrs.Skidmore and Miss Harrison
f) Marshalls Cross School
Marshalls Cross School at the top of Mill Lane after the school closed - contributed by Jim Lamb
Marshalls Cross School was located at the top of Mill Lane, not far from the Bull and Dog pub and opposite William (later Lucy) Bath's general store, post office, chandlers and off-licence at 253 Mill Lane. It is said to have opened in 1903 as a church junior school but was probably a replacement for the original school in Marshalls Cross. This was first mentioned in the Liverpool Mercury of June 10th, 1873:
Yesterday, the memorial stone of a new chapel and school for the district of Marshall's Cross, Sutton, was laid by the Rev. G. H. Thompson, of Liverpool. 
Marshalls Cross Schoolchildren with teacher Miss Elsie Lamb - contributed by Jim Lamb - click image for larger version
There were two Miss Lambs who taught at Marshalls Cross School. Elsie Lamb taught during its early years and Mary Esther Lamb of Mill Lane was a teacher from around the 1940s to '60s. One well-remembered headteacher was Mrs. Finch who began working there during the 1930s. Miss Bithell was headmistress during the late '50s and Mrs. Cook was the other teacher then.
The school closed in the early 1990s and part of its building is now used by the Sherdley Manor Nursing Home. If you can provide more information or photographs of Marshalls Cross School, please get in touch. (Thanks to Jim Lamb, Marjorie Hall, Liz Mercer and Andy Hatton for their contributions)
Members of St.Nicholas Fellowship outside Marshalls Cross School in 1985 - contributed by Jim Lamb
g) Clock Face School / St.Aidans
Clock Face School was a church school located in Lindsay Street off Clock Face Road. It was built during WW1 and roofed with red tiles. An article in 1934 described how the school was supported entirely by volunteers and how the roof had become corroded.A well-remembered headmaster from the 1930s was Mr. Kenwright, who is said to have been a strict disciplinarian. At this time as well as being a place of education, Clock Face School was also a place of worship, with church services held on Sunday afternoons.
St. Aidan's c.1953/54 - Back Row L to R: Dorothy Hill, Joan Davies, Norma White, Sylvia Brown, Joyce Woodward, Dorothy Ashcroft, Ann Bramely, Margaret Bowden, Mavis Little; Middle Row: Jimmy Prescott, Geoff Heyes, Roger Benson, Roy Little, Tony Lee, Michael Rennie, Stanley Pumford, Keith Littler, Allan Nutall, Eric Heward; Front Row: Leslie Painter, Allan Parr, Keith Worral, Barry Tilley, Ken Hill, John Kenny, Kenneth Dickson, Derek King, Dave Woodward - contributed by Mike Rennie.
The school was renamed St.Aidan's in 1945 and during the 1950s the class teachers were Miss Harrison (1st year infants), Miss Eden, (1st year juniors), Mr. Southern, (2nd years) and Mrs. Fowles. The headmasters and third year teachers were Mr. Eric Leatherbarrow and Mr. R Byron.
The main hall at St.Aidans, Clock Face immediately prior to demolition - contributed by Andy Mayer
The headmaster during the 1970s was Mr. Bell and in about 1974-75, new classrooms were added. The above picture shows the main hall, which was photographed by Andy Mayer shortly before its demolition. Andy states that this is part of the original school and inside it were two classrooms that were separated by a partition.
The front of St.Aidans school in Lindsay Street, Clock Face looking south - taken by John Oates (more in Photo-album)
The partition was removed at dinner times and for assemblies to create a single, large room. The kitchen is the building on the left of the photograph with the two white targets on it. Pupils were chosen to set out the tables and knifes & forks etc. and they had to do this every day and then put everything back into the main hall for the afternoon classes. Andy writes:
Anyone who went to the school will remember the yellow ball throwing target, seen to the right of the white ones (in photo above). It was there when I started in 1974. 
Left: Welcome sign at the entrance just prior to its demolition. Right: 1975 staff photo L-R standing Mrs. Fryer, Mrs. Davies, Mr. Twist, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Brookfield. L-R seated Mrs Cotton, Mr. Bell (head) & Mrs. Crumpler - contributed by Andy Mayer
If you are able to provide more information or photographs of Clock Face School or St.Aidan's School, please do get in touch. (Thanks to Andy Mayer, Mike Rennie, Ken Baines & Joan Brough for their contributions)
St.Aidans pupils about to embark on a trip to Littledean in Gloucestershire c.1980 - contributed by Andy Mayer
h) Sutton Library & Sutton Manor Library
Sutton Library was opened in a former house and shop in Sutton Road on February 3rd, 1887. The 'free' library was located near to Sutton's pumping station and water works and what became the Sutton Oak Welsh Chapel. The decision to open a branch library in Sutton had been taken on November 17th, 1886 at a meeting of St.Helens Corporation's Library Committee. The books in the free library were available to all Suttoners to borrow. However, households who had Scarlet Fever were banned, due to fears of the contagious disease being transmitted through books.
The free library in Sutton was the first branch library in St.Helens and began in a very modest way. On October 19th, 1887, it was reported at a committee meeting that the new library held a stock of 746 volumes, compared to the Town Hall library and reading rooms which had 13,682 books. Within two years, Sutton's stock had doubled to 1477 books and in June 1889, St.Helens Corporation approved the building of a new reading room. This cost £100 and was built on a plot of land adjacent to the library. As well as books, the reading room held a stock of national and local newspapers plus magazines.
The library proved too successful and complaints were made of problems in obtaining certain titles. This was raised by Cllr. Greenough at a meeting of the library committee on September 24th, 1890 and the Librarian's response was that popular books were often in other borrower's hands. During the month of January 1891, 1253 books were borrowed from the Sutton Road library with a total of 1593 visits recorded. The demand for borrowing books became so great that a second branch library was opened in Thatto Heath on November 3rd, 1891. By this time the Sutton free library had expanded to 1,710 titles and during the previous year 13,623 books had been borrowed. Then on January 25th, 1894, Sutton's Arthur Sinclair, as Mayor of St.Helens, opened the third free library in Chancery Lane, Parr which was built by contractor Peter Tickle for £850.
The libraries continued to grow in popularity, although there was a dip in borrowing during the month of January, 1895. The head librarian explained to the library committee in February, that this was because people had chosen to go skating on frozen ponds instead! On November 17th, 1897, Dr. Henry Baker Bates, councillor for East Sutton, criticised the condition of some of the books at the Sutton library. He commented at a meeting of the Free Library Committee that "the works on science were very ancient indeed". The Librarian's response was that borrowers should go to the new central library at the Gamble Institute which had opened three years earlier and where there was a better supply.
In 1987 Sutton Historic Society was begun by Eric Coffey at the suggestion of librarian Jennie Edwards. This was to mark the centenary of the Sutton library, which by then was in Carnegie Crescent, and their meetings were held there. Another library was started at the New Street Community Centre but both libraries have since closed.
A new library was opened on October 4th, 1949 in a building measuring 54 feet by 18 feet. During the war it had served as a barrack room for RAF personnel that were stationed in Sherdley Park. It held a stock of 4000 titles and 40,000 volumes were issued each year with 200 new borrowers per annum.
The St.Helens Newspaper of October 7th, 1949 reported that ten-years-old Nellie King of 74, Jubits Lane was the first customer of the library, who said she was looking to take out an Enid Blyton title.
The only library now in existence within the Sutton district is the Chester Lane Centre off Four Acre Lane. It opened in 1990 on the site of the original Four Acre Community Library and it received an extensive refurbishment in November 2008.
Sutton Beauty & Heritage strives for factual accuracy at all times. Please do also get in touch if you believe that there are any errors, with details of any corrections contained within the site's update history page, which also details the regular updates. Many individuals from all over the world have kindly contributed Sutton information and photographs. If you would like to participate in this project, I would be delighted to hear from you and this website always credits any assistance given. Do also consider contributing any recollections of old Sutton that you might have for the Sutton Memories pages, which are proving very popular. I respond quickly to emails and if you haven't received a response within 12 hours, do check your junk mail folder or send your message again. Thank you! SRW
