Brief History
Stoke Row C.E. Primary School is located next to the church of St. John the Evangelist on Main Street, Stoke Row. The church was built in 1846 and the school was founded in 1853: “for the laboring, manufacturing or other poorer classes in Stoke Row”.
The first Headteacher was William Crews. He and wife taught all of the pupils in a single room. It was not until 1889 that the Infants got a separate room for their lessons. Lack of classrooms was only one of the challenges to be overcome. From the School’s Logbooks, it is clear that heating and sanitary arrangements were continual issues. In 1878, a report by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors states that the school’s toilets were “roofless . . . and should be at once put into a thorough state of repair”. It was not until 1912 that the school got its own water supply.
Many changes have taken place in Stoke Row School over the last 160 years. In particular, the school has built links with other schools, both locally and internationally – even in 1968, the school had linked up another school in The Gambia. Closer to home, Stoke Row has established strong links with Checkendon School which has enabled both schools to benefit from shared trips and school visits. The Checkendon children also come to Stoke Row’s Running Club.
The symbol of Stoke Row’s proud heritage was an ideal choice for our School Logo!
The Maharajah’s Well at Stoke Row is an important part of Stoke Row’s history and so it seemed an obvious choice for the school’s logo. The Well, with its golden elephant under an elaborate domed canopy superstructure, was given to the people of the village in 1863 by the Maharajah of Benares (now known as Varanasi) in recognition of his friendship with Edward Reade, one of the sons of a local squire who became Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces.
We feel privileged to be able to use this beautiful symbol as our logo.