Educating the Workers of Sheffield in the 18th and 19th Centuries: St Luke's National School, Garden Street, Sheffield

Abstract

This article describes the archaeological recording of a Sunday school which was constructed in 1873, on the site of an earlier building, to provide educational needs for the working-class families which surrounded Garden Street. A brief historical background to the provision of education both nationally and in Sheffield is provided, along with the results of the recording of the standing building, and reference to below-ground remains of the residential accommodation which surrounded it is given. The recording concluded that the original form of the school was intact, with little in the way of modifications, apart from the addition of 20th-century industrial structures and an air raid shelter. The site provides a valuable insight into educational provision in one of the poorer areas of 19th-century Sheffield.