Annual Report of West Street Wesleyan Sunday School in Leek |
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Annual Report of West Street Wesleyan Sunday School in Leek, 1811
SRO D1114/1
©Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service
The Sunday School movement was particularly strong in industrialised towns in the 19th century, where it played an important role in educating children employed by factories during the six day working week. The town of Leek, the centre of Staffordshire’s silk industry, is a particularly good example of a town with a strong Sunday School movement.
The comments of the Dean of Lincoln which are published in the preface to this Annual Report of the Sunday School make it clear that the Sunday schools are invaluable in helping to counteract the “poisonous manners of this depraved age”. No apology is necessary for the important service to the community performed by Sunday schools.
The report goes on to refer to the need to acquire new premises owing to a rise in the rent of the existing school-house and the demand for places. It is intended to raise the money to build a new school room by public subscription. Note at the end of the Report the very large numbers of children on the school roll. |
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