On reaching the southern end of The Borough, with the pretty row of small cottages on your left, you will see Pitt House to your right. This house is built on what was once the site of a gravel pit in the 18th century. The front door originally opened directly onto the green but gradually the garden was extended so that now there is only a very small amount of the first green left beyond its boundary wall.
The Heritage Trail plaque is on a post of what is known locally as ‘School Rails’, across a gravel track leading to the building at the other side of Pitt House. Once a non-conformist Chapel, and soap boilers premises, then occupied by Headlands Garage (which has moved to the Industrial Estate), it is now a private house.
In 1847 the building was a British Girls School. On 6 November 1867 adjoining cottages caught fire and were destroyed; the two room school building was just saved after a wooden shed was torn down to prevent the fire spreading.
Infant children were moved from this school in 1892 to that in South Lane, and in 1896 all the remaining children moved to the new school in Gravel Close (Heritage Trail Plaque 6). Look closely at the wall as you walk towards the main A338 road and you will see the marks where the children sharpened their soft slate pencils for writing.
