Pentrellyncymmer School opened on 24th January 1912.
The school was opened for local children and children of the workers on the nearby Alwen Reservoir which was under construction from 1911 to 1921 to provide fresh water for Liverpool. The workers and therefore their children came from all over the British Isles and lived in temporary huts and cottages specially built for the workers. The first school, a temporary solution on the reservoir site, opened in January 1912 and was housed in a wooden hut which also served as the chapel on Sundays. All pupils were taught in one large room which later was separated by a curtain to reduce noise level. It was a mixed junior and infants school, had 48 scholars on roll and its first head teacher was Benj. Saunders.
By February 1912 the school had 19 English scholars, 19 Welsh, 13 Scotch and 3 Irish – 54 on roll. ‘Of all the schools under the LEA this is the most cosmopolitan in character’ page 15 – ED/LB/18/1.
A new school, to replace the wooden hut, was built just over a mile away in Pentrellyncymer village and was officially opened on 4th March 1915.
In January 1916 the new head teacher was ES Roberts and there were over 40 scholars on roll. By February 1920 the head teacher was JT Davies. This period saw some developments in the school – a school library was formed, evening school started and ‘lantern lectures’ were shown to the children on various subjects.
Work on the reservoir had finished in 1921 and as the workers left school numbers started to fall. By 1924 there were 25 on roll and by 1929 there were 15 on roll. On May 7th 1928 head teacher JT Davies died in service and was followed by IT Owens. By 1935 the school had achieved an unsatisfactory HMI report and a new head teacher, Lewis Morris, was in place by 1936. Numbers increased slightly to 26 by 1938.
The school closed in July 1961 by which time it had just 5 children on roll. These children were transferred to other local primary schools. Laura E Jones was the last head teacher.
Since 1968 the old school building has been used as an outdoor education centre for primary school groups.
This collection includes log books, admission and attendance registers.
Location
Pentrellyncymer Outdoor Education Centre, Old School, Pentrellyncymer, Cerrig, Corwen. LL21 9TU
OS Sheet 25.5 1874 Ed. – for general area of Pentrellyncymer
OS 6” 25NW 1949 Ed. Marked ‘School’
Related material-
CD/A/4/94- plans, 1912.
CD/A/4/185- camp school plans, 1976
Related material held at other repositories-
National Archives- ED 21/45905 – Pentrellyncymer Council School, Cerrigydrudion, 1920 -1935. School number 25B
Secondary material-
‘Ysgol Pentrellyncymer – A Welsh Country School 1912 – 1961 – Produced by Philip Lloyd and designed by CW Gunther – 1978