Description: On the 3rd April 1740, George and Sibella Turner agreed to sell a piece of land to Thomas Thoroton, John Wood, John Launder and Anthony Tissington, with the intent that a charity school should be erected on the land, for teaching 12 poor boys and 8 poor girls of the parish of Alfreton to read and write. By an agreement dated 5th April, 1740, Elizabeth Turner (widow of Charles Turner d. 1736) entrusted to Thoroton and the others, the sum of £457.17s in South Sea stock. The trustees were to sell the stock and from the money raised were to buy land and buildings. The rents from these were to be put into a trust and the money used annually to pay for the school. The eventual sale of the South Seas Stock raised £500 and the trustees acquired land at Swanwick Delves. The provisions of the agreement between Elizabeth Turner and the trustees were that: 1) From the rents acquired £15 was to be paid yearly to a person nominated to teach 12 poor boys and 8 poor girls of the Alfreton Parish, of which Swanwick and Green Hill Lane should have preference. 2) Mrs. Turner was to appoint the first schoolmaster and any replacements during her lifetime. 3) The Schoolmaster could be removed by the majority of the trustees, for any neglect or misbehaviour on his part. 4.) The trustees select the children to benefit from the Charity. 5) No child should attend the school under the age of 5 or over the age of 10. On the same day, 5th April 1740, George Turner sold to the trustees a piece of land in Swanwick, measuring 20 yards x 16 yards, and on this land the school was to be built. By 26th February, 1741, the school had been erected and on the same day George Turner sold to the trustees a piece of land, to be used for a garden and an orchard for the school. It is believed that the original site of the school was situated on the Green and that the Schoolmaster lived at Charity Farm, half a mile distant. According to Johnson in his 'History of Alfreton', the first Schoolmaster was the Rev. Anthony Carr of Alfreton. By 1804, the school was mainly under the management of the Rev. John Wood, who resided at Swanwick Hall, and the schoolmaster was Joseph Machin. On November 2nd 1810, Anthony Machin succeeded his father Joseph, as the Schoolmaster. The contract with the trustees stipulated the following: 1) He would receive £15 annually if he taught 12 boys and 8 girls to read, write and do accounts. 2) He was to be the tenant of the school and farm for a rent of £50 a year. 3) If he taught a further 20 children (12 boys and 8 girls) he would not have to pay the £35 owing on the rent of the farm and school. 4) He was to provide the pens, ink, paper, books and coals. 5) No child was to be taught to write under the age of seven. 6) At Christmas when a child reached the age of 10 he had to be dismissed. The agreement operated successfully, although shortly after 1810 Machin asked to be excused from buying the stationery and books and this was granted by the trustees. In 1816, by the award of the commissioners of the Alfreton inclosure, the Rev. John Wood exchanged the original site of the school for a piece of land he had been given on the south side of the lane leading to Charity Farm, over-looking the Swanwick Dam. This move suited both the Rev. John Wood and the Charity Trustees. By now, the original schoolhouse was in a ruinous state, the new schoolhouse would be erected near to the master's house; the Rev. John Wood would pay for the building of the new school and the land that the Rev. Wood gained was adjacent to land already owned by his family. Although, with the exchange the new school site was not in the centre of the village it was now situated in a sensible position for both the children of Swanwick and those of Green Hill Lane. In 1832 it was noted by the Commissioners enquiry into Charity Schools that: - 1) All children's appointments were made by the Rev. John Wood when they occurred. 2) All the children were taken from Swanwick and Green Hill Lane. 3)The demand for places was so great that only one child at a time was admitted to the school out of each family. 4) If a child was absent for more than 2 weeks they lost their place. 5) In addition to the 40 places at the school, the master also had a few other scholars, but not exceeding ten in number. The Charity school continued in its work in the area, set out by the trustees, although in 1844, National and Infant Schools had been erected in Riddings at the cost of nearly £2,000. By 1846 the School Master, Anthony Machin, was being assisted by his son Joseph Machin and he eventually replaced his father in 1848. In 1863, a National School was established at the cross roads in Swanwick, to accommodate 200 girls and infants and so the places at the Turner School would presumably have by this time all gone to boys. Joseph Machin still appears as schoolmaster of the Charity School in Wright's Directory of 1874 but by 1881 he is not mentioned in Kelly's Directory, for by that time an extension had been made to the National School to hold an extra 120 pupils. He, however, still resided at Charity Farm as the Census Enumerator's Returns of 1881 show. With the closure of the Charity School in the late 1870's, the Trustees used the funds to pay for 40 poor children to attend the National Schools. In time, when school fees were abolished in State Elementary Schools in the 1890's the money from the trust was used to pay for 2 pupils to go to a Secondary School. After the 1944 Education Act, the Trust was used to make grants to students going on to University. The Charity schoolhouse still stands today and is the home of Mr. Sansam and appropriately it is situated on Turner's Lane, named after its benefactor. From: 'A History of Alfreton' by R. Johnson; 'The Story of Swanwick Hall' by - M. Higginbottom and T. Thacker; 'The Report of the Commissioners enquiry into Charities and the Education of the Poor' - County Local History Library; 'Derbyshire Directories' - County Local History Library; 'Census Enumerators returns 1851, 1881'- County Local History Library.