3-028-469 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Bedfordshire Middle-Class College, 1870. 'A public school has been founded in Bedfordshire to suit the agricultural and other middle-class inhabitants of that county...The plan of education is one entirely to meet modern views, intending to fit boys for the different departments of life, except for pursuits requiring high classical attainments. The school was opened on Aug. 19 last, and there are now 104 boys. The terms are extremely moderate, being £33 10s. per annum, which will include every charge...The school is built to accommodate 300 boys. The diet is ample and substantial; the domestic accommodation for the boys is really perfect, and every arrangement for cleanliness, health, and comfort has been made. There is a tepid plunge-bath within the school buildings, and an infirmary, totally distinct, in case of infectious illness. This school has been promoted not with reference to pecuniary profit, but from an anxious desire to induce the agriculturists and others of moderate means to send their sons to a school where they can obtain a solid education at a very moderate price...The architect of the building is Mr. Frederick Peck'. Note gardener with scythe in the foreground. From "Illustrated London News", 1870.