Rowhook School
Where: Rowhook, West Sussex
Built: 1874
Architect: Gordon M Hills
Abandoned: 1963
Listed: No.
Visited: 2009, 2013
Last Known Condition: Completely demolished.
Page Updated: May 2026
Following the Education Act of 1870, there was an urgent need to provide school places for all children aged 5-12. Where the population was too sparse to justify a board school, the Church typically filled the gaps, teaching basic reading, writing, arithmetic and religious instruction.
The tiny one-room Rowhook School came about following a grant of land adjoining Waterlands Lane from Charles Child, Esq. of Windalls, Slinfold to the Church School Board for the Parishes of Warnham, Rudgwick and Slinfold in 1874. This was in response to a 'deficiency of school accommodation" in that district, which the Education Department and local clergy had been keen to rectify.
A committee of trustees was formed, headed by Nathaniel Simes of Strood Park, and local man Gordon M. Hills was appointed as architect.
The school was completed that year at a cost of £152, 18s and 7d; it consisted of one room, its dimensions described in 1876 as "Height: Feet 9, i.e. from floor to slates / Length: feet 30" and "Width: feet 17."
A porch was added to the front as part of the builders' contract and at some time later a lean-to was added with toilets and washbasins.
1880 and 1897 maps show the building as 'School, Boys & Girls', but by 1914 it had become a 'Mission Room;' hardly surprising given the size of the hamlet of Rowhook, which consists of scarcely
more than ten dwellings and a few outlying farms.
The old school continued to be used as a mission room up to c.1948, after which it was leased by the trustees to a Mr. Vibant, who used it for storage, then in 1957 to Mr F B Notley at a cost of £5 p.a. Notley still held it in 1963, but it was said by that time to be "rapidly deteriorating and not doing much good to anyone". A local man, Mr A J Cole, registered his interest in buying the building to make a house for himself and his wife, but the legal status of the land was not adequately understood to allow an outright sale and eventually he lost interest.
In 1984 it was proposed to try to sell the school again. At this point proceedings stalled again however, since under the School Sites Act of 1841 the school could not be sold unless the intention of the trustees was to use the proceeds of sale to buy more convenient land for a new school. A long and bewildering legal wangle ensued, culminating in the passing of the Reverter of Sites Act, 1987, which in short allowed the sale of the land without the need for a new school. This was duly done but by this time the building was completely derelict and enthusiasm for conversion had waned.
The building continued to deteriorate over the years, collapsing c. 2013, and was being demolished as I wrote this in May 2026.
SOURCES
Documents in the West Sussex Record Office, refs. Par 176/4/13, Par 176/10/2-5, Par 176/25/21, 24 & 28.
Edward Nugee QC, "Some Topical Issues for Purchasers and Developers" - http://www.pla.org.uk/__data/assets/word_doc/0018/22815/Some_Topical_issues_for_purchasers_and_developers_-_Edward_Nugee_QC.doc