Our School

The History of Brickhill

People have been living in the Brickhill Area of Bedford since the Stone Age. In the 19th century a chert axe dated to the Neolithic Era was found at Jackman’s Farm, The Pheasant is now located where the farmhouse one stood, this axe is on display at the Higgins Museum. In 2004 an archaeological dig in the North of Brickhill found artefacts from the Iron Age, it is thought that these people would have belonged to the Catuvellauni tribe. We think that these people would have joined the larger groups closer to the River as there was no further activity in the Brickhill area until the Middle Ages.

The earliest recorded mention of Brickhill was in 1276 and was written as ‘Brichull’, it is suggested that the “Brick” in Brickhill comes from the ancient word “brig” meaning “hill top”. Around this time the area would have been used for farming.

In 1750 a land terrier was put together and described Brickhill Farm and the Farm House, which would have been located at where numbers 125 and 127 Brickhill Drive exist today. From 1800 until 1922 the house was owned by the Foster family, whom Foster Hill Road is named after. Frank Brightman took over the ownership of the house and farm, where he lived until the house burnt down in 1946, at which point he moved to De Parys Avenue.

Below is a map of the Brickhill area in 1901.

At the end of the Second World War there was a greater need for houses around Bedford so the council looked towards the Brickhill Area, which was predominantly owned by Frank Brightman. Upon his death in 1956 his estate was sold to Bedford Borough Council, which then lead to the development of South Brickhill, Birds Area, in the late 1950s.

Below is a map of the Brickhill area in 1956.

The History of Brickhill Primary School

Brickhill County Primary Infant School opened to children on 6th September 1960 at 9am with 64 children on roll, with the Headteacher Miss Kathleen Derbyshire. At the time it had three classes including a Reception Class. The official opening day then happened a year later on 5th October 1961. The school educated children between the ages of four to seven.

The school site had been developed further and in 1963 Brickhill County Junior School opens sharing the site with the Infant School. The school at this time educates children from four to the age of eleven.

In the 1970s Bedfordshire County Council introduced comprehensive education and introduced a tier of school between the County Primary and County Secondary Schools. This changed the two-tier system into a three-tier system. In 1973 the school divided into Brickhill Lower School, educating four to nine year olds, and Brickhill Middle School, educating nine to thirteen year olds.

Below is an aerial photograph of the school site in 1970.

In 1995 the site of the Middle School was sold for housing development, Brickhill Lower School was able to retain a large playing field, several playgrounds and a building from the Middle School.

Throughout the early 21st century Brickhill Lower School earned multiple awards including three Basic Skills Quality Marks for their commitment to improve attainment in literacy and numeracy. From 2001 the school was a Beacon School until the scheme was phased out in 2004.

Below is an aerial photograph of the school site in 2002.

In 2017 Bedford Borough Council made the decision to restructure the education system into a two-tier format. Brickhill Lower School then became Brickhill Primary School, educating four to eleven year olds.

The school now has 210 children on roll, with one class per year group.

Sources

Thanks to:

• The Higgins Museum, Bedford.
• National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh.