School History

Manfield School was opened in 1857 for the benefit of children and adults in the village of Manfield and the hamlet of Cliffe. The descendents of the family who had the vision to build the school still live in the area, and take an active part in the life of the school.

We recently celebrated our 150th anniversary with a week of activities, including a talk about life in Manfield at the time the school was built. All the children spent a day at Killhope leadmines, experiencing working life as it would have been in Victorian times. The younger children visited the pump Room in Harrogate where they took part in a workshop about Victorian Toys.

The staff and children dressed up all week in Victorian costume, and everybody had a really enjoyable week. We were to have held a Sports Evening with a Victorian ‘twist’, but for the first time the weather got the better of us and we had to cancel.