Church and School, Hilderstone

Description:A view taken from Hilderstone Road, looking south east. On the left is Christ Church which was built in 1827-9 to designs by Thomas Trubshaw of Little Haywood and dedicated in 1833. The church was paid for by Ralph Bourne of Hilderstone Hall, a pottery manufacturer.

On the right is Hilderstone School, built as a National School for 180 pupils in 1819, and also funded by Ralph Bourne. Mr George Hope and his wife, Emma, were in charge of the school between 1899 and 1927. The school closed in 1981 as it only had one pupil and two teachers. The building is now a private residence, Mistletoe Lodge.

This early postcard was published by T.J. Adie & Co. of Stone and printed in Saxony. The split back design of this card allowed the address on one half of the back and correspondence on the other half, provided that it was for communication within the British Isles with a halfpenny stamp. Foreign use required a penny stamp but no message was allowed in the allowed space.