Village Hall / School

The School

The village school and schoolhouse were built by the Sykes family, when Thixendale was part of the Sledmere estate.

In 1849, Lady Sykes had supported the building of a small schoolhouse next to what is now Cottage Farm. This was replaced by the larger Public Elementary School and schoolhouse – now the village hall – which opened on March 26th 1876 and could hold 70 children.

The design was by the renowned G.E. Street, the same architect who was responsible for the church. The builder was Drewery.

The earliest known headmaster was a Williamson, who retired in January 1888 after teaching in Thixendale for nearly 40 years. Other teachers were James Derbyshire from 1891 until 1901, then John Pickard, and then in 1904 Miss Elizabeth Whitehead.

The infants were catered for in the same room as the older pupils, but the room was subdivided using a cotton curtain. Their teacher, at least in 1906 to 1909 was Lily Nelson.

The school in 1908:

A later teacher was Miss Cooper. Also Jane Benson.

The school closed in the 1964 and the few children in the village went to Fridaythorpe until that too closed.

The village purchased the school in 1968 to use as a village hall.

Youth Hostel

The village hall was leased out to the YHA in 1970, and it was used as a Youth Hostel in the summer months.

Village Hall

On 1st October 1999, the Youth Hostel closed down and the building reverted to being a village hall.