Lessons, livelihoods and a new life
Narberth Board School (later to become Narberth CP School) opened in 1873. School life for its 120 pupils in Victorian Narberth was very different. Many pupils regularly missed lessons to help on farms, earn money on Market Day or even collect bark for the town’s leather industry.
The striking old school building later served generations of local children before education moved to the modern primary school on Jesse Road.
Its story nearly ended with demolition after the school closed in 2007. But, local people, including the Friends of Narberth Old School, campaigned to save the historic building, and a redevelopment led by former pupils preserved its distinctive Victorian frontage.
Today, the old school has a completely new life, with Narberth Library, homes, shops and Hwb on the site.
A place once filled with schoolchildren is busy at the heart of Narberth once again.