The first Sunday School in the village probably started back in the late 18th century and was combined with the Anglican church. However in 1843, encourage by their new building, the Methodists started their own Sunday School under the direction of Mr Davison Harris, the first superintentent.
Sunday School in the last centuary was very different from ours today. There were two meetings, one in the morning and another at 2pm in the afternoon. The morning meeting started with a hymn and a roll call. Then there was a catechism lesson when the children recited from memory extracts from the bible. This was followed by questions on the extracts. The children would then divide into classes. In the early days before the day school started these classes were used to teach children the alaphabet and how to read and write. In the afternoon there would again be a hymn and a roll call. The visiting preacher from the morning service would then address the children on an 'interesting subject'. Later on the children would also be required to attend the evening service.
Each child had an attendance card and stars were stuck on weekly to denote full attendance. A complete card at the end of the year warranted a special prize, usually a book. The children also had missionary boxes, one for girls and one for boys, to put their spare pennies in.
Good Friday was when Sunday School Anniversary was celebrated. The children met at the church in the early afternoon and paraded around the village led by a large red and gold banner and accompanied by a drum and fife, stopping at various locations to sing hymns. Afterwards they went back to the church for tea and then had games and races. Later in the evening prizes of books were presented to the children, a tradition that has survived to the present day. In the mid 20th centuary the Anniversay moved from Good Friday to Palm Sunday.
Davison Harris was Sunday School superintendant from 1843 until 1890. He was followed by Mr Charles Adams, Mr Charles Smith and Mr Edward Smith who led the Sunday School until 1921 when Mr Robert Robinson became superintendent. He was affectionally known to many people as simply 'Uncle Bob'. Mr Robinson led the Sunday School for thirty-six years.
