Hitchin holds a unique place in the history of education as it boasts the world’s last remaining purpose-built Monitorial schoolroom. The grade II* listed building opened in 1837, but the school was founded in 1810, a full 80 years before the government finally provided free elementary education for all.

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Find out more about the museum and our history
Past and present exhibitions View All
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Coronation Exhibition
Visit our small exhibition on the ten monarchs that the British School in Hitchin has seen take the throne since it began. FREE
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Cabinets of Objects: Natural History in Victorian Schools
A history on the use of educational object boxes and the teaching of natural history in Victorian schools Cabinets of Objects
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It's all in the sound: the radical experiments
The radical 1960s experiments to make learning to read easier It's all in the sound: the radical experiments