360-degree tour of school added to Highland museum's virtual offering
A second building has been revealed in a series of 360-degree virtual tours around five historic buildings at the Highland Folk Museum.
The Knockbain School tour will give visitors an insight into schooling in the 1930s after their latest offering was launched on Tuesday.
Project officer Helen Pickles said: “The prefabricated ‘kit building’ was erected after the First World War to accommodate extra pupils who had been sent to the Highlands principally from Glasgow.
“Children considered to be socially deprived or whose fathers had been killed in the war were boarded out to families in the Highlands and were known as ‘boarded outs’ or ‘orphans’.
“It was thought that billeting the children in rural areas, where they had schooling and some employment on the land, would improve their social standing and abilities.”
The school, also known as the 'Green Hut', consists of a classroom, cloakroom, teacher’s room, and toilet.
The headteacher at the time was John N MacLeod and, as reported by former pupils, he was known to be strict, though his softer side was shown too as he also made the pupils hot drinks in winter.
The bright and airy classroom includes the original cast iron range used both for heating and domestic science classes.
Helen added: “Often in rural schools like this, each pupil would bring a peat to school with them to provide heat for the day.
“In remote parts of Scotland, many pupils would have to walk for miles to get to school, throughout all the seasons. The range would have provided a welcome source of heat after a long journey on a cold day.”
Knockbain School will also be available to visit in person when the Highland Folk Museum opens for the 2022 season on April 1.
The project has been funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, which is run by the Museums Association, funding projects that develop collections to achieve social impact.
The tour can be accessed via www.highlandfolk.com/explore.
