Casterton School: Celebrating 190 years of women's education

This project will focus on the heritage of Casterton School, formerly the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge. The Casterton School collection, which is looked after by The Sedbergh School Foundation, includes archival material relating to the Bronte sisters who attended the school between 1824 and 1825.

The archive includes material recording the changing landscape of education, the changing role of women and documents recording the early lives of women who were ground-breaking in their fields after leaving the school, including women such as suffragette Dorothea Beale who was Headmistress of the school from 1857. The collection includes examples and photographs of the uniform dating back to the 1870's as well as scientific and classroom equipment from the 19th and 20th century.

This project will catalogue the collection making it easier for researchers to discover the breadth of the archive and rehouse the artefacts in museum standard packaging for better long-term preservation. Volunteers will create a ‘pop up’ exhibition about the history of the schools and the alumni to share the heritage with a wider audience. A variety of talks about the Bronte's, the school’s history and early education for women will also be produced.