Educating Deptford: The Deptford Ragged School and its place in the Community

The Deptford Ragged School was situated at the heart of working-class Victorian Deptford. Few families in the district were unconnected to the institution, yet we know very little about those families, or the children who attended, or the communities they lived within.

In April 2025 we were awarded £116,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to support this project.

The project will increase knowledge and understanding of the history and heritage of the Deptford Ragged School, and of the lived experiences of those in and around it, as well as examining continuities between lives in the past and the present. We will utilise local stories to communicate broader issues and examine how the school was not simply a provider of education, but also an agent for charity, community, care and nurture, and social mobility.

The project's legacy will be continued knowledge-exchange through a digitised archive, exhibitions, performances, education resources for schools and local organisations, and research into links between education, schooling, wellbeing, the environment, and social mobility.

In phase 1 of the project, we digitised the entire archive relating to the Deptford Ragged School.

We then recruited nine Community Researchers and a Research Coordinator who used the digitised archive to undertake research into the Ragged School via three themes:

‘Ecology, Environment, and the Natural World’
‘Wellbeing, Food, and Nutrition’
‘Lived Histories and Life Stories’

Research on these three themes was then shared with our three community partners, each of which is undertaking their own community work using the project's research.

IRIE! Dance Theatre is using the research on ‘Lived Histories and Life Stories’ to inspire a new and original performance entitled 'A Light in a Dark Place'.

Creekside Discovery Centre is using the research on ‘Ecology, Environment, and the Natural World’ to develop a new school's outreach scheme.

The Bear Church is using the research on ‘Wellbeing, Food, and Nutrition’ to develop a new ESOL education programme centred on food and food culture.

Phase two of the project is the engagement phase, featuring a series of exciting and innovative events through which we will share everything we have learnt about the Deptford Ragged School and its place within the community.

Find out more about all the project events

The final phase of the project will see everything we have collected and learnt made freely available via our website, including free access to the digital archive, and access to all the information and resources we have created.

There will also be education resources for schools, an Educating Deptford Heritage Trail around Deptford, a Lewisham Heritage Maroon Plaque, and a travelling exhibition that will visit various locations across the borough.

We are looking to fill a number of posts for this project.

Please visit the Recruitment Page to find out more.

Educating Deptford: the Deptford Ragged School and its Place in the Community is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Thanks to National Lottery players, we will be able to increase understanding of the history of the Deptford Ragged School, create a digitised archive, work with the local community, and utilise the research to explore how the school provided education, care, built community and enabled social mobility.

A huge thanks to National Lottery players!