St. Mary's Town and Country School

The school closed at the end of the Summer term of 1982. It was reported in the Daily Telegraph that Mrs Paul owed the Inland Revenue £84,000: other creditors included Eton College (the lessors of the school buildings) and four teachers who, through their Union, claimed back pay. Ten years earlier the school had 300 pupils, but since then the numbers had gradually diminished. Incredibly the inspectors who had visited the school only the year before had decided to do nothing when they had been told about the dire financial situation. For that summer term there were just seven pupils and seven teachers, three of who were working loyally without claiming pay to get their pupils through their…