ABSTRACT
The vast building programme for elementary schools which followed the 1870 Act disguised a wide variety in both internal organization and external architecture. The difficulties experienced by the voluntary societies before 1902 in respect of school building help explain their attitudes towards a new education Act which might do something to relieve their plight. The one variety of private patronage which did result in a more ostentatious school building was that from philanthropic industrialists. The London School Board was confronted by particularly pressing problems. Building land was not cheap in the metropolis and the need for extra school places was soon painfully evident. The largest Manchester board school was built to serve Gorton, a suburb growing quickly during the 1890s, and catered for over 2,000 children in all. The most lavish of these was the Lilycroft Board School, which incorporated a steeple with gargoyles. Internally, this school was unique, outdoing even the most extravagant voluntary schools in its Gothic pretentiousness.
