Museum and garden free Open Day on Sunday 7th April 12noon-4pm, then on the first Sunday of every month.

Why on earth did Sir Christopher Wren leave London to design a school in the tiny village of Appleby Magna? And what was life like for the boys who became pupils?

The Sir John Moore School first opened its doors in 1697. It has always been a free school, even before free education became compulsary. And it attracted some big names - Christopher Wren designed it, and pupils such as Richard Arkwright's family attended it. Some pupils went on to play football for England, or become lawyers, engineers, or even servants in Queen Victoria's household.

This intriguing building is still a home to the village primary school, as well as being a museum. You can see how pupils from the Victorian era would have lived and learned. Find out how formal education developed, how the school was instrumental in the Industrial Revolution, and how the little village of Appleby Magna once shaped the ideas of a nation.