The Stockport Sunday School, Stockport, Greater Manchester
A photographic copy of an engraving by S Bradshaw showing the exterior of the Stockport Sunday School in Duke Street. An inscription beneath the illustration describes the Sunday School as being "FOR THE EDUCATION AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF THE CHILDREN OF THE LABOURING POOR BY GRATUITOUS TEACHERS 1805". £6000 pounds was raised by subscription to build the school which was large enough to accommodate 5000 scholars. The school belonged to the town rather than a particular church. It was the largest sunday school in the world. At this time many poor children worked long hours in factories from an early age. The only education they got was in Sunday Schools. Sunday Schools were established from the 1780s. The education was generally quite basic consiting of the 3 R's (reading, writing, arithmetic) with an emphasis on religious knowledge. It was not until 1878 that the Factory and Workshop Act banned the employment of children under 10.
