 each of whom initially brought new life to the school but were then in turn defeated by similar problems. The number of pupils fell from about 40 during the First World War (fn. 480) to fewer than 30 by the late 1930s, with attendance frequently reduced by illness, (fn. 481) although a suggestion by the L.E.A. in 1926 that children should transfer at 11 to the larger school at Deanshanger was not acted on. (fn. 482)
Numbers rose in 1939-40 with the admission of evacuees from Essex, Kent and Surrey as well as London, who arrived as individuals rather than (as at Roade or Hartwell) complete classes. (fn. 483) In 1941 the school had 19 evacuees but only 16 'natives'. (fn. 484) An annual open day for parents, established in 1939, (fn. 485) was kept up throughout the war. (fn. 486) During the winter of 1942-3 the head, as well as having no cleaner, lost one assistant when she went to work at the munitions factory in Wolverton and another through ill-health; (fn. 487) she herself resigned in the summer of 1943. (fn. 488) Her successor took over with 28 pupils (fn. 489) but left two years later, suffering from shock and worry. (fn. 490) The school received six evacuees (two from Harlesdon and four from Forest Hill) in 1944, three of whom were still at Wicken a month after V.E. Day. (fn. 491)
Another new head tried to make a fresh start at the end of the war but lasted only two years, (fn. 492) defeated in part by the winter of 1947. (fn. 493) Her successor arranged the usual Christmas parents' day in December that year, when the girls of the newly opened prep. school at Wicken Park sent a packet of sweets for each child. (fn. 494) In 1949 school dinners were started. (fn. 495) From September that year Wicken became an infant and junior school, with older children moving to Deanshanger, where a purpose-built secondary modern opened in 1958. (fn. 496) In 1950 H.M.I. recognised that the new head was trying to make up for the problems of the previous twenty years but was not over-generous with praise for the school, which now had fewer than 20 pupils. (fn. 497) Numbers rose to about 30 over the next few years, following the building of a small estate of council houses in the village. (fn. 498)
In 1952 Wicken was designated a voluntary controlled primary, (fn. 499) the rector having recognised that, faced with the need to spend between £4,000 and £5,000 to bring the premises up to date, aided status was not attainable. (fn. 500) Between 1953 and 1957 the county carried out major improvements, installing running water, water closets, a tarmac playground, and new heating. The redundant infants' classroom was converted into a dining hall. (fn. 501) In 1956 the school received a noticeably more favourable report from H.M.I. (fn. 502) By this time numbers were beginning to fall again, and when a new head took over in September 1958 she had only 20 pupils. (fn. 503) There were 12 when she resigned three years later (fn. 504) and in December 1962 the school closed and the 11 remaining pupils transferred to Deanshanger. (fn. 505)
The benefaction of 1810 remained in existence at the time of writing (as Elizabeth's Prowse's Charity), with the income still applied to the expenses of a day school and Sunday School at Wicken. (fn. 506)
Wicken Park School.
After their purchase of the Wicken Park Estate in 1945, the Society of Merchant Venturers concluded that the mansion was unlikely ever again to be a private residence and immediately opened negotiations with Allied Schools Agency Ltd., which had interests in a number of leading independent schools. The company took a 21-year lease on the house and grounds from Michaelmas 1945 at £530 a year, plus interest on improvements. The society spent £8,350 on converting the buildings, which in 1946 became a girls' preparatory school, acting for a time as a recognised feeder for Westonbirt (Gloucs.). (fn. 507) The connection with Westonbirt later ended, but Wicken Park remained a girls' prep. until falling numbers forced its closure in July 1970, two years after the original headmistress, Miss A.M. Sharp