Pupils from Mylor Primary School have been exploring their school's past thanks to a little piece of history recently acquired by the village's archive centre.

Thanks to the eagle eye of Kate Hirst a former resident of Mylor Bridge, a sampler stitched by Annie Downe of Mylor Bridge School in 1867 has gone on display at the centre on Lemon Hill.

Annie was 14 at the time and, according to the 1871 census, went on to become a teacher in the Infants School.

The sampler was first spotted up for sale on eBay and after the seller, an antiques dealer in Whitstable, was contacted and a price negotiated, it was soon travelling home to Mylor.

How it found its way to Whitstable is still a mystery.

Pupils from the primary were among the first to see the 141 year old embroidery and before they visited the centre the children had a lesson in how to create their own needlework art.

Val Jeans-Jakobsson, the chairman of the Mylor local history group, which funded the purchase, was on hand to give the children a fascinating insight into the item's past and the history of the building.

The hall was home to the village school for many years until a fire in 1921 forced it to close.

The sampler will be on view to the pblic on Thursday afternoons in the archive centre, which is part of the newly restored Tremayne Hall Community Centre.

The history group is keen to find out more about Annie and her family and is asking anyone related to the Downe family or who have memories of the old village school, to get in touch.

Falmouth Packet
29 Oct 2008