Cookery School (Elizabeth Hall School)

Elizabeth Hall established an educational charity in Ledbury in 1706. It was endowed with property in the Southend and was to provide for the education of 16 girls and 8 boys. Members of the Biddulph family were trustees, an obligation which they excercised diligently down the years. By 1834 the school was only taking girls, on average between 20 and 24. They were taught the rudiments of reading and writing, but the greatest emphasis was on sewing, knitting and 'marking' - that is marking linen for the laundry. They were also taught how to wash and iron clothes and were taught general housework duties by being made responsible for the cleanliness of the school itself.

In 1910 the school was rebuilt and refounded as a 'Cookery School'.