St. Paul’s Schools, with master’s house attached were built by John Walter III on land that he purchased from Mr. Palmer of Holme Park in December 1864. The projected cost of the new school to accommodate 325 mixed children and infants was £ 1,000. John Walter was the major donor with rest contributed by the parishioners and fund raising events.
The school was opened on 15th October 1866. In the following year John Walter paid for the construction of additional rooms, one to accommodate infants and the other to serve as living quarters for female teachers. John Walter also funded an enlarged playground in 1874 and changes to the class room and offices in 1883.
Following the rise in population, John Walter purchased the piece of land on the east side of the schools upon which he built a class room for the infant school, increased accommodation for the teachers, a large Parish Room with offices and a clock tower.
The school was enlarged again in 1904 by John Walter’s son Arthur Frazer Walter, High Steward of Wokingham.
In March 1911, when the Walter Estate was being sold off, Thomas Ellison of the Elms Wokingham purchased the schools, parish room and clock tower. In gratitude of this, the parishioners presented Thomas with a silver casket, now known as The Ellison Casket which is currently on loan to the Town Council and can be seen on special occasions.
In 1969 the Junior section of the schools moved to a new site on Murray Road and became the St. Paul’s Junior C of E School. The infant section became the state controlled Walter Infant School. On 1st February 1975, the Infant School vacated the premises and joined St. Paul’s Junior School in Oxford Road.
The Parish Room, clock tower and school buildings were leased and eventually sold in 1987 to Berkshire County Council. The clock tower is now owned by a private company and is currently (Jan 2019) up for sale.
Wokingham Town Museum Unique Identifier: WTH0487