Old School Green leads north from Dragons Green, past the water tower to Great Pastures before the lane forks in two at a small green.
Great Pastures was built in the 1930s by the Misses Tindall Lucas when their parents died. Their sister was Everilda Mills, wife of Rector Eustace Mills.
There is a painting of “Old School House” by Caroline Agatha Hanbury (1880-1925) dated 13 August 1913 from her sketchbook of 1913-15 that closely resembles the Old School House photograph above. Presumably it is this “Old School House” that gave rise to the name Old School Green.
Avis Bungalow now on the site of the Old School House is named after Frank Avis (born 1885) who was butler to Miss Cotton-Browne at nearby Walkern Hall. He was bequeathed the bungalow in her will. Despite this, he continued to live in School Cottages and the Bungalow was let out. In 1940’s the Lucock family lived there. Siblings Dorothy, Hazel and Roddy Lucock all appear in Benington School photographs of the time.
Bunyan’s Cottage on Old School Green is named after a John Bunyan who lived there in the 1840’s. (He is not the famous author of The Pilgrim’s Progress who was born in 1628 at Elstow in Bedfordshire. Note: There is a house called “Elstow House” in Benington, that may have been named after this John Bunyan, although a definitive link between Benington and the author of Pilgrim’s Progress remains to be proved.)
In the early 20th Century, Bunyans Cottage was the home of “Tubby” Hawkins the road man. Armed with a shovel and supported by his horse and cart he plodded round the village and maintained all the verges.
Pictures showing how Haldons cottages have changed over time.
These maps show the changes between 1840 and 1878:
There is also a building known as the “cart shed school” (above) that was used as a schoolroom possibly during the war when evacuees from London (and elsewhere) increased the number of pupils at Benington School.