Did you know King's Manor was once a school for the blind? MAXINE GORDON reports

TWO hundred years ago, life was harsh for anyone who was blind or partially sighted. Back then, people with visual impairments were described as “people for whom life is one long Arctic night unillumined by lamp”. If you didn't have money, your only choice was the poor house or an asylum.

But all that changed – in York and our region at least – after October 3 1833 when local dignitaries got together and agreed to open the Yorkshire School for the Education of the Blind, in honour of local philanthropist William Wilberforce, the late MP for Yorkshire.

From this, the Wilberforce Trust was born, and its new school for the blind opened in King's Manor in York. It was pioneering – London's School for the Blind was not established until 1839.

Today, the Wilberforce Trust is still at the forefront of caring and creating opportunities for blind people locally and is in the process of creating 32 state-of-the-art flats off Tadcaster Road to help people live independently.

Jane Carter, of the Trust, says the work done in the 19th century was trailblazing. "Educating anyone who was blind was thought to be a utopian scheme at the time but when the school opened in the hallowed grounds of King’s Manor it soon put those myths to bed.

"A full curriculum was offered and the school became particularly well known for its music department. One pupil, William Henry Strickland, was a talented musician and he became the organist at Acomb parish church at the age of 14."

In 1883 the school’s forward-thinking Superintendant, Anthony Buckle, held an International Conference to exhibit articles made by the school’s students and to discuss research into education for young people living with sight loss. Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, attended and a Jubilee fund was opened which allowed the school to buy King’s Manor from the Crown. A vocational centre for young people aged over 16 was opened.

The school regularly received glowing reports from school inspectors and in 1903, Mr King, his Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools stated: “This, my last official visit, confirms the feelings of admiration of the excellent work accomplished by this noble institution.”

Jane said: "When the school was eventually closed in 1957 in response to changing times, the Wilberforce Trust, decided to open a residential a home for the multiple-handicapped blind which offered a home to people even when employment wasn’t available to them." A specially built home was constructed just off Tadcaster Road which included a hydrotherapy pool. The residents were offered a sheltered but stimulating environment in which to live.

Jane added: "The people who worked for the Trust, then as now, recognised and nurtured the potential of each and every resident seeking to enable them to achieve as much independence as possible.

"The Wilberforce Trust in the 21st century is still holding the principles that guided its formation in the 19th century; the commitment to support anyone living with a sensory loss to live a rewarding and fulfilling life."

The pictures published today show the school for the blind in the King's Manor days - including the dining room and dorms, where you can see pupils practising Braille and sewing. There is a group photo of pupils, and the school dog, and also one of the children dressed up as kings and queens for a school play.

These images look like any other school group photo – and illustrate just how successful the Trust was in creating a nurturing and educational environment for people with sight loss.

Pictures reproduced from images held at the Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York