Ragged Sunday school outing, Poundsgate

This image taken in 1914 is probably of a Sunday school treat or outing from a Ragged school at Poundsgate, a small hamlet on Dartmoor sited in a steep valley. The Ragged Schools were charitable schools dedicated to the free education of poor children. The movement started in Scotland in 1841 and in 1844, the movement spread to England when Lord Shaftesbury formed the Ragged School Union which eventually established over 200 free schools. Later these schools were absorbed in to the state system of education.