Clergy Daughters' School
Coordinates: 54°11′03″N 2°33′44″W / 54.1841°N 2.5621°W
Cowan Bridge School refers to the Clergy Daughters' School, a school mainly for the daughters of middle class clergy founded in the 1820s. It was first located in the village of Cowan Bridge in the English county of Lancashire, where it was attended by the Brontë sisters. Two of the sisters, Maria and Elizabeth died from tuberculosis in the aftermath of a typhoid outbreak at the school. In the 1830s the school moved to Casterton, a few miles away, where it was amalgamated with another girls' school. The institution survived to the twenty-first century as Casterton School.
The Cowan Bridge school imposed a uniform on the children known as the Charity children, which humiliated the Brontës, who were among the youngest of the boarders. They suffered taunting from the older children, Charlotte especially, who owing to her short sightedness had to hold her nose to the paper to be able to read or write. They slept two in a bed with their heads propped up, rising before dawn, making their morning ablutions in a basin of cold water (shared with six other pupils) which had often frozen during the night for lack of any heating. They descended for an hour and a half of prayers before breakfasting on porridge, frequently burnt. This is similar to Jane Eyre, where they get both burnt porridge and frozen water. They began their lessons at half past nine, ending at noon, followed by recreation in the garden until dinner, a meal taken very early. Lessons began again without pause until 5 p.m. When there was a short break for half a slice of bread and a small bowl of coffee and 30 minutes recreation, followed by another long period of study. The day ended with a glass of water, an oatcake, and evening prayers before bed. Punishments included privation of food and recreation, corporal punishment, and humiliations such as being made to sit on a stool for hours on end without moving, wearing a dunce's cap.
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