School House (Now St Mary's Church) Em
St Mary's Church in 2009.
merdale, is the villages church. It is down Church Lane, Emmerdale, which is round the corner from Main Street. It was the village tea rooms from 1995 until 2002 and had been unused since 1979 before it was converted into a tea rooms by Kathy Glover. It was first seen in 1974 when new schoolteacher James Bonfils stayed at Emmerdale Farm and when Seth Armstrong was first seen in 1978 he had been a boiler man at the school for many years.
In 2002, after the Diner was shut down, School House became the new village church after Zoe Tate burned down the Original St Mary's Church when she was having a nervous breakdown. The land was consecrated when the school house was chosen. The current vicar is Harriet Finch.
Backstory
School House was built in 1826 by the Verney family. It was Beckindale's school for many years and Jacob Sugden, his father and grandfather, Jim Gimbel, the Dingle and Merrick families and the rest of the Sugdens would all have been educated here.
1974-1979
The school was mentioned in 1973 in an episode but the exterior was first seen in late 1974. James Bonfils was a
School House in 1975.
teacher there. He lodged at Emmerdale Farm. He left Beckindale in 1975 and the school was again seen in 1978 when Seth Armstrong was a boiler man there. Antony Moeketski was a supply teacher in 1978. The school closed in 1979 due to lack of pupils who were transferred to Hotten Comprehensive. The building stood unused for the next 16 years.
1995-2002
Villager Kathy Glover bought the old school house and converted it into a tea rooms in 1995.
2002-present
Teachers when the building was a school
- James Bonfils (1974-1975)
- Antony Moeketski (1978)
Vicars since usage of building as a church
- Reverand Ashley Thomas (2002-2012)
- Reverand Jude Watson (2013-2014)
- Harriet Finch (2014-)
Gallery
