[1] The enterprise, designed to alleviate unemployment, prospered, and within ten years more than a hundred men were attending classes.

[2][3] Inspired by the precepts of John Ruskin, Rawnsley and his wife set up free evening classes in the parish rooms, beginning in November 1884, to teach metalwork and wood carving under the supervision of a London professional woodcarver and a local jeweller.

[4] In the winter months there was considerable unemployment in the town; the Rawnsleys provided training in skills that could alleviate the problem.

[1] The school prospered and swiftly developed a reputation for high quality copper and silver decorative metalwork.

Beneath the balcony of the façade is the slogan: The loving eye and patient hand Shall work with joy and bless the land The school was mainly financed from sales of its products.