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The Free English Endowed School, which was commonly known as the Moss School, was founded in 1769 by Mrs Jane Hardman. Mrs Hardman, carried out her late son’s wishes who had expressed a desire to see some provision made for the education of poor children residing within the Parish. She gained permission from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Byron, the Lord of the Manor and Thomas Wray the vicar in 1761, to enclose a portion of land called Vicars Moss (later Milnrow Road) upon which to erect a school.
Mrs Hardman endowed the school with land and buildings in Wardle. Along with the £500 her son had bequeathed in his will, the revenue from the endowment was then to be used to pay the master £25 per year, keep the building in good repair and any surplus was to be used to buy books. She appointed fifteen trustees, eight of which were dissenters, the other seven being from the established church.
Personal applications were invited from prospective pupils and their parents, with preference given to orphans and the children of poor parents with large families. The children were given instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic but gradually other subjects were added, geography, history, grammar, bookkeeping, drawing and for the girls, sewing. As well as providing free education for up to 60 pupils, the school also took in 20 fee paying pupils, this helped to allay some of the costs.
The school closed its doors for the final time in 1891, the income from the endowed land and buildings was insufficient for the upkeep of the school and great strides had been made by the Government to provide free education for all. A report in the Rochdale Times 26th Sept 1891 stated, ‘’its special local usefulness being finished now that the present Government has done for the whole country what the late Mrs Hardman …….did for Rochdale, in providing free schools for poor children.’