The School at the Church of Boo – Boo kyrkskola

The school in Boo was inaugurated on the 17th of August, 1851, and this makes it the oldest elementary school in the region of Närke. The school was built by Baron Hugo Adolf Hamilton, the tenant in tail of Boo at the time. He was a fine draftsman and probably drafted the building plans of the school himself.  It was designed in the so-called Greek temple-style, and was constructed at the crest of a small hill in the vicinity of the church. According to a note in the press, the “singing prince”, i.e. the musically talented Prince Gustaf, son of King Oscar I, was present at the inauguration of the schoolhouse.

In the journal of a parish meeting from the year 1853, it was noted that poor children living far from school were provided with school meals. “One and a half pint of hot soup in the winter and in the summer the same amount of milk”. The soup was heated on the second floor of the school building, where the teacher’s residence was located.

For the children’s benefit and pleasure, as well as for health reasons, there was a school garden plot laid out below the western side of the hill. Boo kyrkskola was in use until 1953, when the new village school of Hjortkvarn was opened. Nowadays, the school in Boo is being used by the local history society.