School History

Tamerton Foliot, where Mary Dean's Primary School resides, is a historic village which was recorded as early as the 6th century and incorporated into Plymouth City in 1951. The school has been situated on three sites in the village since it was first established.

Dame Mary Dean of Maristow was the eldest daughter of Sir James and Lady Elizabeth Modyford. The school was opened in 1722 as a charity school to be run as a Church of England Foundation. This was Tamerton Foliot’s first school and educated twenty boys. In 1798, ten girls were admitted. The school was endowed on her death in 1734 when she left a sum of money and the rent of a farm in Tavistock to support the school.

In 1877, the school moved to Rock Hill and held 140 children. It is now located in the third school building to bear the name, built in 1974/5 by Devon Education Authority and officially opened by Lord Roborough in May 1976. There is now a plaque on the wall of the original school, which is known as ‘Hillside’. This picture of Mary Dean was incorporated within the school logo and remains in a more modern form.

We still proudly hang the original bell from the Rock Hill building in 1877. This was rehung in our current building in 1979 by Stanley W Luke, Governor and Manager, who rang the bell as a pupil in the old school.