A charity that was set up to give children of poorer families a free education is marking its 300th anniversary.

The Lloyds Educational Foundation, founded in 1723, was responsible for creating Ombersley First School and Sytchampton Endowed Primary School.

To mark the milestone, both schools spent a day immersing themselves in the history of their schools and the foundation.

The children at Sytchampton Endowed Primary School dressed up in Victorian clothes and studied some of the artefacts kept by the school, including log books and admissions records.

They also created a whole school photograph in the shape of the number 300.

Some of the current trustees of the Lloyds Educational Foundation joined both schools on the day for a celebratory assembly and awarded the schools a commemorative plaque.

Pupils in both schools also received a commemorative pin badge.

The history of the Lloyds Educational Foundation began in 1702 when Thomas Tolley of Comhampton died and left £20 in his will to help further local education.

Then in 1723, Thomas Baker of Boreley also left £1000 in his will for the same purpose. Richard Lloyd, who is believed to have been the local church warden, used this money to acquire land and buildings and appointed seven trustees to manage the Richard Lloyd Charity, as it was called then.

The charity supported the running of small schools in Ombersley and Brookhampton. But in 1826, a contract was made with John Whitney of Ombersley to build a new school on the current Sytchampton Primary School site for a cost of £225.

Then, in 1875, it was decided that a new school building should also be created in Ombersley, just outside of the village. The land was a gift from Lord Sandys and he also bought the old school properties in the village for £400.

As well as setting up the two schools to educate children in the area, the trust also provided books, pens, ink, paper and sometimes clothing for the children who came to the schools.

Lloyds Educational Foundation, as it is now known, still owns the buildings used by Sytchampton Endowed Primary School and Ombersley First School and they provide ongoing financial support for the upkeep of these buildings.