Nash Mills C of E Primary School was founded by the paper industrialist John Dickinson in 1847. The school was built at a cost of £597. It comprised a house for the teacher and one large room for the pupils. Unfortunately, little is known about those early years of the school because it is thought that any records may have been destroyed when John Dickinson’s offices were bombed during World War II.

The earliest Minute book of the Committee of Management of the School has its earliest entry dated 1871.The members were Charles Longman (of the publishing family), John Evans (son-in-law of John Dickinson and a famous archaeologist) and Revd David Ingles, first vicar of St Mary’s, Apsley End. Miss Armstrong was then the teacher and there were 80 pupils. Her pay for the first quarter of 1871 (13 weeks) was £7.79. She lived in the school house rent free.