Crissingham

Crissingham was the site of the first Common School, intended by its founders to give provide young farm folk with their "letters. " Many of the Hobbits who made a useful living outside the Shire in the time of King Elessar got their education at this school or one of its offspring. Lacking access to tomes of ancient lore, the Common School created its own books and monographs, particularly in the mechanical arts. The Shire possessed craft-knowledge superior to that of most cultures of Men in northwestern Endor, some of its own creation and some shared by the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains. Common School "Hand-books" were, in Fourth Age Arnor and Gondor ,nearly as valuable as Tomes of Magic. The Masters of the Common School occasionally hired adventurers to "liberate" stolen books from the vaults of foreign guildsmen.