The Grey House in Draycot Cerne was originally the village school, and was built in 1794-95, on the site of Longden's smallholding. Unlike Sutton Benger, which only had a school from the 1800s, partly funded by the church, the Draycot school had been funded by Lady Long from the early 1700s. There was a resident headmaster / schoolmaster for many years, and the Estate gangmaster (in charge of the labourers) lived in the cottage at the north end.

Draycot School closed in 1903, after which children attended school in Sutton Benger.

Nesta Heath, in her book 'Life and Herbing in Sutton Benger' records how children from the farms to the north, such as Mount Pleasant, had to walk cross-country through Draycot Park and down French Gardens Lane to get to school; as she says: 'Not a nice journey on cold wet winter's mornings, and again in the late afternoon.'

The photos show the building in 2022, and in 1920 when it was sold in the Draycot Estate Auction. It was Lot 35 in the Catalogue. The adjoining cottages were sold individually, as Lots 36 and 36A.