Extract from The Changing Face Of Warminster by Wilfred Middlebrook, published in 1971:
A footpath climbs up through Nutball Wood from Cannimore, passing what was once the Reformatory School at Tascroft. It was later a dairy farm and is now converted into modern flats. The footpath rejoins Folly Lane before finally descending to join the Frome road.
The Reformatory was built in 1856. A report for January of that year stated that “a site has been selected for the Reformatory School at Bugley, near the Half Mile Road, called Tascroft. The site is of rare salubrity. A tender of £800 has been accepted for the building.â€
The following year, the Chapel Of St. Laurence in Warminster was re-opened for services on Sunday mornings for inmates of the Union or Workhouse and the sixteen boys from the Reformatory. These lads had a special treat when the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated, being brought in wagons to Sambourne Cricket Ground to see the firework display. As an added precaution the wagons were surrounded by hurdles to prevent the boys escaping.
The late Mr. James Rutty, J.P., of Upper Marsh Road, was at one time a carpentry instructor at the Reformatory School.