Memorial to John Whitaker he opened a free Sunday School in Pickford Street, which accommodated about 40 children. In doing this he was inspired by Robert Raikes who had initiated the Sunday School movement, and by David Simpson, a local Anglican priest who had earlier provided schools for poor children in the town. Unlike most Sunday Schools, Whitaker's school was non-denominational. In 1814 he followed this by opening a much larger purpose-built Sunday School in Roe Street. The school was financed by public subscription and by the children paying a small weekly fee. Whitaker died in 1820, but the school continued to flourish, and
Robert Raikes' House bought the building and spent £4.5 million on its restoration. As part of this restoration, the shop front was replaced by more traditional wood-framed walls, also the Malt and Hops pub in the rear courtyard was demolished. It reopened in November 2008 as a public house. Robert Raikes' House is primarily made of a timber-frame with wattle and daub panels. It has a slate double purling roof and is additionally supported by two brick stacks with octagonal shafts. The front of the building has three timber-framed gables. In the 18th-century, a parallel range and cross wing with a raised cruck