Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 15 December 2023 to amend the name, address and reformat the text to current standards
714-1/0/10060
BRADFORD
WHITEHALL ROAD
Former Drighlington Junior School
(Formerly listed as LEEDS WHITEHALL ROAD Drighlington Primary School)
05-NOV-08
II
Former board school, 1874-75, by Lockwood & Mawson, coursed sandstone with ashlar dressings, slate roofs, single-storey, classical detailing
PLAN: 'E' plan with front and rear playgrounds (dividing walls removed to front playground). Late C19/early C20 extension to rear left of building is not of special interest.
EXTERIOR: Projecting ashlar stringcourse below windows, flush ashlar band above windows forming lintel band. Dentil eaves cornice to front and side elevations. Six-over-six sash windows with cambered heads to all elevations.
Front (North West) elevation: 13 bays long. Central projecting bay in form of two-storey clock tower with windows to front and side returns of ground floor, gable detail to mid-section of tower with dentil cornice and ashlar tympanum containing relief lettering reading '1875' flanked by carved decoration. Second stage of tower with carved consoles to each corner and square Doric-style columns above, clock face to front with decorative carved surround, belfry-style paired arched windows to sides with keystones and mullions in form of square Doric-style pilasters, deep moulded cornice above incorporating dentil band, tower surmounted by pyramidal lead roof and weathervane with wrought-iron scrollwork. Three bays to each end of front elevation project forward slightly and are gabled. Gables contain roundels with carved surrounds incorporating relief lettering reading 'GIRLS' (left) and 'BOYS' (right). Wide doorways (doors replaced) with cambered heads incorporating large overlights to bays four and ten with large fixed pane six-light windows above, accessed by a later ramp and short stair flight.
Left (North East) side elevation: eight bays, in same style as front elevation. Three-bays to far left form projecting rear wing and are slightly lower in height with three-over-six windows (top hung bottom panes) and sill band. Early C20 extension set at right angle to main building attached to bay four (lower part of original window converted into a door leading into extension) is not of special interest.
Right (South West) side elevation: In same style as North East elevation. Doorway to left bay of rear wing incorporating overlight is accessed by two stone steps.
Rear (South East) elevation: Three projecting wings; those to outside are of four-bays with paired gable ends. Taller central wing (extended slightly in early C20) with a hipped roof, taller windows, doorway to left bay in similar style as those to front elevation (boarded over), wall stack serving boiler in basement below. Two-bay links between projecting wings with three-over-six sash windows. Iron gate and railings with handrail incorporating scrolled stops enclosing external basement stair.
INTERIOR: Entrance corridors with classrooms to centre front of building, side wings and rear. Some minor alteration with inserted partition walls, and inserted mezzanine to former infants' classroom to centre rear. Original features include built-in cupboards and shelving, timber panelled dados, moulded door architraves, partly glazed panelled doors, partly glazed panelled screen to front right boys' classrooms (lower part removed to front girls' classrooms), moulded cornicing to corridors, arched openings to entrance hall corridors and arched alcoves to each end of original boys' and girls' cloakrooms behind entrance halls. Original king post and arched brace roof trusses, some above later suspended ceilings. Later extension to rear left of building containing toilets is not of special interest.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: School and playgrounds enclosed by sandstone boundary wall, paired entrance gate piers to Whitehall Road (original entrance to boys' and girls' playgrounds) with pyramidal caps. Plain gate piers to rear left (North East corner) of school with rounded heads.
HISTORY: Drighlington Board School, Whitehall Road, was constructed on the site of a C17 grammar school endowed by James Margetson, Archbishop of Armagh who was born in the village. It was built at a cost of £1200 as a junior school incorporating boys' and girls' departments. The foundation stone was laid by Mrs John Hague, the wife of the lord of the manor, on 4th July 1874.
In 1916 Drighlington Infants' School merged with the girls' department and moved into the Whitehall Road premises. In 1949 the school was composed of three separate schools with separate headteachers - junior, infants, and senior mixed. The senior mixed department developed from the original boys' department and was known as Margetson County Secondary School. It was housed in a prefabricated building in the rear playground, which remained until the early 1960s when a new school opened in Morley. In 1971 the infants' school moved to a new building in Drighlington (demolished in 2004), and the Whitehall Road property became known as Drighlington Junior School. The schools subsequently re-merged again in 2004/5 and a new school building opened at Moorland Road in November 2005.
Lockwood & Mawson of Bradford are a nationally recognised firm of C19 architects who worked predominantly in West Yorkshire but also throughout England. Along with many other buildings, they designed the model village of Saltaire for Sir Titus Salt in the 1850s-70s. They also designed a number of schools including Saltaire School (1869, grade II*), Feversham Street First School, Bradford (1873, grade II*) and St Thomas' School, Bradford (now demolished).
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: Drighlington Junior School is designated at grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It was constructed by Lockwood & Mawson who are widely recognised as one of the C19's leading firms of regional architects
* The elegant classical styling reflects Lockwood & Mawson's expertise, and the aspirations of the small Drighlington School Board, and is above the standard and purely functional designs of other village schools
* The exterior incorporates notable features for such a humble village school including a decorative clock tower, roundels, and dentil cornicing
* Having been built in 1874-5 it is relatively early in date, and represents the first wave of board school construction after the introduction of the 1870 Education Act
* It is well preserved and retains many original interior features, with the original plan layout remaining clearly readable
