Summary
A purpose built Sunday school, named Harrison Road Schools, built in 1872 by an unknown architect.
Reasons for Designation
This Sunday school of 1872 is designated for the following principal reasons:
* Group value: it has group value with the adjacent church which it was constructed to serve, and the buildings share a strong visual, historic and functional relationship;
* Intactness: few losses to both exterior and interior and it largely retains its original layout and original historic fixtures and fittings;
* Architectural interest: while fairly plain architecturally, its classical style compliments that of the adjacent church and it compares favourably with other, listed Sunday schools.
History
The building was constructed in 1872 as a school associated with the adjacent chapel, Harrison Road Chapel. The chapel is dated 1837. It is unknown for how long the building functioned as a school but it was marked as a Sunday School on the 1933 1:2500 OS map. It continued to belong to the chapel until the last quarter of the twentieth century when it was sold by Carlton United Reform Church to HBOS. It was in use as a dance studio until recently and is now in new ownership with plans for development as office suites.
There was originally an aerial link from the chapel building to the school, now removed, though the blocked access points on both the chapel and the school are visible. The dance school inserted a false ceiling to the upper floor, and three ceiling roses are said to survive above this. An original staircase in the south-east corner has been lost, and another stair in the north-west corner has also been removed.
Details
A purpose built Sunday school, named Harrison Road Schools, built in 1872 by an unknown architect.
MATERIALS: the building is constructed of coursed shaped sandstone ‘bricks’ with ashlar dressings and a slate roof.
PLAN: the rectangular building is three bays wide and seven deep. On the eastern side at both the northern and southern ends is an extra bay enclosing a narrow courtyard. The main gabled roof extends over the three western bays only, the extra bay at the front (north) and rear (south) having pitched roofs facing east. It has two storeys.
EXTERIOR: The main, north elevation has four bays with four round arch windows to the first floor, each with ashlar dressings and keystones and with original sash windows with margin lights. The ground floor has three rectangular sash windows with dressings and margin lights, and an off-centre main entrance with an ashlar architrave and cornice surrounding a six-panel door and side panel, and a rectangular overlight. A triangular gable with dentils is situated over the three western bays having at its centre a carved panel with the words AD 1872 HARRISON ROAD SCHOOLS. The right return (west side) has six first floor windows similar to those at the front, with a gap between the fifth and sixth window where an infilled area of stonework shows where a former link with the chapel to the west was sited. On the ground floor are six windows similar to those at the front, with one missing at the northern end. The roof line is dentilled. The rear has four first floor windows, similar to those at the front, two rectangular windows to the right and one bricked up window to the left of a narrow entrance door with a plain surround. In the gable above is a round-arched serliana window, and the south-west corner is chamfered at ground floor level. The left return (east side) is similar to the west side at first floor, but has altered windows at ground floor, including blocked entrances and the scar of an earlier building on the rear face of the northern extension bay. At the southern end in the courtyard to the east of the building are steps down to a basement boiler room extending beneath the southern extension bay.
INTERIOR: the ground floor of the building is divided into a series of rooms of varying size on either side of a central corridor. The main entrance opens into a larger space occupying most of the width of the building, with a removed staircase in the north-west corner, from which a corridor runs directly to the rear door. Immediately to the left is a room with fitted cupboards, panelling and a blocked fireplace with its surround intact though painted over. Other smaller rooms also have half-panelled walls, and half-glazed panelled doors with internal windows above. There is a toilet block half way down the east side with inserted partitions and plain doors. Some rooms have had skirting boards removed, and some rooms have built-in cupboards. An exit door to the courtyard leads from the main corridor. The rear-most room on the west side has a coal chute from the rear wall, positioned beneath the underside of a staircase leading up to the first floor. The staircase, between panelled walls, opens directly into the upper floor which is largely a single open space. The rear extension bay is a separate small room that formerly housed a staircase. At the front, the extension bay is a separate room housing a kitchen. The floor is boarded and there is a gap at the north-west corner where a staircase has been removed. The ceiling is lowered, hiding the serliana window in the rear gable end, and the springing of the trusses is visible below the false ceiling. There are decorative ironwork grilles from the original heating system around part of the walls which are half panelled.
SUBSIDIARY ITEMS: at the front of the building is a low stone wall supporting iron railings with stone pillars on either side of two steps leading to the main entrance; they are similar to the listed railings around the adjacent chapel.
