Paston College

Paston Sixth Form College, Grammar School Road, North Walsham, NR28 9JL

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Overview

School building, dated 1766, extended in the C19. Read the official list entry to find out more

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1039540
Date first listed:: 21-Jun-1950
List Entry Name:: Paston College
Statutory Address:: Paston Sixth Form College, Grammar School Road, North Walsham, NR28 9JL

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Date:: 2001-06-30
Reference:: IOE01/12971/31
Rights:: © Mr Peter Warwick. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1039540
Date first listed:: 21-Jun-1950
Date of most recent amendment:: 15-May-2024
List Entry Name:: Paston College
Statutory Address 1:: Paston Sixth Form College, Grammar School Road, North Walsham, NR28 9JL

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: Paston Sixth Form College, Grammar School Road, North Walsham, NR28 9JL

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Norfolk
District:: North Norfolk (District Authority)
Parish:: North Walsham
National Grid Reference:: TG2826630134

Summary

School building, dated 1766, extended in the C19.

Reasons for Designation

Paston College is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a substantial and attractive educational building, constructed in 1766 of red brick and extended in the C19, employing elegant symmetry and proportions.

Historic interest:

* for its association with figures of regional and national historic interest, including its founder Sir William Paston and alumnus Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson; * for the contribution it makes to the evolution of the historic town of North Walsham.

Group value:

* for its proximity to and strong visual relationship with other listed buildings in the historic town centre.

History

The settlement of (North) Walsham was owned by the Abbey of St Benet at Holme by the early C11 and was recorded in the Domesday survey (1086). The town had an established market by 1275, helped by the local wool trade, especially following the arrival of Flemish weavers in the C14. Lightweight ‘Walsham’ cloth reflects the town’s significant position in the wool and weaving industry. The large size of the medieval parish church of St Nicholas expresses some of the prosperity derived from the trade.

Much of the town’s medieval fabric was destroyed by fire in the summer of 1600, including 118 houses, 70 shops and warehouses, and even more barns, stables, malthouses and outhouses. The town changed in the reconstruction, with new building styles and materials used, but the layout of the marketplace and the narrow width of plots remained. Despite the declining wool trade, the town remained a significant market centre as an agricultural trading point and, from the early C19, a place of manufacturing. The North Walsham and Dilham Canal was opened in 1826, and by the end of the C19 the town had two railway stations.

Paston College was founded in 1606 as the Paston Free School by local magistrate and landowner Sir William Paston. The present building stands on the site of the previous free school building and is dated 1766. Horatio Nelson, later Admiral Lord Nelson, was a pupil at the school between 1769 and 1771.

Details

School building, dated 1766, extended in the C19.

MATERIALS: The roof has a pantile covering, and the walls are constructed of red brick.

PLAN: It is rectangular on plan, facing south to a grassed area.

EXTERIOR: The school building, constructed in 1766, is three storeys in height and built of red brick. The roof is hipped with a pantile covering, and there are two long red-brick chimneystacks to the ridge. There are seven bays of windows; the five central bays have gauged-brick flat arches containing six-over-six pane sash windows, and the outer bays are round-arched containing four-over-four pane round-arched sash windows; the outer bays of the second floor and east bay of the first floor are blind. A single-storey red-brick porch was added to the centre of the front elevation in the C19 and has a pitched roof and a carved stone coat of arms over a pair of C20 half-glazed doors.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 222779
Legacy System:: LBS

Sources

Websites
Norfolk Heritage Explorer, ‘Paston School’, accessed 09 February 2024 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF52827
Norfolk Heritage Explorer, ‘Wall and door at north entrance of Paston School’, accessed 09 February 2024 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF74089
North Walsham Heritage Centre, ‘Paston School’, accessed 09 February 2024 from https://www.northwalshamheritage.org.uk/paston-school/

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.