Number 51 and Bootham School Block to Rear Including John Bright Library and Attached Railings

NUMBER 51 AND BOOTHAM SCHOOL BLOCK TO REAR INCLUDING JOHN BRIGHT LIBRARY AND ATTACHED RAILINGS, 51, BOOTHAM

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1259468
Date first listed:
14-Jun-1954
List Entry Name:
Number 51 and Bootham School Block to Rear Including John Bright Library and Attached Railings
Statutory Address:
NUMBER 51 AND BOOTHAM SCHOOL BLOCK TO REAR INCLUDING JOHN BRIGHT LIBRARY AND ATTACHED RAILINGS, 51, BOOTHAM
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Date:
2003-09-16
Reference:
IOE01/10602/13
Rights:
© Mr Peter Briggs. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1259468
Date first listed:
14-Jun-1954
List Entry Name:
Number 51 and Bootham School Block to Rear Including John Bright Library and Attached Railings
Statutory Address 1:
NUMBER 51 AND BOOTHAM SCHOOL BLOCK TO REAR INCLUDING JOHN BRIGHT LIBRARY AND ATTACHED RAILINGS, 51, BOOTHAM

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

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

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

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

Location

Statutory Address:
NUMBER 51 AND BOOTHAM SCHOOL BLOCK TO REAR INCLUDING JOHN BRIGHT LIBRARY AND ATTACHED RAILINGS, 51, BOOTHAM

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

District:
York (Unitary Authority)
Parish:
Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:
SE 59969 52435

Details

YORK

SE5952SE BOOTHAM
1112-1/12/78 (North East side)
14/06/54 No.51
& Bootham School Block to rear incl.
John Bright Library & attached
railings

GV II*

House, now part of school. Nearing completion in 1804.
Designed by Peter Atkinson senior for Sir Richard Vanden
Bempde Johnstone, Bart. Brick in Flemish bond with painted
stone dressings. Hipped slate roof.
EXTERIOR: symmetrical, of 3 storeys with attics and cellars
and 5 bays. The windows are sashed with glazing bars and are
set in moulded architraves; those on the ground and first
floors have cornices, and the ground-floor windows have a sill
band and fluted friezes. The central windows of the upper
storeys are tripartite, and that on the 1st floor has Ionic
mullions and jambs and a segmental pediment. A balcony of
trellis ironwork extends across the whole front at 1st floor
level. The attic is lit by 3 round-headed dormer windows. The
central doorway has sidelights, a door with 6 raised and
fielded panels, a fanlight, and a portico with 2 pairs of
Doric columns with pilaster responds, supporting an
entablature with a bucrania frieze. Modillion gutter cornice.
Chimneys to left and right, and 2 chimneys near centre of
ridge.
To the rear a Library and classroom block added to the designs
of WH Thorpe and F Rowntree. 2 storeys. Red brick with
terracotta dressings. South-east entrance front has projecting
central doorcase with Ionic columns supporting a pediment,
segment-arched opening with double doors and fanlight. To the
left 2 glazing bar windows. To the right a 2-storey block of 3
windows with chamfered single bay window. North-east front has
a 3-window, 2-storey bay at left then a recessed 4-window wing
with 4 segment-headed glazing bar sashes on the ground floor,
and 4 narrow sashes above, and 2 through-eaves gabled dormers
above again. To the right a projecting library block, 4
windows with basement. This facade is articulated with
pilaster strip balusters and 4 tripartite sashes on the ground
floor with, above, 4 shallow curved bow windows with iron
frame cross casements. The block is topped by an octagonal
wooden cupola.
INTERIOR: of No.51: elegant hall with good stone staircase set
between fluted columns and having iron balustrade; several
good fireplaces.
Interior of Library and classroom block: panelled classrooms
on the ground floor. A stone stair with Art Nouveau iron
balustrade. Upper corridor has dado panelling. Library or
former Assembly Room has wainscot panelling with built-in book

shelves, and a bronze plaque to John Bright and another Second
World War Memorial plaque. Proscenium arch at north-west end,
curved wooden roof trusses supported on stone corbels.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: the front area has plain wrought-iron
railings which extend in front of the portico where they have
a central gate.
(An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York:
RCHME: Outside the City Walls: London: 1975-: 60).


Listing NGR: SE5996952435


This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Register. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 16 August 2017.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:
462887
Legacy System:
LBS

Sources

Books and journals
An Inventory of the City of York IV East, (1975), 60

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 16 August 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/47394

Legal

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

Ordnance survey map of Number 51 and Bootham School Block to Rear Including John Bright Library and Attached Railings

Map

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 05-Jun-2026 at 20:00:43.

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End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

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