St Mary De Crypt Grammar School

Details

GLOUCESTER

SO8318SW SOUTHGATE STREET 844-1/12/259 (East side) 23/01/52 No.31A St Mary de Crypt Grammar School

GV II*

Grammar school, now church meeting room and Sunday School. 1539. Grammar School founded by Joan Cooke and in 1540 entrusted to the Corporation of the City, in 1862 sold to the Parish of St Mary de Crypt. Restored 1862 by Medland and Maberley, further restoration 1880. MATERIALS: ashlar, at rear is red brick with stone details, ashlar stack with circular brick shaft added to front and a brick lateral ridge stack with two tall, diagonal shafts to left; at rear three C19 gabled dormers; slate roof. PLAN: range parallel with street, of four bays and a wider bay at north end incorporating a carriageway leading to St Mary's Lane; the south end of range abuts the nave of the Church of St Mary de Crypt (qv); the entrance doorway to the former school-room within the carriage way on in the cross wall on the right hand side. EXTERIOR: two storeys and attic, the bays of the range defined by buttresses with weathered offsets. Crowning string course below the eaves, the buttress in the centre of the four bays to the right from first-floor level supports a wider chimney-stack with moulded corbelling on each side of buttress and capped by weathered offsets; the wider left-hand end bay has carriageway entrance with continuous moulding to jambs and Tudor arch, the arch framed by a hoodmould with diamond stops on the sides, and in the spandrels armorial shields. In each of the four bays to the left a three-light stone mullioned window with arched lights with a flat hoodmould returned on the sides with diamond stops; on the first floor above the archway to left a canted oriel window supported on a moulded corbel base, string course at sill level, and weathered head, three arched lights to the front and a single arched light to each side, on the front of the oriel a stone panel carved with coat of arms of King Henry VIII; in each of four bays to left are C19 three-light windows with details similar to ground-floor windows, all replacing sashes inserted in C18. At rear, facing churchyard, the east wall of red brick has ashlar buttresses with offsets, moulded stone carriageway arch to right; in each bay to left a stone-mullioned three-light window on each floor, above the carriageway arch a two-light

window, and to right lighting the stairs a single-light window, all with details similar to windows on the street front; above the north bay to left a timber-framed gabled dormer with barge boards and pair of casements, to left two triangular dormers with fixed lights. INTERIOR: within the carriageway a timber-framed partition to left with doorway to stairs up to room above, originally the schoolmasters' room, and entrance doorway on right in a stone rectangular frame with moulded stone jambs and Tudor arch; in the four bays to right the former school-room believed to have been originally full height, and probably divided in C17 into lower and upper rooms by insertion of floor with exposed transverse and central lateral beams supported by three timber posts; at the north end of lower room early C17 panelling; on the first floor similar chamfered beams and vestiges of C16 ashlar fireplace with adjacent spiral stair behind modern coverings. 5-bay tenoned single-purlin roof: cambered tie beams with plain chamfer, vestiges of wind braces to lower tiers, mostly double raking strut trusses with collar; coupled rafters at ridge. Building used by the Sunday School founded by Robert Raikes. The brickwork is notable for being an early example of its use in this region.

Listing NGR: SO8308118439

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

472471

Legacy System:

LBS

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