Institute of Science and Art

Details

1690/0/10038 BRADFORD PLACE 27-AUG-04 Institute of Science and Art

II Institute for Science and Art. Dated 1888. Dunn and Hipkins, architects of Birmingham. Red, English bond brick with terracotta dressings and slate roof with lead flashings. 3-Storeys with basement. EXTERIOR: Entrance front: Symmetrical, Gothic, E-shaped front. Central projecting gabled wing with two doors at ground floor level [that at right now blocked with a window to upper body]. The left hand door has a wrought iron screen with thistle motifs. Terracotta dressings to the tympana, spandrel and projecting gablets at either side. On the central pier are 2 datestones, the lower laid by William Kirkpatrick, mayor of Walsall, in 1887, the upper commemorating the fundraising of £2,500 to educate District Nurses for the poor in 1897. To either side are flat-arched windows, 2 to the recessed portions of walling and 3 on the lateral wings. At first floor level the arched lancet windows follow the same pattern with a projecting, terracotta oriel at centre which has three lights. At second floor level the 3 wings have traceried windows rising into the gables. Those at right and left have sexfoils to the apex and the central window has a central lancet which rises towards the apex. The central gable has a royal coat of arms to the top with the words "VICTORIAN JUBILEE" and the date "1887". Above is a crown finial. To either side of the central gable are octagonal buttresses, each with a finial in the form of a bear holding a branch. To the ridge are octagonal louvred vents with gablets and spires in the form of lanterns. The right hand reveal has a gabled, 3-light, traceried window at second floor level to the centre which is corbelled out from the wall. The left hand reveal has a gable at left with a 3-light studio window. Before this front is a railed enclosure with a cast iron cill above a low brick wall and railings with arrowhead finials and taller posts with ball finials and swept buttressing rails. INTERIOR: The entrance hall has a polychromatic tiled floor and 2 large radiators in the form of clustered columns at either side. The spinal corridor also has polychromatic floor tiling, as does the sluice. To first floor level the Committee room has its original fireplace with decorative tiles. The Chapel Room and Class Room each have a dado of shaped bricks. Polychromatic tiling to spinal corridor. Decorative iron balustrade to second floor level showing plant and flower forms. The second floor Chemical laboratory extends the length of the floor. It has decorative tie rods and timbers to the roof. Again, polychromatic tiles to the corridor. HISTORY: opened in 1888 to mark the Golden Jubilee of the previous year, the building stands in Pool Fields, on a site formerly occupied by a grandstand which was donated by the Earl of Bradford. The Institute of Science and Art, funded by public subscription, is a well-designed example of municipal educational architecture and makes a significant contribution to the centre of Walsall. The decoration, both externally and inside, is of a high order for a functional building and is well-preserved. The alliance between Science and Art which the Victorians sought to bring about is here made manifest in a highly characteristic Late Victorian civic building.

Legacy

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Legacy System number:

490927

Legacy System:

LBS

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