Penfold House Folkestone School For Girls

Details

737/0/10020 COOLINGE LANE 03-NOV-04 Penfold House, Folkestone School for G irls

II School building. Built in 1904, architect not at present known. Neo-Georgian style. Built of red brick in Flemish bond with slate roof and brick chimneystacks. U-shaped on plan, mainly two storeys and attics with wooden sash windows. EXTERIOR: The entrance front faces south at right angles to the road and is 16 bays long. The central bays are under a mansard roof with wide wooden eaves cornice and there is a central square cupola with clock face and metal weathervane. Dormer windows, including a central paired dormer inscribed with the virtues "SALUS DOCTRINA PIETAS" and sash windows throughout, mainly 15-pane central opening sashes. At each end are projecting wings of five bays, each with two roughcast pediments, with pedimented dormers between and central doorcases with projecting round-headed stone hoods supported on brackets to the right hand doorcase and with columns to the left. The original name of the building, Praetoria House, is inscribed over the left side doorcase. Double doors. The east or street front is dated 1904 on a paired pedimented dormer and the ground floor has two large Diocletian windows. Attached to the rear is a single storey gymnasium/assembly hall with open pediment and large Venetian window. The west elevation is of two storeys and attics to the south and of one storey to the north. The southern part has a very large four-light dormer with central two lights under a curved pediment. To the extreme right of the first floor is a French window with side-lights opening on to a wooden balcony above a five-light curved bay. The north front is of one and two storeys in similar style. INTERIOR: The entrance vestibule retains the original tiled floor and wooden seat. The entrance hall retains original panelled doors, curved staircase with turned balusters and tapering square newelposts with flat moulded caps, dado panelling and glazed fanlight to ground floor corridor. The original classroom layout survives with glazed screens to corridors and dado panelling. The ground floor classrooms retain green glazed fireplaces and the upper floors retain narrow cast iron fireplaces with a decoration of three circles. The octagonal-shaped gallery with turned balusters on the first floor survives but has been floored over for safety reasons. The gymnasium/hall has cast iron brackets to the ceiling. HISTORY: It was built as a preparatory school called Praetoria House. By 1921 it was a county girls' school, it later became Folkestone Grammar School for Girls and it is now part of Folkestone School for Girls.

A good quality Edwardian Neo-Georgian style purpose-built school building, externally unaltered and retaining its internal plan form and many original fittings.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

491850

Legacy System:

LBS

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