Summary
A school built in 1893, extended 1905.
Reasons for Designation
* Architectural Interest: it is a good and representative example of a late-C19 school;
* Intactness: its exterior, which displays good quality architectural detailing, has survived largely intact.
History
Oldfield Park Junior School, formerly known as South Twerton Junior School, was built in 1893 and extended in 1905.
Details
MATERIALS: limestone ashlar with slate or replacement slate roofs.
PLAN: large three part school in multi-gabled Flemish style, with some Art Nouveau detail, and including a prominent decorative corner turret with ogee shaped cupola.
EXTERIOR: principally on one floor, three units, each with two gables to main frontage, with deep wing to rear. First two units of wing also has second gable to rear, to unit backing onto small courtyard. Large units connected by shallow ranges over three main entry points. Windows are all casements, with horizontal bars generally, in stone chamfered mullions and transoms, and with straight drip course, set flush including sills. Main front, stepped up slope of hill, has three pairs of gables, each with large four light window with two transoms, and under shouldered gables with ball finials on small curved pediments, and to feet, with small semicircular ‘dip’ in coping line. Between pairs, and at left hand end, lower straight coping over, to left, pairs of doors, original panelled ones at far end, under moulded head, mouldings returned part of way to jambs, with open pediment with bold cyma cornice carried on flared fluted brackets. Centre of each lintel is panel, formerly with inscriptions (boys, girls, and infants), now removed. To right of each doorway are three small lights, set high. Each unit has lofty ashlar stack. Return to left has single gable, matching those to front, then set back wing, with three tall three light windows under high gables, all with finishings as to front, and with lead cheeks. Corner round turret carried at sill height on triple stepped corbel dying into walling, and with carved date 1893. Turret has seven narrow ventilating slits with louvres, below cornice and parapet of small curved pediments with ball finials, whole topped by high copper clad ogee profiled cupola or spire with fine weathercock finial. At rear are two paired gables, with three and six light casements under gables all detailed as to front, and single gable with no window, to top unit. Narrow courtyards between units have fenestration similar to north end. Gabled wing with three light window has internal gable end similarly detailed. In courtyard is doorway opposite main entrances from front, and linking wings have two and three light smaller casements, on two floors.
INTERIORS: not inspected, but composite roof trusses can be seen.
