Former National School, Tenbury Wells

Summary

A former National School of 1855 by James Cranston, extended in 1892 by JT Meredith, and again in the C20.

Reasons for Designation

The Former National School in Tenbury Wells, of 1855 by James Cranston, extended by JT Meredith in 1892, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* the building is a good example of mid-C19 Gothic Revival architecture, with good quality detailing including window tracery in the Decorated Gothic Style and decorative brickwork;
* it is an accomplished composition by James Cranston, a nationally renowned architect;
* it has survived with relatively little alteration; its plan form and function remain clearly legible. The extension of 1892 complements the original building and demonstrates its evolving use.

Historic interest:

* the former school building has good historic interest as an example of a school building which demonstrates the evolution of the provision of education in the mid-C19.

Group value:

* the building has good group value with the other buildings by James Cranston across Tenbury Wells, of which there are a good number, including the Grade II-listed Market Hall and the Grade II*-listed Pump Rooms. The National School is thought to be the earliest.

History

The provision of public education in England increased dramatically during the C19, fuelled by competition between Anglican and Nonconformist churches. In 1808, the Society for Promoting the Lancestrian System for the Education of the Poor was established, followed in 1811 by the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church. The latter supported the building of National Schools, which became a common feature of English towns with new schools being built across the country; these tended to be small, often with not more than a single classroom.

A National School had been established in the centre of Tenbury Wells prior to 1855, but by this date a new building was required and a new school was built in Bromyard Road, south of the town centre. The architect was James Cranston of Birmingham, and the former National School is one of a number of buildings designed by him in Tenbury Wells, including the Market Hall (1858, Grade II-listed), and the Pump Rooms (1862, Grade II*-listed).

Cranston's school building survives mostly as built, with a large central school room, smaller classroom block to the south and schoolmaster's house attached to the north. One early drawing shows a bellcote at the apex of the main gable; another shows a tall spirelet. The stepped copings on the central gable suggest that the bellcote may have been intended, although it is unclear if it was ever built. In 1892, a further classroom, thought to be by JT Meredith, was added to the south, which also required alteration to the main entrance. Small, flat-roofed extensions were added to the west and south in the C20. The building remained in educational use until the 1980s when it was sold to the St Thomas More Roman Catholic School in Birmingham. It was renamed More House and used as an outdoor recreation centre with residential accommodation. The schoolmaster's house is now a private residence.

Details

A former National School of 1855 by James Cranston, extended in 1892 by JT Meredith, and again in the C20.

MATERIALS: the building is built of brick with stone dressings and some decorative timber framing, with a tile roof.

PLAN: The main school room is orientated east - west, with the schoolmaster's house attached to the north and further classrooms to the south. The principal elevation faces east.

EXTERIOR: the former school building is built in a Gothic Revival style, with three tall gables comprising the main elevation, each with large windows of varying detail. The central gable has a large window of five main lights with cusped, curvilinear tracery and a hoodmould above with carved stops and above this a small, quatrefoil opening. There is some diaper pattern brickwork above and below the window, and at ground floor level there is a central door and a two-light window with carved cusps. The gable itself has deeply-moulded kneelers supporting the copings, with ornately-carved projecting steps and a carved finial at the apex. The northern return has a door in a moulded surround giving access to the basement and a window above of four lights in shouldered surrounds.

The schoolmaster's house to the north has a connecting block with a lean-to section at ground floor level with applied timber framing, and shouldered-arch windows above at first floor. The tall gable adjacent has an oriel window at ground floor level supported on carved brackets, and a further window above in a pointed arch surround; both of these windows have Decorated Gothic style tracery. There are tall chimneys above with stone dressings and carved ballflower sections at the corner.

The classroom extension to the south has a tall gable with decorative timber bargeboards and a large central window lighting the classroom, and a single window below. Between this and the original building is the main entrance, of the 1892 work and consisting of a small projecting porch with a gabletted roof and a pair of windows set behind a carved surround of timber tracery. The main door is to the side.

The rear elevation, to the west, has further large windows in the classroom gables in similar styles to the front. A flat-roofed extension projects from between the two main gables. A modern escape door and stair have been inserted in the rear gable of the school master's house, which also has diaper pattern brickwork and a pointed-arch entrance door on the northern side, with window above. Between the house and the school is a small courtyard with outbuildings and windows with cambered heads to the house. Further large windows light the adjacent classroom, including one which rises up to a dormer and appears to be a later alteration.

The southern elevation has a central gable with timber bargeboards and circular window, with evidence of blocked openings below where there is now a further flat-roofed extension.

INTERIOR: the main entrance to the school opens into a small lobby with a quarry tiled floor and an adjacent basement room, and then a flight of stairs rises to the main floor of the building and opens, through a pointed arch door, into a long corridor which runs between the classroom blocks. To the left is the 1892 classroom which has dado height panelling and a glazed tile fire surround, with a high ceiling with moulded ribs supported on thick timber beams and iron rods. Beyond this, the original secondary classrooms also have some panelling; the ceiling appears to have C20 coverings and there is a large central beam supported on brackets with chamfered and stopped detailing. There is access to the single-storey WC extension beyond.

The space beyond the main central corridor, to the rear, appears to originally have been open but has been roofed over with a lean-to roof of glazing and timber supported on metal brackets and the rear single-storey extension beyond.

The main classroom runs the full length of the central section of the building and has fireplaces at each end which retain their stone surrounds, now painted. These have chamfered edges and pointed arches, with steep hoods above. The floor is partially parquet with some quarry tiles, and there is a timber and glass extendable screen which divides the room and which appears to have been an early C20 addition - an Inspector's Report of 1905 recommended it. The room has a modern suspended ceiling; the original ceiling is presumed to survive above and appears to have some chamfered detailing to its timber sections.

The interior of the school master's house retains some original fire surrounds which have chamfered and moulded detailing and cast iron inserts. One surround, which has glazed tiles and a more simple surround, appears to be a later addition. The dog-leg stair has pierced splat balusters. Most of the internal doors have been replaced.

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Brooks, A, The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, (2007), 84, 634
Ballard, P, Birmingham's Victorian and Edwardian Architects, (2009), 254

Other
Tenbury Wells Advertiser, 3 October 1905

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