Survey Data
Reg No
15701215
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social
Original Use
School
In Use As
House
Date
1820 - 1825
Coordinates
320054, 158632
Date Recorded
08/02/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay (six-bay deep) two-storey parochial school, dated 1824, on a rectangular plan. In use, 1921. Derelict, 1975. "Restored", 1999, to accommodate alternative use. Hipped slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles, and cast-iron rainwater goods on granite flagged eaves retaining cast-iron downpipes. Replacement cement rendered walls bellcast over rendered plinth with exposed coursed rubble stone strips to corners. Remodelled square-headed central door opening with concealed dressings framing replacement timber casement window having lattice overlights. Square-headed window openings (ground floor) with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing replacement timber casement windows having lattice overlights. Square-headed window openings (first floor) centred on date stone ("1824") with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing replacement timber casement windows. Set back from line of road in relandscaped grounds with red brick Running bond piers to perimeter having lichen-spotted cut-granite gabled capping supporting arrow head-detailed wrought iron gate.
Appraisal
A parochial school erected by James George Stopford (1765-1835), third Earl of Courtown, representing an important component of the early nineteenth-century built heritage of the outskirts of Courtown with the architectural value of the composition, one intended 'for children of both sexes [and] with apartments for a master and mistress who have also an acre of land rent-free' (Lewis 1837 II, 213), confirmed by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression. Having been successfully "restored" following a prolonged period of neglect in the later twentieth century, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the original or sympathetically replicated fabric: however, the esoteric surface finish has not had a beneficial impact on the external expression or integrity of a parochial school house making a pleasing visual statement in a sylvan street scene.