The Queens School

The Queen's School is a girls' school located in Chester, built between 1881 and 1883 by architect E.A. Ould. The building is constructed of brown brick with red terracotta and stone dressings, topped with red clay-tile roofs. The school is L-shaped, with the south wing facing City Walls Road housing the school hall, while the north wing facing Bedward Row contains the dining hall and kitchen on the first floor, along with smaller rooms above.

The exterior features a richly detailed Vernacular Revival style, with a two-storey gable and attic on the west face, which includes the main facade of the school hall. This facade showcases leaded windows that are mullioned in terracotta and transomed in stone, along with shaped chimneys and an ornate steepled belfry. The hall has three windows set under stone-coped gables, and a crenellated projection reminiscent of a Tudor hall, featuring a four-light window for the hall and a three-light window above. Notable decorative elements include a terracotta figure of Queen Victoria and a corbelled tourelle with a tiled spire.

On the north face facing Bedward Row, there is a round-topped framed and boarded door set in a projecting bay, five horned sash windows in the dining hall (with glazing bars removed from the lower leaves), and five recessed horned sashes for the rooms above. Additionally, there is a three-light wood mullioned and transomed window above the door, along with a three-light leaded dormer casement above it. The east face of the school hall features a roof that sweeps down over a cloister supported by three arched brick bays, which are adorned with terracotta medallions in the spandrels.

Inside, the school hall is open to the roof and features three arch-braced trusses supported by massive posts, three dormer gables to the west, along with purlins, valley beams, and rafters. There is also an inserted gallery.