Bolton School

School. The central block dates from 1928, with outer quadrangles added later and completed in 1965, fulfilling the original masterplan for the school. Charles T Adshead was the original architect, with Bradshaw, Gass and Hope as architects of the later work. The school was designed from the outset to accommodate both girls and boys, with two separate establishments each occupying half of an exactly symmetrical building.

The building is constructed of red sandstone, well coursed and squared, with green slate roofs, executed in Tudor style. The original central block is built around three sides of a courtyard, with an entrance range and two rear wings housing main halls at first-floor level.

The exterior features outer gables of the hall ranges rising three storeys, with two-storey embattled canted bay windows containing three-tier mullioned and transomed leaded lights. These gables connect to the central entrance tower via three-bay ranges with three-tier mullioned and transomed windows to the principal upper storey and mullioned windows below. The entrance tower is flanked by octagonal turrets. The wide four-centred archway through to the courtyard is enriched with rosettes and other ornamental details. Above the arch is ribbed arcading, with paired three-tier mullioned and transomed leaded windows to the upper storey below the string course. A traceried niche is set between them, and two-light mullioned windows flank the clock in the upper stage. An embattled parapet crowns the tower.

The rear elevation is similar in character, though features central canted bay windows to the ground floor. Symmetrical hall ranges occupy each side to the rear, with upper storey halls of eight bays containing three-tier mullioned and transomed leaded windows and mullioned windows to the ground floor. Advanced gables enriched with four-centred archways mark the entrances towards the rear, with three-storey bays beyond housing staircases in canted bays projecting from the return elevation.

The outer quadrangles are also symmetrically planned with cloisters on two sides. The south wing in the western quadrangle formed part of the first phase of building; the south wing in the eastern quadrangle opened in 1932. Both are three storeys and symmetrical about a central gable in their rear elevations, executed in a stripped-down Tudor style. West and east wings date from circa 1940-50. North wings were completed circa 1950-60, with stone facing to the front elevation and brick to the rear. Their front elevations extend the line of the original block and represent a simplified interpretation of its style, featuring outer gables with two-storey canted bay windows and four wide bays with plain mullioned windows flanking a central entrance gable with simple four-centred archway giving access to the quadrangle. A dining hall of circa 1950 projects from the east.

The interior of the original building retains oak wall-panelling, doors with leaded glazed lights, and ornate imperial staircases providing access to the first-floor halls. Each hall is roofed with an ornate hammerbeam roof.

Bolton School, an old foundation originally established on this site around 1900, commissioned the present building following the amalgamation with Bolton High School for Girls in 1915 under the auspices of Lord Leverhulme, who served as a governor of the school between 1898 and 1925. The choice of architect resulted from a competition held in 1919.