Henshaw'S Bluecoat School

Henshaw's Bluecoat School is a school building constructed between 1829 and 1834 by architect Richard Lane. It features an ashlar facade and a Welsh slate roof. The building is two storeys high and is symmetrically designed around a central entrance hall in the Neo-Tudor style. It has central and outer gabled wings, each with a three-window range, connected by longer five-window ranges. The advanced central wing includes a central moulded arched doorway and three-light mullioned and transomed windows above on the first and attic storeys, topped with a steep gable and polygonal pilasters that end in truncated pinnacles. The outer wings have two-light mullioned windows on each floor, and polygonal angle pilasters with embattled pinnacles. The outer gables are styled similarly, featuring polygonal angle pilasters with truncated pinnacles and steep coped gables. All windows are mullioned with margin lights set in deep splayed embrasures. An embattled parapet runs over the five-window linking ranges. A single-storey parallel wing was added to the right in 1908, designed in a similar style.

Inside, much of the original layout remains, despite the loss of the original hall located at the rear of the right-hand gabled wing. The central entrance and stair hall features a cantilevered stone stair with a cast-iron balustrade, connected to a central spinal corridor by three moulded archways on each floor. Some original details are still visible, particularly the moulded plasterwork in the corridor and the cornice and Gothic fireplace in the former governor's dining room. The school was established thanks to a bequest from Thomas Henshaw, a hatter from Oldham, along with support from a public appeal.