Cheadle Hulme School

SJ 88 NE CLAREMONT ROAD

701-/5/10008 Cheadle Hulme School

II

School,originally built for the children of warehousemen and clerks. 1869,extended 1899 and 1903,with further alterations and additions late C20. Red brick, with ashlar sandstone dressings, moulded red brick decoration with blue brick detailing,and a Welsh slate roof covering with tall brick ridge chimney stacks with decorated corbelled caps. Free Gothic style. Linear plan,with central raised entry,the symmetry established by advanced gabled bays, maintained by later additions. 2 storeys and attics above basement,21 bay front; 1:4:1:4:1:4:1:4:1.,with wide central entry bay and,offset to right,5 stage tower with tall,slender slated spire. Entrance approach from basement level by means of dog-legged double flight of stone steps,with pierced ashlar side walls,chamfered copings, and low terminal piers with tiered decorative caps. Tall arched entry with 2 orders of attached columns with foliage capitals. Complex arch head with ball flower, nail head and roll mouldings. Oriel window above, then single attic light in gable apex. Advanced gables with stepped buttresses to corners,and with triple flat-headed windows to basement,triple arch-headed windows to ground floor. Coupled arch headed windows to first floor gable apexes, which also incorporate slender braced timber framing advanced beyond facing brickwork. Set back 4-bay sections with coupled windows to each bay, those to ground floor arch-headed.Low buttresses delineate bay divisions on outer 4-bay sections. Plainer rear elevations,but still with prominent advanced gables. INTERIOR: Entrance hall with substantially-glazed lobby screen incorporating double glazed doors. Richly-patterned encaustic tiled floor. Triple pointed arched access into main spine corridor supported on columns with foliage capitals. Trophy cupboard to right of hall with tall framed mirror back. Hall hearth to left with surround.Half-glazed doors into dining hall, which contains early C20 stained glass panels depicting scenes of education and childhood. Staircases with ramped handrails,moulded newel posts and stick balusters. The school is a well preserved and richly detailed example of educational provision prior to the 1870 Elementary Education Act, which clearly reflects the influence of the Ecclesiologists in its Gothic detailing.

Listing NGR: SJ8705285753