40, Lancaster Road

No. 40 Lancaster Road is a school building constructed in 1901 by architect Edward Shelbourn, with alterations and extensions made in 1908 by the same architect. The building is designed in a simplified Queen Anne style, featuring red brick and red tiled roofs, with wooden bargeboarding painted white. It has a long range oriented east-west, facing south, with short cross wings at both ends.

The exterior consists of two-and-a-half storeys plus a short tower and includes 10 bays. A projected single-storey flat-roofed porch is located in front of the third bay, featuring a round-headed doorway with a double-chamfered stone surround, a rectangular window to the left, and an embattled parapet. Behind the porch is a two-window integral tower-bay with vertically-offset pairs of stair windows on two levels, topped by a square stage that has three round-headed windows, a clock face, and an embattled parapet.

To the left, there is a two-and-a-half-storey, two-window gabled wing, notable for its corbelled oriel in the center of the first floor, along with a short two-storey single-window extension that also has an embattled parapet. To the right of the tower, the main range features bays arranged in a sequence of single-window and two-window configurations: 1:2:1:2:1:2:2. The second bay to the right includes a large gabled attic oriel on brackets, with three-light sashed glazing and oversailing gable verges that have decorative strut-work in the apex. The two-window bays have two-light attic windows under similar gables, while the single-window bays feature single-light attic windows beneath half-hipped roofs. The eighth bay has a two-storey canted bay window. Most windows are tall and segmental-headed, with the majority having 2/2 sashes.

The gabled wing to the right, which breaks forward slightly, has an oriel similar to that of the left wing. There are two panelled chimney stacks on the front slope. The interior has not been inspected. The design is simple yet effective, enhanced by the decorative use of gables.