Haxby Road School

Primary school built in 1903-4, designed by WH Brierley. Located on Haxby Road, York.

The school is constructed of orange-brown brick in English bond on a chamfered brick plinth, with dressings of orange brick and ashlar, and ashlar quoins. The roof is of Westmorland slate with widely projecting eaves supported on timber brackets and features a louvred leaded cupola with a lead finial. Brick stacks have stone cornices. Rainwater goods and guttering are integral cast-iron with ornate hoppers dated 1903, mounted on scrolled brackets.

The north front, facing the street, is a complex composition comprising a 2-storey 7-bay centre range between 3-storey 4-bay ranges set back and linking to 2-storey 3-bay crosswings with open pedimented gables. The centre range and crosswings are quoined and articulated by full-height pilasters beneath an egg-and-dart frieze and moulded stone mutule cornice. On the ground floor, each bay contains paired tall segment-arched 15-pane sash windows with continuous sills. The first floor has 3-light mullioned and double transomed square latticed windows with moulded sills, recessed beneath segmental arches. The linking ranges are articulated by 2-storey arcades of shallow segmental brick arches with stone imposts. The inner bay to each has a moulded doorcase with double doors and blind tympanum, approached by a flight of steps. The outer bays have squat 6-pane windows on the ground floor, some now altered to part-glazed doors. First floor windows are 9-pane top-hung lights with plain stone sills and flat brick arches. On the second floor, there are two 6-pane top-hung windows to each bay, each recessed in a segmental arch on squat pilasters, over a moulded stone sill band. Above is a moulded and dentilled brick eaves cornice beneath stone coping. The crosswings have first floor windows only: these are 12-pane sashes with stone sills and brick arches, with the centre window having a top-hung transom light.

The playground front is 2 storeys, with windows arranged as 3:1:15:1:3 triplets, the centre ones on the first floor rising as through-eaves dormers into 2-centred gabled heads. The end triplets are set beneath open pedimented gables. 1-window bays are full-height round arches with prominent keyblocks: on the ground floor are deeply recessed double doors approached by flights of steps, and on the first floor a round-headed small-pane window. Ground floor windows are tall 15-pane lights with top-hung transom lights. On the first floor, the centre windows of triplets match those on the street front, flanked by 12-pane lights.

The east and west returns are 2 storeys and 7 bays. A deeply splayed round arch in the centre contains a moulded stone doorcase with double doors and a segment-headed small-pane overlight. To either side are a 12-pane sash window and three tall 15-pane windows, all with stone sills and segmental brick arches. On the first floor, 12-pane sashes rising into through-eaves dormers flank paired 6-pane casements, all with moulded stone sills. In the east return, some ground floor windows are partly blocked with blind panels. At the south end is an attached boiler stack in the form of a campanile, square on plan, with segment-arched sunk panelled faces with brick corbelled stone cornice and triple keyblocks. The summit is surmounted by a louvred lantern and a tapering pot. External doors have incised panels with 4-pane lights above.

The interior layout and original fittings appear to be largely intact, although the building has not been fully inspected.