National School

MATERIALS: the building is constructed of coursed dressed stone with stone slate roofs in diminishing courses.

PLAN: the single-storey school building is aligned east-west on the north side of Church Street, between the church and the Brontë Parsonage museum. The earliest part is a rectangle with a porch to the south, and the two later C19 extensions are in the form of two matching blocks with gable ends facing north-south. It is attached to the east to the Sexton's house which is separately rented. There is a small enclosed courtyard to the rear. The base of a bellcote remains at the western end of the earlier part of the building.

EXTERIOR: the earlier part of the south elevation, to the right, has a projecting gabled porch with two pointed arch windows to the right and three to the left. The porch has a Tudor arch entrance with an external timber door and a half-glazed timber door within and a date plaque above. Between the second and third window is a stone plaque commemorating the restoration of the building in 1966. The windows have voussoirs and projecting cills, with mid-C20 glazing bars. To the left, are two gabled bays each with a mullioned and transomed window with hoodmoulds, and a central Tudor arched doorway with original timber double doors, also with hoodmould and projecting quoins. Above the door is a raised square pediment with a carved blank shield.

The left return (west side) has four mullioned and transomed windows with continuous hoodmoulds. The rear elevation has an entrance with a pointed arch windows above. One window is to the left of this and four to the right, all pointed arched similar to those at the front. To the right are the two gables of the later extensions, with windows as at the front, which extend forward of the earlier section. There is a small pent-roofed addition in the corner of the left gable, and a later flat roofed former entrance in the centre of the two gables with steps leading up to it, in non-matching stone.

INTERIOR: the interior of the earlier part is largely an open hall with a partitioned kitchen and office occupying one bay at the east end. It has an exposed roof structure of wooden queen strut trusses. The 1851 section is open to the main hall, but is raised up to form a deep stage with a wooden floor and lowered ceiling. A corridor runs from the main hall to the north side of the stage, giving access to toilets and an office which look out to the north. More toilets are located in the addition in the corner of the hall and stage; these are all plain, with modern fittings. The corridor turns to continue to the rear (west) of the stage, widening at the front (south), where it forms a lobby from the entrance between the two later sections of the building. The 1871 section is divided into a large classroom and a smaller office/store, both with lowered ceilings.