Bingley Church Of England First School

The Bingley Church of England First School was originally built as a national school in 1814, with extensions added around 1870. The building is constructed from dressed local gritstone with ashlar dressings and has stone slate roofs. Initially a single-story building, a northern section was raised at a later date. The south gable wall features a tall central window with later casements. Above this is a plaque inscribed "NATIONAL SCHOOL, ERECTED, 1814," flanked by two small plain sash windows. Above the plaque is a large circular clock set within the gable. The main street frontage has thirteen windows, with a central two-story gabled cross wing topped with a square cupola or bellcote under a pyramidal slate roof. This gable has a door with overlight, and above it a pointed arched window with tracery. To the left of the cross wing is the original single-story range, featuring four wooden casement windows. Adjacent to this is a window that has been converted into a doorway, with a window above, and then an original door with overlight. To the right is an altered two-story range extended in the late 19th century, with five windows on the front elevation, the central one taller, and a further six windows above, with the third window placed within an eaves gable featuring a stone cross mullion window. The school operated as a national school, closed in 1824, and then reopened as a mill school in 1833. In 1869, a boiler explosion adjacent to the school resulted in a tragic disaster, claiming the lives of fifteen people, including several children playing in the school yard.