Entrance Block And Extensions To North And North West At King James Grammar School

The entrance block and extensions form part of King James Grammar School, initially founded in 1547 and granted a royal charter in 1608. While earlier buildings from 1610 no longer exist, the entrance block was rebuilt by the schoolmaster, Samuel Brook, between 1743 and 1764 using hammer-dressed stone, and features a pitched roof covered with stone slates. Tall hammer-dressed stone stacks are present. The original block has a symmetrical facade with stone mullioned sashes; the first floor has one four-light, two three-light, and one two-light window, while the ground floor features one four-light and two three-light windows, all with glazing bars.

A two-storeyed passage was added to the rear in 1848, followed by a significant extension to the north-west in the same year, built on the site of former structures and incorporating a dormitory above in 1849. Designed by Richard Armitage, an old boy, and constructed by Walter Capper and Jenkinson, this extension is also built of hammer-dressed stone with a pitched stone slate roof and coped gable ends detailed with cut kneelers. It contains a schoolroom below and a dormitory above, with a single-storey porch extension at the north-west angle. The south side displays two ranges of four-light stone mullioned windows with hoodmoulds, with one range retaining its three mullions. A single two-light window with Perpendicular Gothic tracery and stained glass is on the west side, featuring a hoodmould above. The north side has a range of four-light stone mullioned windows with hoodmoulds, two of which have had two mullions removed. The porch features gable coping on cut kneelers.

A ground floor window on the north side utilizes a four-light stone mullioned window with diagonally placed iron bars, lead glazing bars, and old glass, suggesting it may be a reused window from an earlier building, potentially as old as 1743 or even the 1610 structure. The interior schoolroom of 1848 contains a marble tablet commemorating the Rev Alfred Easther, who was Master from 1848 to 1876 and was instrumental in the school’s 19th-century recovery and expansion. In the 19th century, the school expanded to include boarders. Further additions and alterations occurred in 1860, 1868, 1880, 1883, and 1938, although these specific elements are not included in the listing.