Lawsons Funeral Parlour

Lawsons Funeral Parlour is a building with origins in the early 18th century, largely constructed in 1842 in a vernacular revival style. It was formerly the Slaithwaite Free School and is now used as a funeral parlour. The structure is made of hammer dressed stone with ashlar dressings and features a stone slate roof with a deep ashlar parapet.

The building is two storeys high with a symmetrical five-bay facade on the east elevation. The central bay is flanked by ashlar buttresses and topped with a small ashlar gable that has a carved bishop's mitre and the inscription 'REBUILT MDCCCXLII'. The central first-floor window is a three-light oriel window with a transom, displaying symbols at the base that read 'Alpha Chi Rho, Omega', signifying 'Christ - the beginning and the end'. Below this window is an inscription that states, "to whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Col ii" (referring to St Paul's Epistle to the Colossians, Chapter II, verse 3).

On the first floor, there are two cross windows to the left and right of the central window, while the ground floor features three cross windows and two Tudor arched entrances. The west gable has an inscription above the door in capitals that reads: "Slaithwaite Free School founded by the Reverend Robert Meck AD 1721 Augmented by the benefactions of Thomas Walker of Huddersfield, William Walker of Wakefield Esq and Michael Abeket of Aneley Place. AD 1731 for a school of good literature and the catechism contained in the liturgy of the Church of England." Another inscription notes the foundation of the school dated 1842. Part of the original west wall remains, featuring a three-light chamfered window that has been altered to fit the ground floor. The first floor includes a three over five-light and a three over three-light double chamfered mullioned and transom windows.