University Of Leeds School Of Medicine

University of Leeds School of Medicine, Thoresby Place, Leeds

This is a medical school designed by W H Thorp and built in 1894 with an addition around 1930. It is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and slate roofs, and is built in the Perpendicular Revival style. The building is 3 storeys with an attic.

The east elevation is asymmetrical and measures 13 windows wide, with 2 and 3 storeys and a basement. A projecting entrance tower positioned left of centre features a round-arched entrance with carved spandrels and impost moulding. Above this, the 1st floor has a splayed oriel window, and the 2nd floor displays a 4-light window with a carved coat of arms in a panel above. The tower has moulded quoin shafts with gargoyles and a cornice decorated with bosses, topped by an embattled parapet. A wooden domed lantern with flying buttresses and a finial crowns this feature. The remainder of the facade contains stone mullion windows with 4-centred arch lights. There are 2 splayed bays to the ground floor, a continuous string course and cornice with a high parapet featuring cusped stone panels, brick chimneys rising from the parapet, a gable, and a 2-window projection on the right.

The south elevation is symmetrical and 5 windows wide. Both ends slightly project with finialed gables and 3-storey splayed bays containing stone mullion windows with 4-centred arch heads. Panels occupy the spaces between ground and 1st-floor windows. A continuous moulded string course with bosses runs above the 2nd-floor windows. A stone relief panel above the 2nd-floor bays depicts an angel holding a shield. The centre 3 windows are separated by buttresses terminating in finials, with a small 3-light attic gable between them. The centre ground and 1st-floor windows are headed by heavy moulded segmental arches and have stone mullions with cusped 4-centred arch heads and panels between the 1st and 2nd floors. An octagonal turret stands at the west corner, featuring Perpendicular panelled sides and an ogee lead dome.

The west side was added around 1930 and contains 7 large Tudor-arched windows. The north side is irregular, with part of it featuring a ground-floor elliptical arch arcade supported on circular columns.

The interior contains a large and impressive hexagonal entrance hall with a single 4-centred arch opening onto each of its six faces. Three of these arches are open; three are filled with timber and glass partitions, including one leading to the porter's lodge. The walls are entirely faced with unusual blue-green faience and decorated with the coats of arms of medical institutions associated with the Old Medical School. A Latin inscription chosen by the then Dean, Dr Thomas Scattergood, taken from Matthew 10:8, appears on these walls. The floor is decorated with mosaic tiles, and the ceiling features a 6-sided timber vault with moulded ribs. A staircase off the hall has a faience dado and an ornate iron balustrade with a moulded wooden handrail.

A smaller hexagonal hall has a central column supporting stone ribs and incorporates a staircase with a tiled dado and ornate iron balustrade with moulded handrail. This room contains stained glass windows and a large skylight. The former library retains its original decorated plaster ceiling divided into square panels, a gallery with an iron balustrade and moulded handrail, and fine quality timber fitted bookcases with glass doors on both lower and upper floors. The anatomy library survives largely intact with its original domed plaster ceiling, curved galleries, lecture desk, blackboard, and skeleton stand with skeleton.