The Old School

The Old School is a former school building dating from 1874, likely designed by Nicholas Joyce for Charles Abney Hastings as a memorial to his wife, the Countess of Loudon. Constructed of roughly coursed squared Breedon stone with stone dressings and stone coped gables, it has a plaintile roof with decorative cresting tiles and tall ornamental stacks to the front and rear, featuring moulded ashlar flues. The building is in a Jacobethan style, characterised by stone mullion and transom windows.

The front elevation is symmetrical around a central projecting stack. Facing gables flank the stack, each featuring a three-light window with mullions and double transoms. Fine carved inscription panels span the gables, reading: 'FLASCE AEDES EDITHA COMITESSA LOUDONIAE DOMINA DE HASTINGS FIERI FECIT: DEUS MEUS ILLUMINA TENEBRAS MEAS ANNO DOMINI MDCCCLXXIV'. Finely carved gargoyles are positioned in the angles between the stack and the main wall. The left gable end has a similar two-light window with a gable apex displaying an 'H' surmounted by a coronet. The right gable end is heavily overgrown with ivy, but a fine gabled bell-cote and bell rise from its apex. A gabled porch with an elaborate plank door and hinges is located at the rear, along with a wing containing a window and a tall gable end stack.

The school was commissioned by Charles Abney Hastings to commemorate his wife, Edith, and reflects his acquisition of the Breedon estates a year prior. The complex family history includes succession to the Scottish title of Loudon and the later creation of Lord Donington. The building retains its original appearance and is significant as a memorial to a member of a prominent local family. Its 'definite quality and character' fulfills the criteria for its designation as a listed building.