Old School Building At Cowleys School

The Old School Building at Cowleys School is a school established by Thomas Cowley in 1719. It was partly rebuilt after a fire in 1812 and underwent alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. The building is constructed of red brown brick in English bond, with ashlar and stucco dressings. It features a machine plain tiled roof with reused stone coped gables and decorative knops, along with a wooden bellcote topped with a shaped lead roof. At the rear, there is a tall wall stack.

The building is two stories high and has a six-bay front, which includes an ashlar plinth, a first-floor band, and quoins. The eaves cornice is timber and dentillated. A central porch, dating from the 19th century, is made of stucco and has a lead roof. It is supported by angle pilasters and features a plain frieze and a moulded cornice leading to a segmental pediment. The entrance has double half-glazed doors with bordered lights.

On the left side of the porch are three large cross mullioned windows, and on the right side are two. There is also a doorway with a moulded ashlar surround and cornice, followed by a narrow 19th-century fixed light. The first floor has six two-light casement windows, all of which have flat splayed brick arched heads with keyblocks and moulded ashlar cills. Above the entrance, there is an 18th-century oval sundial with an inscription, and beneath it, a tablet commemorates the school's foundation by Thomas Cowley in 1719 and its rebuilding in 1812. The quoins of the building bear various graffiti inscriptions, including a footprint dated 1795.