Former Penkhull Board School

Former Penkhull Board School

A former board school built in 1896 by Robert Scrivener & Sons of Hanley, with a rear extension added in 1912 and subsequent later extensions and alterations.

The building is constructed of red brick in English bond with moulded blue brick copings to the plinth and ashlar dressings to the openings, including keystones and hood moulds. Brick detailing enriches the eaves and tall brick stacks. Each corner tower features a decorative moulded stone frieze; the east tower includes a timber bell tower. The roofs are covered in plain tiles with lead finials and glazing to the hall roof. Rainwater goods are cast iron with plastic replacements. Interior wall surfaces are tiled by Minton Hollins. Timber is used throughout for the part-glazed divisions between classrooms and the central hall, cupboards, window frames and doors. Floors are laid in timber blocks in herringbone pattern or clay tiles, mostly now overlaid with later coverings.

The building adopts a Vernacular Revival style with Arts and Crafts detailing. The plan comprises a central main hall surrounded by classrooms and cloakrooms, expressed as a central tall single-storey range with a lower one-and-a-half storey range to the front, single-storey pavilions set forward to each side, and tall brick corner towers. The rear rises to tall single-storey over a basement, with classrooms arranged at right angles to the main block on either side. The 1912 rear extension matches this height with a basement and narrow link to a two-storey rear annexe of later twentieth-century date.

The prominent corner site provides three road elevations. The symmetrical principal façade faces south and comprises five bays with varied roof heights. The broad central gabled bay contains a tall Venetian window; flanking bays have attic windows breaking through the eaves and tall stacks. The end bays are single-storey pavilions with central openings beneath domed pediments, also breaking the eaves line. Set back at each corner are entrance towers. The pulvinated frieze on the west tower reads "STOKE ON TRENT / SCHOOL BOARD" and that on the east tower reads "PENKHULL / SCHOOLS"; the east face is dated 1896. The doors are double-leaf with stone architraves and overlights, originally serving as separate boys' and girls' entrances.

The flank elevations feature four gabled classroom bays. The second and fourth bays, dating from 1912, are set forward with saw-tooth gable detailing and Venetian openings. The first and third bays have twin openings under depressed round arches and an oculus in the gable end above. The north end elevation has two gabled central bays and single-storey corner bays beneath flat roofs. On the east flank are two sets of railed steps descending to the basements. A lower single-storey brick addition abuts the north bay of the west flank. The glazed link corridor is of timber construction; the annexe is brick with partial render. Most windows are double-hung sashes with overlights, though some casements also exist.

The interior is entered through both main entrances via corridors with tiling to dado level, which extends into the main hall and all classrooms. The dado incorporates panels of embossed tiles with varied patterns, surmounted by moulded tiles. The main hall on all four sides is surrounded above the dado by part-glazed partition walls with doors and built-in cupboards to the end walls. The hall spans five bays and features a part-glazed roof with false hammer-beam collar-trusses. Glazed lunette openings at upper level punctuate each end. An inserted partition along the east wall creates a corridor serving the east classrooms.

The 1896 classrooms possess arch-braced roofs beneath later inserted ceilings. They were originally fitted with slate boards in moulded tile surrounds, fitted cupboards and tiled fireplaces. Most fireplaces and at least two slate boards remain, along with one cupboard; one east classroom retains the full complement of all three features. The tilework throughout the classrooms is largely complete. In the early twentieth-century sections of the school, corridors feature a larger-profile stone dado rail.

The front south range contains two sets of stairs to attic rooms fitted with storage cupboards and panelled doors. The school bell remains in place in the east tower. Some gas light fittings also survive. Interior alterations occur throughout where fittings have been added or removed, with more extensive late twentieth-century alterations at the north-west and south-west corners where kitchens and toilets were subsequently located.

The building stands within a setting defined by a low boundary wall to both roads, furnished with railings and gates. A set of steps with brick piers and stone caps descends to Prince's Road.