Nicholson Institute And Leek College Of Further Education

SJ 9856 NE LEEK STOCKWELL STREET

611-1/5/133 Nicholson Institute and Leek College of Further Education 07.06.1972 II*

Institute and library. 1882-4. By William Larner Sugden; extended 1899-1900 by W.L. Sugden by addition of the Silk and General Technical School'. Brick (rusticated to ground floor) with stone dressings. Main roof not visible, but copper dome to tower. Renaissance style. EXTERIOR: 2-storeyed with basement, 3-bay front, comprising Dutch gable to left, massive central mullioned and transomed window, and advanced entrance and stair-tower to right. Dutch gable has bow window with stone mullions to ground floor, flanked by square turret-towers built against the gable wall and 2-storeyed in height, surmounted by stone domed roofs. Gable rises above these, with pedimented head. Central 3-tier mullioned and transomed window with low-relief busts in entablature, and inscription plate above with enriched scroll-work and broken pediment below balustrading surmounted by urns. Advanced tower to right, the entrance raised up steps with cast and wrought-iron lamp standards and rail. Renaissance entrance, with round-arched doorway in pedimented case, with fluted composite shafts carrying angled entablature. Tablet at apex of pediment inscribed 'Nicholson Institute'. Pediment cuts into 4-tier mullioned and transomed window with broken pediment over. Stone pilasters in upper stage of tower and central lunette. Copper domed roof and lantern Return elevation has two 3-tier mullioned and transomed windows, and oriel window with Ipswich-style glazing at first floor. Rear wing beyond with 3 full-height round arched recessed with tiered mullioned and transomed windows. Fluted brick chimneys. Adjoining the Institute to rear right, the former Technical College (now Leek College of Further Education). Brick with plain-tiled roof. 2 storeys, 3-window range with central gable. Large mullioned and transomed windows, in round-arched recesses to first floor, segmentally-arched to lower storey. Low-relief plasterwork in tympana. Plain brick pilasters between the windows. Entrance (remodelled) in left-hand bay. INTERIOR of Institute retains many of the original features, including the entrance hall, the main staircase, and the museum and picture gallery in the attic, and studios on the ground floor with north lights; much of the original joinery and plasterwork remains intact. The technical school extension retains main staircase, moulded plaster tympanum with clock over doorway, and moulded brass memorial. SOURCES: [1] Buildings of England., p.170. [2] Girouard, M., Sweetness and Light, pp.88 and 89.

Listing NGR: SJ9851256678