Dixon Court

Dixon Court

An infant school with an attached master's or caretaker's house, built in 1879 by the architects Martin and Chamberlain for the Birmingham School Board. Both structures are constructed of red brick with tiled roofs, with dressings of cut brick and stone, and some terracotta details. The windows have been replaced. The original school building is rectangular in plan, with a hall extending from one side to the other on a north-west to south-east axis. Pairs of gabled classrooms open off this hall to the north-east and south-west. An early 20th-century gabled room is attached to the north-west corner; a substantial gabled extension to the west and a small flat-roofed extension to the east are later additions.

The infant school differs in scale and plan from the main school building, being single-storey with gabled classrooms fronting both the street and the rear. Its subsidiary decoration is generally in keeping with that of the main school. Each gabled classroom has three large rectangular windows with cambered heads, framed by beaded brick with gauged brick lintels and stone sills. Above these are three smaller windows with stone lintels and sills, surmounted by a blind round-headed arch. The windows rest on raised brick bands, and a decorative terracotta moulding follows the gable eaves. The south-east end of the hall contains two tall openings with glazed doors to the lower half and windows above; these are flanked by tall windows, whilst two pairs of windows of diminishing size occupy the gable. The top of the gable is filled by a stone quatrefoil with an apex finial above. The north-west end of the hall is obscured by later additions.

Internally, the building has been much altered. Each classroom has been divided horizontally to provide two flats, with a ceiling inserted that intersects the tall lower windows. The later extensions also contain flats, accessed from inside the building by metal stairs constructed in the hall. The hall retains its cast iron blades with pierced decoration, rising from engaged chamfered piers and forming four pointed arches, and is lit by the tiered fenestration of the south-east wall.

The house is a three-bay, two-storey building, flanked by single-storey gabled blocks: one connecting it to the infant school to the north-west, and another belonging to the main school building and standing at the foot of the tower. The house has a central door, with the outer bays featuring tall gables. Tall brick stacks flank either side of the building, with a lateral shaft added to the south-east elevation. All openings have cambered heads with beaded brick frames, gauged brick lintels, and stone sills, consistent with those of the infant and main school buildings. The doorway contains a six-panelled door with fanlight above; the windows have been replaced. The façade is punctuated by raised brick bands, with two wider bands of chevron moulding. A decorative moulding follows the line of the gables, as on the infant school building, whilst the gables are filled with patterned brickwork. The north-west elevation of the house is attached to the infant school; the south-east elevation, facing the main school building, has a single narrow window; the rear elevation has irregular fenestration. The building was not inspected internally but is understood to be much altered.