Former British School

Former British School complex on Severn Street, Birmingham. The site originated in 1809 as the Royal Lancasterian Free School, the first Nonconformist school in Birmingham. The current complex comprises three contiguous ranges of red brick with blue brick and stone dressings and terracotta details, spanning the 19th century. The foundations from 1809 were mostly rebuilt in 1850-51, extended in 1869-70 by architect Yeoville Thomason, and again in 1879-80 by the Birmingham firm Martin & Chamberlain. All ranges have timber-framed pitched and hipped roofs covered with slates. The complex was empty at the time of inspection in 2003.

The 1879-80 range to Severn Street, designed by Martin & Chamberlain, is two storeys with a pitched roof with hipped corners. It has pilasters to corners and flanking a raised central gable. The entrance is positioned on the sloping site towards the east, set beneath a pointed arch with deep moulded architrave. The ground floor features tall rectangular lights with 9/9 panes and leaded overlights, with decorative terracotta plaques above the central lights and at each pilaster within a double string course. The first floor has 6/6 pane windows with hoppers and a single pane above; those to the sides have stone shouldered lintels, while those to the centre have additional leaded lights under stone shouldered heads and trefoil-headed lights with blue and clear glass. Above these are three more trefoil-headed lights with similar blue and clear glass and stone dressings. The gable features a wide rounded arch containing a central rose window leaded with blue and clear glass, flanked by a pair of terracotta roundels, and is capped with a finial. The east return elevation has four bays framed by pilasters, each carrying terracotta plaques between the continued string courses. The two outer bays are blind; the two central bays contain pairs of similar windows at both ground and first floors, with blind niches between the string courses. The west elevation is partly blocked by the adjacent number 86 Severn Street, then a brick chimney, followed by two bays flanked by pilasters—the left bay has a pair of similar windows whilst the right bay is blind. The south elevation has a raised gable matching that of the façade. At the east angle stands a full-height quarter-round stair tower with a curved entrance beneath a pointed arch with stone hood, double string course, and pairs of paned windows with leaded overlights and coloured glass to the top floor.

The interior of the 1879-80 range features three elaborate wooden trusses with cast iron ties supported by thin tension rods. The trusses have arched braces in the wide central bay with round cut-out spandrels. Each side of the central bay is infilled with trefoil-headed cut-outs and boards within a chamfered grid. Ties are supported by bolted knee braces and corbels, each depicting a different leaf. Where the front and rear trusses return at the hipped corners, they repeat similar detail. A continuous dado runs throughout. The southeast corner contains a converted stair tower with a full-height chamfered baluster stair and a landing linking this building to the range behind. The ground floor is plain but features arched openings and a large wood fireplace to the front classroom. A brick cellar is present beneath.

The 1869-70 range to the south has a pitched roof with a raised glazed clerestory along the ridge. Its west elevation is blind. The east elevation has tall metal-framed windows with margin overlights and segmental arched heads outlined in blue brick, linking each window with stone dressings between. The first floor has similar but smaller windows with stone shouldered lintels, continuous stone cills, and banded blue brick with dentil break brickwork. A dentilled cornice crowns this elevation. At first floor level, a timber-framed bridge with a steep pitched roof connects the ranges, with glazing to the upper part and decorative braces from each post.

The interior of the 1869-70 range is supported by four wooden trusses, from the apex of which a strut extends upwards to carry the glazed clerestory roof running along the ridge for the central three bays. The tie beams each have a pair of arched and corbel braces. Continuous dado panelling runs along the first floor classroom, with Arts and Crafts style panelling to the centre of the west wall. The ground floor is supported by four lattice wrought-iron girders, each resting on a pair of cast-iron corbels, and features tall metal-framed windows with margin overlights.

The 1850-51 range at the north, facing Severn Street and set back from it, is in the Italianate style with a shallow hipped roof. It spans ten bays, with the four central bays slightly advanced and framed by wide pilasters bearing the inscription 'BRITISH SCHOOL' cut into the frieze. Ground floor windows are paned with margin lights beneath segmental blue brick arched heads. A string course and dentil course run between floors, except at the pilasters. First floor windows have arched heads in blue brick. A projecting cornice with brackets decorates the eaves, with cornice and eaves detail repeated on the side returns, which feature similar windows. The south elevation is similarly detailed, with eaves brackets below the cornice, round-arched multi-pane windows linked by a stone course at first floor level, and tall paned windows with margin lights under blue brick segmental arches at ground floor level. Ground floor blocked arches and a brick chimneybreast occupy the centre.

The interior of the 1850-51 range has wooden trusses, some missing, comprising three vertical chamfered struts each with raking strips. Tall cast-iron columns support the ground floor.

Historical context: A Quaker Day school was founded on the site in 1845. Following substantial enlargement in 1851-52, which added a second storey, the school was identified on the frieze as a British School. The 1869-70 extension was designed by Birmingham architect Yeoville Thomason, who also designed the nearby Synagogue on Blucher Street (Grade II*) in 1856. A decade later, Martin & Chamberlain's 1879-80 addition to Severn Street represented a move to conform to the requirements of the 1870 Education Act whilst maintaining the school's independent Nonconformist character. The school became a Council school in 1901 and closed in 1933, after which it was used by the Birmingham Athletic Institute. By 2003, the complex had been empty for several years.

The complex holds group value with number 86 Severn Street (Grade II) and the Synagogue on Blucher Street (Grade II*).