Priory Lodge

Priory Lodge is a school gymnasium built around 1919 for a school that was located in the adjacent Council House, which has been used as offices since 1925 and as a council chamber since 1974.

The building features a timber frame with a brick plinth and plaster panels, topped with a tile roof. It has a rectangular shape and is oriented roughly northwest to southeast. The single-storey structure faces southwest and is constructed with a softwood timber frame, roughcast rendered elevations, and timber framed panels of varying sizes. It includes timber casement windows with moulded hoods and a centrally-projecting porch that has a hipped tile roof and a louvered ventilation lantern with a lead domed roof. The rear elevation, which faces Avenue Road, has a row of high casement windows.

Inside, the building retains skirting and dado rails, and the original roof, featuring arch-braced trusses with timber boarding, is believed to be intact above a modern suspended ceiling.

Located near the original entrance lodge to the Priory, the former gymnasium maintains a close physical relationship with the house, in addition to the functional relationship it has preserved throughout its history.

It is noted that the single-storey extension attached to the northern end of the building is not considered to have special architectural and historic interest and is therefore excluded from the listing.