The Old Day School and wall and railings to the front

The Old Day School and wall and railings to the front

A village school built in 1842 and opened in 1843, with subsequent extensions to provide additional accommodation. The building was extended to the rear in 1896 and 1931 to provide cloakrooms, and in 1944 to provide a kitchen.

The school is constructed of gault brick laid in English bond with stone dressings and a slate roof covering. It faces east onto the High Street with a playground to the rear. The plan consists of a principal rectangular range containing a large classroom and a rear north wing containing a smaller classroom. Cloakrooms are positioned across the rear elevation in an addition of 1896, which was further extended in 1931. A small wing projecting at right angles, added in 1944, provides a kitchen.

The building has one storey of double height beneath a steeply pitched roof with capped angle ridge tiles and exposed rafter feet at the eaves. The gable ends have low parapets with kneelers supported by scrolled cavetto mouldings. A wide chimney stack, rebuilt around 1930, is pierced by a Gothic arch opening and surmounted by two clay chimney pots, rising through the lower end of the rear slope.

The fenestration consists of recessed timber windows of various lights set in stone surrounds with splayed sills. The symmetrical three-bay façade features a central projecting gabled bay with the same treatment as the gable ends, lit by a large vertical six-light timber window with top-opening lights, flanked by two-light margin lights. A blank stone tablet set within a recessed square panel occupies the gable head. The bays on either side are lit by square four-light windows. The gable ends are lit by large vertical fifteen-light top-opening windows with wooden mullions. Above these, the gable heads are pierced by narrow Gothic arch louvred openings set in chamfered brick surrounds. On the south gable end, a clear join in the brickwork marks where the 1896 extension was added as an outshot.

On the rear elevation, the north wing is lower in height than the main range and has similar roof treatment but without the stone kneelers. The gable end is dominated by a large twelve-light window with top-opening panes under a wooden lintel. The right return is lit by two six-light windows in chamfered brick surrounds. Plank and batten doors giving access to the cloakrooms are positioned at the far right of the 1896 extension. Between these is a small flat-roofed extension added in 1931 in similar brick with a simple wooden eaves cornice, lit on both ends by horizontal three-light windows of four panes divided by wooden mullions, with the middle ones as casements. Projecting from this is a small kitchen extension added in 1943, also in similar brick with a pitched roof and lit by metal casements.

The interior retains much of the original plan form, with some historic fittings remaining. These include four-panel doors with latches and lock cases to the main schoolroom, and some of the simple scrolled window ironmongery. The interior walls are mostly exposed brick painted off-white.

The main schoolroom is a large space with a high canted ceiling divided by chamfered timber ribs. Towards the south end is a folding wooden partition with a fixed row of glazed panels above; only two of the folding doors remain, featuring two lower panels and four glazed panels above. The opening for the stove is blocked, but above it is a small square frame containing a cusped quatrefoil with the coat of arms of the founder, Reverend Tillard, and those of his wife's family, the Smelts. Part of the carpet has been removed, revealing wooden floorboards. On the south wall, a tall narrow built-in cupboard contains part of the clock mechanism, the remainder of which is in the roof space.

The infants' room in the rear wing contains a chimney breast with a blocked fireplace opening. No historic fixtures remain in the cloakrooms, where more recent WCs have been installed.

To the front of the school, 19th-century intersecting iron rails with loop tops rest on a gault brick plinth and feature iron gates at both ends with faceted finials on the posts.