Old School, Brentwood School

Old School, Brentwood School

A schoolroom dating from 1568, now part of the larger Brentwood School complex. The building was founded by Sir Antony Browne, whose home was Weald Hall in South Weald. The original single-storey classroom, measuring 10.33 by 6.01 metres internally, was built by Edmund and Dorothy Huddlestone. A dormitory was added above in 1855, and further extensions were made during the 18th and 19th centuries. The building is constructed of red brick in English bond, with extensions in Flemish bond. Limestone dressings frame the windows, and the roof is covered with handmade red clay tiles. The rectangular plan is oriented north-west to south-east and is flanked by later buildings at both ends.

The south-west long wall, facing Ingrave Road, displays two 19th-century stone mullioned casements of three lights and two of two lights. A central doorway with chamfered jambs and Tudor arch leads into an 18th or 19th-century porch with a 19th-century parapet gable roofed in machine-made red clay tiles. The original brickwork rises to approximately 4.50 metres, with three rectangular apertures containing iron grills positioned 0.70 metres below the top. The upper storey, dating from the 19th century, has four two-light casements in matching style and a dogtooth eaves course. The bricks measure 0.23 by 0.11 by 0.05 metres, with four courses rising 0.27 metres. A stone plaque records that the Elizabethan brickwork was restored and repointed in 1963 under the direction of architect Rex Foster.

The north-east elevation features on the ground floor two stone mullioned casements of four lights with straight heads and segmental rear-arches; the stonework is partly restored. Cement render extends 0.25 metres above ground level, with a tiled step 1.95 metres above. The first floor has two three-light casements in similar style, with two skylights in the roof pitch above. Parapet gables rise at the north-west and south-east ends. The middle of the north-west wall, where it abuts School House, contains an original doorway with missing arch, fitted with an old plain boarded and ledged door with period hinges. Above the doorway is a foundation stone bearing Latin inscriptions and the date 1568 on both sides.

Internally, the schoolroom has a semi-elliptical barrel-vault plaster ceiling, probably original, with moulded cornices running along both long sides. Numerous graffiti mark the wooden sills of the north-east windows. A 19th or 20th-century fireplace occupies the middle of the north-east wall, above which is a late 16th or early 17th-century carved oak overmantel and canopy. This overmantel was removed in 1953 from the demolished Weald Hall and installed here. Also in 1953, oak panelling from Mitre House was installed: the north-west end section dates from the late 16th century, while the remainder is 19th-century work.

Historical records document changes to the building. Illustrations from circa 1820 and 1847 show the south-west elevation with four plain rectangular windows fitted with wooden mullions and diamond glazing, with one chimney stack near the centre and another at the right end. Two windows in the left gable end were observed during building operations in 1926 and earlier. The porch and boundary wall are depicted much as they appear today, except the doorway originally had a semi-elliptical head and was in use, while the parapet gable above did not exist. An internal photograph from circa 1913 shows an iron stove against the north-east wall and a boarded dado; these features have since been removed to accommodate the panelling installation.