Boys British School

The Boys British School, dated 1838, is located on East Street, Saffron Walden. It is constructed of gault brick with a slate roof. Originally a rectangular building with a central projection, it now includes a deep red brick rear wing to the west and a second block set in the internal rear angle. The building is single-storey, with an added half-storey.

The south front has nine bays, with the central three bays projecting forward under a pediment. This section features Tuscan engaged columns and pilasters, and a plain frieze displaying the date and school name. The central doorway has side-lights and a modern door consisting of six fielded panels. A window is situated below the pediment, divided into two registers with casements; the lower section has two registers of two panes each (2x2x3 panes), while the upper section has two registers of two panes each (2x2x2 panes). The outer windows are deeply recessed but now feature horizontally divided sections at the level of a modern floor, with round heads and glazing bars; the heads are radial. The lower sections of these windows are now sash windows with five panes each (4x3 panes) on red brick splayed sills. Modern, round-headed, leaded attic windows are positioned above. The ground-floor windows have glazing bars with radial heads and four panes each (4x3 panes). A modern clock turret with a tented roof sits centrally.

The north rear elevation is similar to the front, but simpler, with four bays. The principal windows are divided by brick blocking. The upper sections have vertical glazing bars, four panes high, and the lower sections now have double casements with glazing bars, four panes high (4x3 panes). The west end, on falling ground, has a modern, three-storey, red brick gabled wing. An adjacent infilling block to the east has a catslide roof sloping from the main block, and a facade with two mock-timber-framed gable sections. The windows in these sections are modern, casement windows with glazing bars. The west end’s elevation, a contemporary gable, has four windows and is similar to the rear of the east end. Projecting eaves and purlins are visible. A truncated brick stack with modern vents within old roundels is visible on the east elevation’s gable end. Ground-floor windows consist of two modern six-panel doors, to the west with a simplified Ionic pedimented surround.