Former School Hall, Christs Hospital (Part of Chauncy Court) is a Grade II listed building in the East Hertfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 10 February 1950. Former school hall.
Former School Hall, Christs Hospital (Part of Chauncy Court)
- WRENN ID
- scattered-joist-crag
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- East Hertfordshire
- Constituency
- Hertford and Stortford MP: Josh Dean (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 10 February 1950
- Type
- Former school hall
- Address
- Former School Hall, Christs Hospital (Part of Chauncy Court), Bluecoat Avenue, Hertford
- OS grid reference
- TL 329 128
- Coordinates
- 51.79838, -0.07364
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The former school hall, now converted to elderly persons flats, was originally built in the late 17th century. It was refronted between 1904 and 1906 by the architect Alexander Stenning, extended to double its size at the rear in the 1950s (though this rear extension has since been removed), and again internally linked to a new north wing between 1986 and 1988. The building is constructed primarily of orange-red brick in Flemish bond, with a Portland stone doorcase and first-floor niche. It has an old tiled roof with lead-roll ridges and hips, featuring a wood modillioned eaves cornice and surround to the front pediment. Above the pediment is a square, lead-covered base supporting a square wooden cupola with arched openings and Ionic pilasters on each face, a moulded cornice, and an arched lead roof topped with a weathervane on a ball finial.
The south front is in a Queen Anne style, with five bays, the central three projecting slightly. It features four large sash windows with twenty panes to each, recessed and spaced 1:2:1, with red rubbed flat arches, stone keyblocks, and aprons with a scalloped profile beneath the sills. A central doorway is recessed within a stone architrave surround, featuring a pulvinated frieze and a pediment with dentils carried on moulded consoles. An attic panel above the doorway contains a niche holding a statue of a Bluecoat Girl, flanked by Tuscan Doric colonnettes, a moulded archivolt, and a cornice with alternating scrolls on the sides.
The interior was completely remodelled and rebuilt between 1986 and 1988, although the original 17th-century brick structure remains visible in the cellar. The building originally served as the schoolroom and marked the end of the axial approach from the gateway. Subsequent alterations occurred particularly after the school vacated the building in 1984. Modern extensions linked to the north side are not considered of special interest and are excluded from this listing.
Local climate
Former School Hall, Christs Hospital (Part of Chauncy Court) sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 88% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 84% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 33 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 55% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
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- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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