School House

School House

A substantial complex of school buildings for the Brewer's Company, centred on an 1825 core designed by W.F. Pococke, with significant later additions extending through the late 19th century. The complex comprises an Old Library and Headmaster's House (1825, extended c.1880), Old Dining Hall (1842), Dining Hall (1887-8 by E.H. Martineau with later additions), and Tower and School Room (1864-5 by A.Mee, extended 1882). Throughout, the buildings are constructed in stock brick with stone dressings and slate roofs, rendered in a loosely Jacobethan style.

The 1825 core presents a three-bay, two-storey front facing north to the inner courtyard. The entrance is positioned to the left with a moulded surround, above which sits a plaque from the original school in a decorative surround. The plaque is inscribed "THIS FFREE GRAMER SCOOLE WAS FOUNDED AND FINISHED BY RICHARD PLATT CITIZEN AND BREWER OF LONDON A.D. 1597." The ground floor contains a 2-light casement and two 6-light stone mullion and transom casements with ogee moulded surrounds and octagonal leaded panes. The first floor windows are of 2 and 3 lights. A plain parapet crowns the block. The right return, which extends behind the tower toward the garden, comprises two 2-storey canted bays with a third storey toward the rear, all featuring octagonal paned casements. A plinth and string course sit beneath stepped gable parapets, with blind panels set within the gables.

The Old Dining Hall, built in 1842 in plum brick, is attached to the left of the 1825 block and projects into the inner courtyard. It is two storeys tall and four windows wide. The ground floor displays paired sashes in stone surrounds with moulded and stopped hoods springing from a continuous string course, with a small octagonal leaded pane window to the right. The first floor contains 3-light casements with octagonal panes and moulded stone surrounds. The gable end has an entrance in a pointed arch and a similar window to each floor, beneath a parapet.

The later Dining Hall, constructed 1887-8, is attached to the left of the Old Dining Hall. It is five bays and single storey, entered through a gabled porch to the left fitted with a plank door having decorative strap hinges. The porch features a 4-centred arched head with square hood mould and carved spandrels bearing arms and a motto. A datestone sits in the coped gable parapet. To the right are four 6-light double chamfered stone mullion and transom windows with square leaded panes; the central bay projects outward. Two-stage buttresses flank the elevation. A plinth and string courses with gargoyles over rainwater pipes run across the front, topped by a crenellated parapet and steeply pitched roof with gable end parapets. The right end has a large window with a 4-centred arched head subdivided by 4 lancets broken by a transom; the left end has a similar window with 3 lancets.

To the left of the Dining Hall, a link connects to an early 20th-century Neo-Georgian house in red and stock brick, three storeys tall with a five-window front. This building features flush frame glazing bar sashes with stone keys to cambered heads, stone plat bands, and a dentilled cornice to the parapet. The left return, linked to the rear of the Old Dining Hall and the 1825 block, is three storeys in three bays.

The Headmaster's House, attached to the rear of the 1825 block (c.1880), rises three storeys with an attic. Its front elevation is symmetrically composed with four windows. A broad stone porch frames the central entrance, which is set in a 4-centred arched head with a crenellated parapet raised at the centre bearing a panel with arms. The windows are 2-light leaded pane casements with double chamfered stone mullioned surrounds; those in the central bay of the upper storeys are single lights. A crenellated parapet with a stepped gable crowns the centre. The left return includes a ground floor bay window. The garden front displays two-storey and single-storey canted bays and an oriel window opening into the original 1825 block.

The Tower and School Rooms are linked to the 1825 block to the right, forming a small three-sided yard bounded by the 1825 block, Old Dining Hall, and School Rooms. These structures are built in red and stock brick with cement rendered dressings. An octagonal tower, serving as a link, rises three storeys. Its entrance faces the garden, set in a pointed arched head with heraldic ornament above. Slit windows with hood moulds pierce the tower; below a coved cornice with carved heads at the angles runs a panelled frieze. A crenellated parapet tops the tower, from which rises a leaded spire with four lucarnes.

The School Rooms, two storeys and five bays on their garden front, have the right-hand bay detailed with a 6-light window below a 3-light window stepped up to the centre, both with stopped hood moulds and a panel in the stepped parapet. Four bays to the left project slightly forward, with ground floor mullion and transom windows in moulded surrounds with stopped hood moulds; the first floor is similar but simpler. Three-stage buttresses support the elevation, and a stepped parapet crowns it. In the central bay sits a reset stone bearing the carved arms of R. Platt in an ornamental surround, dated 1597. To the left, a two-bay, three-storey extension of 1882 continues the composition in brick with relieving arches over stone mullioned windows. A datestone is set in an extruded stack with offsets, and angle buttresses support the structure, with kneelers to the coped gable parapet and tall capped stacks. Late 19th-century extensions extend to the rear.

Internally, the Dining Hall features an arch braced King Post roof.