Main Block At Watford Boys Grammar School

The main block at Watford Boys Grammar School is a very long neo-Georgian brick building constructed between 1910 and 1912 by architects Russell and Cooper. It is made of purple stock brick with red brick dressings and features two storeys and an attic, topped with slate roofs and flat-topped dormers that have glazing bars. The building has a wood dentil eaves cornice and a central range of three bays, with the ends slightly projecting and a hipped roof above. There are two brick ridge stacks and exposed box sashes with glazing bars, along with brick aprons beneath the windows. The ground floor windows have gauged brick heads and stone keystones.

An ornate central stone porch, designed in an early 18th century/Baroque style, features a bolection moulded door surround, Roman Doric pilasters that support an entablature, and an open segmental pediment. The tympanum displays an armorial cartouche with the dates 1704 and 1884, marking the foundation of previous Watford schools. Each side of the central range is recessed and consists of five window sections, five dormers, and five bulls-eye windows with keystones on the first floor. There are also four small glazing bar sashes under relieving arches and one large sash similar to the centre block windows on the ground floor.

Beyond the central section, there are additional five window sections that project slightly forward with hipped roofs. These feature small glazing bar sashes with relieving arches on the ground floor and large twenty-pane sashes above, along with three dormers. At the east end, there is another five window section that mirrors the central design.

At the rear, there is a large hall that runs parallel to the front, featuring three round-headed windows beneath broken segmental pediment gables and large flat-headed windows in between, all with glazing bars. The hall is topped with an octagonal cupola on a brick base, crowned by a copper dome. The building also has four rear wings with pedimental gables and moulded wood cornices, as well as ornamental drainpipes that bear the date 1911 on the hopper-heads.