Swanton Morley Primary School

Swanton Morley Primary School

An elementary school built in 1916 and extended during the twentieth century.

The building is constructed of red brick laid partly in stretcher bond and partly in irregular Flemish bond, with decorative detail in tile and blue brick. The roofs are tile-covered.

The original 1916 building has a U-shaped plan that remains substantially intact, though the U has been infilled. The plan consists of a main south-facing range with wings projecting to the east and west; the west wing returns eastward, running parallel to the south range. Large additions from the later twentieth century have been attached to and extend from the north-west corner.

The main south elevation is of four bays, with the two central bays slightly advanced and topped with shaped, pointed gables. These bays and gables are framed and separated by substantial chimney stacks that rise to square-sectioned chimneys standing tall above hipped roofs. The stacks display fragmentary diaper work in blue brick headers, with similar blue bricks used decoratively on quoins at the base of the stacks and tumbled-in brickwork. All bays have tall tripartite windows rising to eaves level, with mullions and transoms, containing sash windows below the transoms. The west bay is stepped back and has three windows separated by brickwork rather than timber mullions. At the east corner of this elevation, the roof extends below the window head with a slight sweep, supported by a kneeler of horizontally stacked tiles, with a similar band of tiles above the window in the east return.

Decorative detail concentrates in the two central bays of the south elevation. The gables contain fragmentary diaper work above small moulded brick pediments, slightly raised above a horizontal band of stacked clay tiles at eaves level. Beneath the central chimney, vertically set clay tiles form an arch over the recess between the central bays, with a long lead rainwater hopper set between square openings and carrying water to the downpipe.

The west elevation contains a tall window rising through the eaves. The east elevation features a centrally placed flat-roofed porch with two round arches on its east side. Half the porch is open with an arched entrance in its south elevation; the other half is enclosed. The north arch to the east elevation has a tripartite window, below which is a stone plaque framed by tiles. The arches rise from stacked tiles forming a cap to square piers with outer quoins of engineering brick. Blue engineering bricks define the outer edge of the arches, which have three tiers of recessed brickwork; small diamond-shaped tile medallions appear at the foot of the outer tier and set into the brickwork just below the porch roof. North of the porch, the north-east wing has a steeply sloped and slightly swept roofline with eaves lower than those to the south. In the north elevation a long dormer window sits above and behind the later flat-roofed section. Both north wings have tall chimneys similar to those on the south elevation; the chimney straddling the west wing ridge is wider than those to the south.

The interior begins with a lobby within the porch. The wide entrance has a surround with raised brickwork forming a pattern of alternating headers and stretchers, with rounded corners. This pattern repeats around doors and entrances throughout the original building, with all potentially sharp corners rounded. The entrance lobby is lit by a large round-arched window to the east. Opposite the window are doors opening onto a flat-roofed corridor with two originally three classrooms to the south. The corridor has a rooflight but would originally have been lit by windows to the north elevation. Each of the original three classrooms was lit by a large external window to the south and an internal window opening onto the corridor. Additional light reached the central and west classrooms via a long dormer window, and the east classroom by the high window south of the porch. Classroom doors have nine-paned glazing to the upper half and two panels to the lower half. Although no fireplaces survive, they must have been set directly into the angled face of the chimney stacks projecting into each classroom, with the other stack face perhaps flush with the partition wall. At the west end of the corridor as it turns north is the door to a fourth room, lit by tall windows to south and west and a dormer window to the east, with a chimney breast at the north end. It seems likely a fifth room originally stood to the north of this, served by the same wide chimney, but this has been removed to create a wide corridor linking the old school to additional later twentieth-century classrooms and school hall. Opposite and to the east is a partially blocked wide opening with raised brick quoins; a modern door is inset, with a second modern door inserted to the north opening into the return wing. The interior of that space was not seen. Apart from two tie beams apparently marking the original divisions between the south classrooms, no elements of the original roof structure are visible.

The later twentieth-century school hall and classrooms are plain, functional spaces not of special architectural interest and not included in the listing.