Fincham Primary School And Old School House

The building comprises a former National School and its associated schoolhouse, dating from 1848 and designed by John Stimpson of King's Lynn. A north extension was added in 1875. The original school building’s 1848 elements are constructed of rubble carstone with gault brick dressings, while the later additions utilize carstone slips with gault brick dressings. The school roof is slate, featuring a fish-scale pattern, while the south roof slope is plain.

The school itself is a single-story block. The west gable features two quatrefoil vents, and the east gable was rebuilt in 1875, incorporating a carstone slip finish. A 4-light mullioned window is situated on the ground floor, alongside an arched niche within the stack, originally housing the school bell. The south front presents a single 4-light mullioned window with arched lights and a square hoodmould, alongside a 3-light timber casement to the left. A single-story teacher's office projects from the southwest corner, built from carstone slips, rubble carstone (to the west gable), and English bond brick. A date plaque indicates the year 1848.

The 1875 north extension is also single-story and features a three-window range. Its west elevation contains two 4-light mullioned timber windows and a narrow single-light window at the north end. The east elevation includes an outshut with two 4-light windows and a 4-centred doorway in the north gable, along with a single-light window in the main wall. A stack rises through the outshut roof. The north gable end is distinguished by a ventilation light and a polygonal capped finial decorated with quatrefoils. A porch, featuring a similar finial above a shield inscribed with building dates, fronts the north doorway, which is framed by an arched and moulded surround with label stops. Blocked slit lights are recessed into the east and west returns.

The school’s interior comprises two main rooms. The east-west wing contains a dividing partition incorporating an elevated, panelled gallery supported by square timber posts. The roof is boarded and scissor-braced. The north-south wing features a similar boarded roof, connected by a folding glazed timber doorway.

The schoolhouse is one and a half stories high, with a three-window range. It has a full-height gabled extension to the north and two through-eaves gabled dormers to the south, the upper floors each boasting a 2-light casement. A 4-light mullioned casement is located on the ground floor of the north extension, while a 3-light window is positioned centrally. A timber porch is present on the south return, along with a door consisting of four vertical panels. A twin-flued octagonal stack sits on the north wall-plane, complemented by a similar stack between the gable end and south bay. The east elevation is built over an existing boundary wall and has no window or door openings.

The schoolhouse interior accommodates three rooms on each floor. Plank doors, fitted with strap hinges, are prevalent throughout. The central room incorporates a staircase within boarded and plastered partitioning, and the two north rooms feature coved cornices. First-floor rooms interconnect, with the central room featuring a 4-paned overlight above the plank door.