Sandringham and West Newton Primary School and attached former teacher's house with outhouse

This elementary school was built in 1881 at the commission of Edward, Prince of Wales, with later additions made before 1905 and further alterations in the later 20th century.

Materials and Construction

The earlier school hall is rendered with applied timber framing. The remainder of the building is predominantly constructed of carstone, with brick quoins and surrounds to doors and windows. All roofs are tiled.

Plan Form

The plan is complex, consisting of two ranges positioned side by side and oriented north-south. The eastern range contains the first hall, while the western range houses the second hall at its south end and part of the former teacher's house to the north. At the north end of the east hall, the roof is oriented east to west, representing the eastern end of a cross-wing that continues westward across the teacher's house. Additional wings of the teacher's house step out to the south-west. A single-storey outhouse or service building sits immediately west of the house. A modern, single-storey flat-roofed addition extends around the south-east corner.

North Elevation

The north elevation features a single-storey central section flanked by a two-storey gable end to the west and a single-storey porch to the east. The central section is mainly brick, with windows rising to the eaves of a catslide roof that sweeps down from the ridge of the cross-wing. Three windows are set under the eaves: at the centre is an oriel window supported on tiered brickwork, with timber mullion and transom, flanked by two narrow windows with transoms.

The two-storey gable end to the west, originally part of the teacher's house, is built of small shaped and coursed carstone. The roofline is slightly swept to oversailing eaves, which are bracketed at the gable end. Windows on both floors have brick surrounds under hood-moulds. The ground floor has a tripartite window with mullions and transom under a segmental arch set within the brick surround, while the first-floor casement window has a slightly cambered arch.

The porch to the east is of carstone with brick quoins, a brick surround to the arched entrance, and a brick and terracotta dentilled cornice. Between the arch and cornice is a square stone plaque showing a rose set in a moulded frame. The hipped roof has a band of fish-scale tiles and is surmounted by a circular belcote of carstone, with a band of moulded brickwork supporting the timber arcading surrounding the bell. The belcote is capped by an octagonal conical tiled roof.

East Elevation

At the north end of the east elevation is the return of the porch, which has a small window with segmental brick arch. To the south, slightly advanced, is the east gable end of the cross-wing, built of roughly coursed uneven carstone rubble. A small ball finial sits at the tip of the gable, at the centre of which is a round window of six segments surrounded by brick. Three courses of brick—stretchers between headers—define the gable, with two courses at the base creating a triangle; there is some tumbled-in brickwork. Below the round window is a square bay with mullioned window, the roof of which is similar to the porch roof, with a band of fish-scale tiles; to the south it sweeps down to create a shelter for seating. A decorative curving bracket connects a supporting post to the eaves.

To the south, the east elevation and south gable end of the hall are largely concealed behind the modern flat-roofed extension, which is not included in the listing. The visible upper east elevation is pebble-dashed with applied timber framing, while the south gable end is rendered and has a bowed window under a tiled roof with decorative bargeboards. At the north end of the roof is a circular glazed timber turret; a band of vents suggests this served as both light well and air vent. The turret is capped by an inverted conical roof with a weather vane at the tip. The lower half is concealed behind the modern extension.

South and West Elevations

The second hall to the west has an attached boiler house. The south gable is hung with alternate bands of plain and fish-scale tiles, below which is a large window under a cambered brick arch, with light-coloured brick surrounds, set in small and neatly shaped coursed carstone. This stone and brickwork, and this form of construction, continues westward in the teacher's house. Window surrounds are similar, with cambered brick arches set within brick surrounds.

The south-west wing of the teacher's house projects west from the west elevation of the second hall. The west elevation of this wing presents itself as a series of single and two-storey gable ends of contrasting pink brickwork and yellow ochre carstone. Set in the angle between this west wing and the return to the north is a stair turret of the same materials and construction, with quoined chamfered corners. Immediately north of this is an apparently inserted timber-framed and rendered upper floor projecting over an entrance and supported on a corner post. Wedged against this at ground floor level is a modified canted bay window with slate roof, placed slightly off-centre below a casement window with brick hood-mould. The window is centrally placed within a gable, where the form of construction and use of materials and detail are very similar to the east elevation, suggesting these are opposite ends of the continuous east-west cross-wing. The gable eaves are slightly modified to the north to accommodate the roofline of the north wing of the house, which is set at a right angle to the cross-wing.

Interior: First Hall

The earlier hall, to the east, is fully open to the roof, where there are three trusses below a planked ceiling. The trusses consist of rafters tied by collars and supported by curved braces rising from corbels. In the triangle between collars and rafters, a pattern of squares and triangles is created by king and queen posts and a second collar. At the south gable end, a high bow window is set immediately below the collar and between the braces. Towards the centre of the east wall is a chimney breast, and there is wainscoting to west and east. Rising through the roof towards the north-east corner of the hall is the circular light well.

At the north end of the hall is a gallery, apparently a modern insertion within the east-west oriented cross-wing; below the gallery a screen separates the cross-wing from the hall. The space beneath the gallery is lit by the three windows to the north, the corners of their reveals ovolo moulded with lambs tongue stops. Further light is provided by the bay window to the east, where the moulded dado rail and wainscoting curve down to sill height. In the north-east corner, a plank and batten door opens onto the porch, the walls and vaulted ceiling of which are of unrendered brick. To the west, a stair to the gallery has been inserted, crossing in front of fixed shelving below a cupboard. Modern doors are positioned on either side of the small landing at the top of the stairs. The eastern door gives access to the gallery, which is open to the roof where the north-south aligned hall joins the east-west aligned cross-wing. The only natural light in the gallery comes from the circular east gable window.

Interior: Second Hall

At the south-west end of the first hall is a plank and batten door opening into the later hall to the west; there is another entrance into this hall, with a similar door, from a corridor to the south. This hall is also open to the roof, which has arch-braced rafters with collars and king posts. There is wainscoting below a moulded dado rail, a cupboard with shelves below, and a chimney breast; as with the chimney breast in the first hall, the fireplace, if it survives, is concealed behind a radiator.

Interior: Teacher's House

The modern door opposite the entrance from the stairs to the gallery opens onto a room that was formerly part of the teacher's house, now a classroom. The room below is also a classroom and contains the bay window and entrance from the west. These rooms contain little detail. The remainder of the teacher's house was still in residential use in 2014, with entrance from the west. The house has two main rooms on both ground and first floors, the first floor reached by a winder stair. One of the first-floor rooms has an inset cupboard over drawers, the cupboard doors with raised foliate decoration. The doors are plank and batten or plain four-panelled. There are no original fireplaces.

Outhouse

To the west of the house is an outhouse of brick and flint with a hipped pantiled roof. This contains a washhouse and a larger space with double doors. The washhouse has a stone sink and planked cupboards.

Note: The modern flat-roofed extension to east and south of the school is not of special interest and is not included in the listing.