Joseph Lancaster Primary School

SOUTHWARK

TQ3279 HARPER ROAD 636-1/5/420 (East side) Joseph Lancaster Primary School

II

Formerly known as: Harper Road School HARPER ROAD. Board school. Designed 1873, dated 1875. By RW Edis, architect. For the London School Board. Stock brick in English bond with dressings in red brick and terracotta. Brick plinth. Red and black brick in header bond forming diaper pattern. Tiled roof. EXTERIOR: 3 storeys with 6-window range to Harper Road. In the centre of the ground floor, main elevation, a window set in a shallow, pointed-arch recess; trio of segmental-arched windows to either side. Segmental-arched openings to 1st-floor windows, the centre 4 of which are paired. Second floor treated as a recessed attic range, dominated by a pair of gable dormers with flat-arched windows set in shallow pointed-arch recesses; the tympana filled with floral designs. Right return of Harper Street range gable ended of one-window range, before setting back to range that is finished in a manner that is quite close to that of the main elevation: 4-window range wing, the centre terminating in gable-facing dormer. Left return of roughly similar plan, with a pair of catslide dormers flanking a gable-facing dormer. Carved and inscribed stone plaque to centre of main range, just above lintels of 1st-floor windows. Extension to rear of later C19 or early C20 does not compromise the silhouette of the original. Some rebuilding of the original fabric, particularly to upper floor. Otherwise windows and brick finishes of authentic design. INTERIOR: not inspected. An early example of the work of the London School Board, before the characteristic style was evolved by ER Robson; like many designs from the early period of its activity, the Harper Road School is redolent of the Gothic Revival.

Listing NGR: TQ3251879108