Christ Church Primary School And Attached Railings

Church of England School, built between 1873 and 1874, designed by James Tolley and Robert Dale. The building is constructed of red brick in English bond, with blue brick and stone dressings. The roofs are slate, featuring decorative ridge tiles to the centre range and an entrance porch/stair on the right, topped with a decorative metal finial. The building is one and two storeys high. A recessed central range has four windows on each floor. The first-floor windows terminate as gables facing outwards, with half-dormers. Projecting wings are located on either side of the recessed range; the north wing is polygonal, with a Tudor-arched entrance leading to a staircase. The south wing is gable-facing with a hipped dormer to the return, and was originally used as a schoolmaster's house. A rear wing is partly visible above the main roof, and once had a cupola, of which only the base remains. A dummy window on the return of the schoolmaster's house incorporates a stone plaque. The upper part of the plaque depicts a high-relief image of an earlier school, while the lower part reads: "This house and these schools/ were erected in A. D. 1873/ in lieu of/ the house and parochial schools/ as shewn above./ The former stood at the northwest angle of/ the Churchyard of the Parish." The school’s origins lie in parish charity schools founded in 1708. Purpose-built school premises were constructed in 1782, which are pictured on the plaque. The Christ Church Schools were combined with local National Schools in 1850.