Russell Hill Schools (Thomas More School For Boys), Main Building

The main building of Russell Hill Schools, also known as Thomas More School for Boys, was constructed in 1863 by John George Bland. Originally built as the Royal Warehousemen's, Clerks's and Drapers's School, this large structure showcases Venetian Gothic architectural style. It is made of red brick with blue brick and Bath stone dressings.

The building features a long asymmetrical front, with an entrance block that connects to wings of unequal length. The entrance block is three storeys high and three bays wide, highlighted by a projecting central bay that rises to a steeply pitched gable roof. The central doorway is adorned with a triple moulded pointed arch, flanked by triplet windows featuring stilted arches and attached columns with floriated capitals.

On the first floor, the windows follow a similar design, set beneath pointed relieving arches that include a pierced roundel in the tympana on either side of the central bay. The central window has a stone balcony supported by brackets with a decorative iron balustrade. There is ornamental brickwork on edge between the ground and first floors, as well as between the first and second floors. The second floor windows have stilted square heads with pierced panels above.

The building has wide eaves with ornamental soffits and a tall hipped slate roof, which includes a small square tower topped with a pyramidal spirelet. The central block is connected by lower two-storey blocks to three-storey wings, which are treated similarly. The roofs of the wings are covered in variegated slate with ornamental overhangs. The left wing consists of four bays with one projecting off-centre bay, while the right wing has eight bays with two projecting bays. The return elevations maintain the window pattern for one bay.