Old St Margaret's the King's School is a Grade II* listed building in the Medway local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 October 1950. A Georgian School.

Old St Margaret's the King's School

WRENN ID
grey-gateway-birch
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Medway
Constituency
Rochester and Strood MP: Lauren Edwards (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
24 October 1950
Type
School
Period
Georgian
Address
Old St Margaret's the King's School, St Margaret's Street
OS grid reference
TQ 741 683
Coordinates
51.38704, 0.50088
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Old St Margaret's, now part of The King's School, is a former almshouse dating from 1724. The building is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond with a hipped roof covered in Kent tiles. It stands two storeys tall with attics and features nine bays. The ground floor has seven L-pane sash windows with glazing bars, set under segmental rubbed brick arches, while the first floor has eight sash windows beneath flat rubbed brick arches, with brick aprons below each opening. There are three arched windows in the basement area.

The central entrance has a brick doorcase with an entablature and a stuccoed architrave surround, featuring a six-panel raised and fielded door, with two upper panels glazed. A tablet under a segmental rubbed brick arch bears the inscription: "This house for the reception education and employment of the poor of this parish was erected in AD 1724. Toward which the Honourable Sir John Jennings and Sir Thomas Colby Representatives of this city voluntarily contributed £200. It was finished and supported out of a perpetual charity formerly given by Mr Richard Watts for the purpose. Mr J Parnell and Mr Mordaunt, Churchwardens."

The building has a wooden moulded eaves cornice, and the hipped roof includes hipped dormers with louvred wood slats. Surviving stacks include one gable stack at the south end and two back-to-back stacks at the east, adjacent to a rear building from around 1800. There is also a hipped wing attached at the northeast rear. The interior was converted into two-storey schoolrooms in the 19th century, while the attics retain 1724 boarded and lath and plaster partitions in sleeping cubicles. An early 16th-century wall from Bishop's Court is attached at the north end.

Local climate

Old St Margaret's the King's School sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 720 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 84% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 74% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 23 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 76% of listed buildings. Of these, 11 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Forecourt Wall to Old St Margaret's Forecourt Wall to the King's School Grade II 11 m
  2. 26, St Margaret's Street Grade II 15 m
  3. Wall to South Entrance and South West Garden of Bishop's Court Wall to South Entrance and South West Garden of No 24 Grade II 20 m
  4. Bishop's Court with Bishop's Court Flat and Rear Flat Attached Grade II* 40 m
  5. No 30, Incuding Railings to Basement Area at Front Grade II 42 m
  6. 32, St Margaret's Street Grade II 53 m
  7. 34, St Margaret's Street Grade II 56 m
  8. Gazebo at Foot of Garden to Rear of No 30 Grade II 60 m
  9. 36 and 38, St Margaret's Street Grade II 61 m
  10. Wellesley House Grade II 68 m