Sevenoaks School

Sevenoaks School and Almshouses

This group of buildings on the High Street consists of a school with accompanying almshouses. Although the endowment and foundation date from 1432, the present structures were built in the early 18th century and designed by Lord Burlington.

The layout is symmetrical, with a central school block fronted by a courtyard. Two almshouse wings flank the school, bordering the street on either side. In front of the courtyard, the almshouse wings are connected by a low screen wall topped with cast iron railings and a centre gateway (the gates have been removed). The entire structure is built from coursed local stone blocks with flint infilling to the mortar joints.

The facade displays a 2.3.2 window arrangement, with the centre portion slightly projecting. The left-hand wing rises to three storeys, while the centre and right-hand wing extend to four storeys. The fourth storey of the right-hand wing is a late 19th-century addition that disrupts the original symmetry of the design. The left-hand wing features moulded dentilled eaves and guttering. The centre portion and right-hand wing have moulded modillioned eaves and guttering. The centre is topped with a pyramidal slate roof with sprocketed hips and lead flashing, surmounted by an octagonal leaded lantern. The lantern has eight small lights on its sides and is topped with a small domed feature bearing an ornamental weathervane. The left-hand supporting wing has a sprocketed hipped Welsh slate roof.

The elevation runs along a continuous plinth with a band above the ground floor windows. Throughout, the windows are painted wooden casements with flat stone lintel arches. Ground, first, and second floor windows are oblong mullioned and transomed casements. Fourth floor windows are plain square-paned casements. Three centre ground floor windows have projecting stone voussoirs over them. The three centre first floor windows feature projecting rusticated stone dressings with flat arches and graded voussoirs. The second floor displays a recessed round-headed alcove in the centre with rusticated dressing, flanked by mullioned and transomed casements with rusticated dressing matching those on the first floor. Three small square casements on the centre third floor are set within projecting square moulded surrounds with centre voussoirs.

The left-hand supporting wing contains an 18th-century panelled door accessed by two steps, with a plain fanlight above, set within a rusticated round-headed surround. A mullioned and transomed window stands to its right. A recessed rectangular stone panel is positioned above the door, with an oblong mullioned and transomed window to its right on the first floor. The second floor has two oblong mullioned and transomed casements. The right-hand supporting wing has similar corresponding elevational treatment, but includes an additional third floor with square casement windows matching those on the centre feature's third floor. A corresponding door on the ground floor has a painted wooden panel in place of a fanlight, with no corresponding window beside it.

Two stone chimney stacks with moulded cornices are positioned symmetrically either side of the centre feature. A modern exterior fire escape has been added to the front elevation, altering its appearance.

The listing encompasses Sevenoaks School and Almshouses as a group, but does not include the modern school buildings to the rear.