Speldhurst County Primary School

Speldhurst County Primary School, built in 1859 by Kelly, is a school building of group value, alongside boundary walls to the playground. The school includes what was originally the schoolmaster’s house, now incorporated into the school. It is constructed from local sandstone ashlar, rusticated with large ashlar quoins, and has a tile roof with stone stacks featuring brick shafts. The design incorporates modest Gothic detailing.

The schoolhouse faces east, with its gable end visible from Langton Road. A porch block is set at a right angle on the south side, and a lateral stack is located on the south side. A short gabled wing extends from the north side. The former schoolmaster’s house is arranged in an L-shape with a short front wing on the southeast side and integral rear outshuts. The principal rooms were originally heated by an axial stack and a rear lateral stack.

The original schoolhouse is a single-story building with a single window facing the road. The porch has a gabled roof facing south and a recessed arched tympanum over the three-light transomed window, filled with masonry laid in a basket weave pattern. A chamfered ventilation slit is visible in the gable. The porch doorway is chamfered, with an original plank door fitted with iron strap hinges topped with fleur-de-lys finials. A crank-headed window with a ventilation slit is located on the southern return of the porch. Two windows are situated on the north return of the main block. The north gable of the north wing has three square-headed windows and two ventilation slits in the gable. A tall, staggered brick stack with a corbelled brick cornice is on the left (south) side. Later 19th-century brick additions are visible at the rear, matching the original style.

The former schoolmaster’s house has a one-bay and two-bay east elevation, with a gabled front on the left and gabled ends to the roof. It features a chamfered plinth. All windows have chamfered reveals, stone sills, and are fitted with 19th-century casements in timber mullioned frames. The central front door has chamfered reveals and an overlight with a pointed arch above the lintel. A three-light window is located on the ground floor to the right, mirroring the tympanum detail seen elsewhere. Two first-floor two-light casements are on the right. The gable to the left wing has deep eaves and one ground-floor and one first-floor casement, each with a pointed relieving arch and basket weave masonry below. A chamfered ventilation slit is set into the gable. The south return of the house is rendered.

The playground is enclosed by slightly battered walls constructed from random crazy rubble with weathered ashlar coping and rusticated ashlar gate piers. A taller wall of coursed sandstone forms the northern boundary of the playground.

The interior has not been inspected. The school forms part of a notable group of 19th-century buildings, including the Church of St Mary.