School House And The Old School

This building comprises a school and former schoolmaster's house, located on the High Street in Bidborough, south of the church. Constructed in 1856 at a cost of £659 8s, and with later 20th-century additions to the schoolmaster’s house, it was recorded in Kelly’s Directory of Kent in 1891. The building is of red brick with blue headers, sandstone dressings, and peg-tile roofs, executed in a Tudor style.

The irregular, north-facing range sits below the church. To the right (west) is a small, two-bay schoolroom, with an entrance block to the left. The schoolmaster's house adjoins the school and has a porch on the north side. The north elevation of the house has four windows and is asymmetrical, with the house set forward from the school and entrance block and gabled to the front on the right end. The entrance block is also gabled to the front, and the schoolroom runs parallel to the road. The schoolroom’s symmetrical north front features two windows, with a central, lateral stack with set-offs, flanked by stone, one-light, trefoil-headed windows with gabled roof ventilators. The west return of the schoolroom has two two-light windows with trefoil heads and a three-light rear window with trefoil-headed lights. The entrance block has a shouldered stone doorway and a two-light window with trefoil-headed lights, a trefoil in the gable above. The front of the schoolmaster’s house is plainer, with square-headed stone windows. A catslide roof extends from the extreme left hand block to the porch, which has a square-headed stone doorway. 20th-century, flat-roofed additions are present at the left end of the schoolmaster’s house and the right end of the schoolroom.

The schoolroom retains its original tie beam roof construction, featuring queen posts with straight and arch braces between the tie and collar.

The land for the school was donated in 1853 by Rev. Sir Charles Hardinge, and the building was financed by public subscription, with a grant of £178 from the Council of Education. The school was intended for 60 pupils, with weekly fees varying according to parents' occupations. The building has group value with the nearby church and Rock Cottages.