Comper Foundation Stage School

The Comper Foundation Stage School, formerly known as St. Mary and St. John Infants School, was built around 1902 by architects W. Bucknall and J. N. Comper. This building is designed in a Free Gothic style and features an H-plan layout with a central hall and classrooms located to the north, east, and south. It is constructed of red brick, with roughcast dormers and imitated half-timbering, topped with tiled roofs.

The windows throughout the building are characterized by Tudor arches and a single chamfer, with heavy wooden casements that include all glazing bars. The facade facing Hertford Street has gabled wings with round coping and three stepped windows. The central section consists of six bays, adorned with a crenellated parapet and buttresses that have two setbacks. Two large triangular dormers are positioned above the second and fifth bays. A small cusped stone niche with a figure of St. Mary and a foundation stone with worn applied lettering is located on the central buttress. The asymmetrical end facades each feature Tudor lancets beneath the central gable and a plank door with ornamental hinges to the right side. The rear facade displays five gables, with the three central gables positioned over triple windows, and two dormers similar to those at the front.

Inside, the central hall boasts a wide pointed wooden tunnel vault supported by seven corbels on each side, with small cross vaults above large glazed partitions that illuminate the classrooms on the east and windows on the west. The vault is defined by delicate roll-moulded ribs on the arrises, running perpendicular to the ridge and painted in brown, dark blue, and gold, which is said to replicate the original color scheme. The classrooms extend under tunnel vaults that radiate from the walls of the hall.