Oak Woods School House

Oak Woods School House

Former school and schoolmaster's house at Dunsfold Common. The original part to the west is a National School dated 1839 in Tudor style, with an early 20th-century classroom wing added to the north east.

The building is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond with some vitrified headers. The central and south parts have slate roofs, whilst the north part of the original building and the later addition have tiled roofs. The central former schoolmaster's house has two squat brick chimneystacks, each with terracotta chimneypots.

The plan comprises a projecting central two-storey and attic schoolmaster's house of one bay, flanked by single-storey three-bay classrooms for boys and girls, with a later classroom extension to the north east forming an L-wing.

The west side of the central schoolmaster's house features a gable with dogtooth cornice and kneelers. The windows are early 19th-century metal-framed casements with a pattern of alternate rows of diamond and hexagonal panes, comprising a single light to the attic, two-light to the first floor, and three-light window to the ground floor, all with brick hood-mouldings. A stone dedication panel is set between ground and first floors. The south classroom has two windows, one an original metal-framed casement, and the main entrance with brick surround and ribbed and studded door with two panels cut in the top. This has a porch with hipped slate roof supported on a rustic pillar. The south end features a gable with dogtooth cornice and kneelers, a pointed arched louvred ventilation opening in the gable, and an original metal-framed casement with brick hood moulding below. The north classroom is similar but with three window openings, the southernmost retaining an original metal-framed casement whilst the others were replaced with a single sheet of glass in the 1950s. The north gable end has kneelers, a dogtooth cornice, a pointed arched louvred ventilation opening in the gable, and a recessed door with brick hood-moulding. The east elevation has a gable end with kneelers to the school house and an original brick lean-to and plank door to the south, though the rear wall to the north was removed when the early 20th-century classroom wing was added. This wing is built of red brick with tiled roof and a cylindrical metal ventilator. The east side has six pivoting casements, one of which is three-tier under a gable. The south end has a gable with large arched mullioned and transomed casement.

Interior features include four-panelled doors and a straight flight staircase with stick balusters and column newel in the central school house. The front ground floor room has a simple wooden fireplace and the rear room a brick fireplace. The first floor front room retains a simple wooden fireplace. A passage to the south between the school house and south schoolroom has a round-headed alcove on one side and a wall of thin scantling timber with painted brick infill. The south classroom retains a four-panelled door, though the fireplace is of later 20th-century date. The north classroom has a corner fireplace and a round-headed recess in the south wall. The 1839 building retains the original roof of softwood with ridgepiece. The early 20th-century classroom addition has a wooden plank partition and fireplace, though the ceiling has been boxed-in.

An engraved stone in the centre of the school house reads: "These Schools were built in 1839 at the cost of Miss Katherina Woods of Shopwick in Sussex and of Burningfold in this parish and are supported by voluntary subscriptions for the education of the children of the parish of Dunsfold." A mid-19th-century engraving shows the building in use with children playing on the common in front. The engraving depicts taller chimneys to the school house with double stacks set diagonally, single stacks to the classrooms, and a bellcote to the gable end of the north classroom.

The building appears on the first edition 1871 Ordnance Survey map as "School (Boys and Girls)" with a rectangular footprint and a projecting centre to the west and some small extensions to the east. This footprint remained unchanged on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1897, but by the 1916 third edition a large classroom extension had been added to the north-east, changing the plan form to an L-shape.

On 1st March 1957 the estate of the Duke of Westminster gave the school premises on the ground floor of the northern part of the building—the northern classroom and attached 20th-century wing—to the Guildford Diocese "for the purpose of a Church of England School for the education of children and adults or children only and for no other purpose". The southern part, comprising the central part and southern classroom and known as School House, was transferred to Surrey County Council for £1000 subject to a lease for occupation by the headteacher. School House was vacated in the late 20th century and the school closed in 2004.