Kingswood School

Kingswood School, Lansdown Road

A school building constructed between 1850 and 1852 by James Wilson for the Methodist Church, with a major extension added in 1882-1883 by James Wilson and E Hoole. The building is constructed of limestone ashlar with slate roofs featuring paired octagonal shafts to moulded stacks.

The structure follows an H-plan arrangement and rises to three storeys over a basement. The original design was a symmetrical eleven-window range in Tudor style, to which a chapel was later added to the front right wing during the 19th century. The front elevation is defined by a castellated parapet, cornice, first-floor sill band and plinth that encircle the building. Three central bays and the fronts of the outer wings are lit by leaded windows.

A prominent central tower dominates the composition, arranged in four stages. The tower features a tall castellated parapet with pierced Gothic panels to the merlons, bosses and gargoyles to the cornice of the upper stage. Below this sits a pointed arched three-light window with shields to the aprons, and a label mould. The third stage is shallow and offset above and below with a clock to the centre. The tall second stage is flanked by offset buttresses and contains a label mould to a three-light window above a tall mullioned and transomed three-light canted oriel window with its own smaller but similar parapet. The base comprises double Tudor arched oak doors under a wide label mould with foliate spandrels.

Slightly projecting bays flank the tower, each with diagonal buttresses to the outer quoins. These forward-facing bays have gables with copper finials and shields to the apexes, with coped parapets stepped above the quoins. The hoodmoulds of two-light second-floor windows continue as cornices to the wings.

Below these are slightly projecting rectangular bays containing four narrow windows, each topped by a quatrefoil in a circle within the parapet. The two central windows project to form a triangular plan. Three-bay castellated wings articulate the composition, marked by gargoyles to the cornice and ornamented rainwater heads. The upper floors have two-light windows, some with margin panes, whilst the ground floor features three-light mullioned and transomed windows. Projecting side wings are similar in character to the bays flanking the tower but larger, with angle buttresses, stone lion finials holding copper vanes, and quatrefoils set in recessed diagonal panels to the apexes. Two-storey bay windows are canted with four-light mullioned and transomed windows, their sills formed by a high plinth on a sloping sight. The inner facades of the wing returns contain three windows, whilst the outer faces have four. The first-floor window sills extend below the sill string which forms the transoms. There are no ground-floor windows to these returns.

A two-storey, two-window wing projects further forward from the right-hand wing, featuring a bay similar to that on the left-hand side. The rear elevation is similar but simpler in style, with additions dating from 1890.

The interior preserves significant Gothic detailing. Gothic panelled doors feature throughout. The hall is distinguished by a rib-vaulted ceiling with bosses and a polychromatic tile floor, with painted inner doors matching those on the exterior. The stair hall has a panelled ceiling with bosses and a cast iron balustrade to the stairs. Other rooms retain their original fireplaces and high moulded skirtings. The dining hall is said to contain a gallery and large brackets supporting the ceiling beams.

Kingswood School was founded by John Wesley in 1746 and opened for fifty children in Kingswood near Bristol in 1748. The building in Bath was contracted at a price of £8,000, though the eventual cost reached £12,000. Due to budget constraints, the planned chapel was not constructed until 1920. The school was equipped with hot air heating, with flues venting through an 82-foot-high tower.