Montpelier High School

Montpelier High School, formerly known as Colston's Girl School, is a school building constructed in 1891 by architect W.V. Gough. It is made of red Cattybrook bricks, accented with yellow brick and buff terracotta dressings, featuring brick ridge stacks and a slate roof. The building has an E-shaped double-depth plan with a right-hand extension and showcases an eclectic mix of various Northern Renaissance styles. It stands three storeys tall with a basement and has a 14-window range.

The facade features two nearly identical gables that project on either side of a full-height porch. This porch is divided by pilaster strips with faceted rustication at the ground floor, which alternates between brick and terracotta bands. An elaborate terracotta doorcase is adorned with Gibbsian Ionic pilasters and a scrolled pediment, leading to a bowed oriel with three windows and a parapet. The ground floor has two mullion and transom windows, with additional mullion windows on the first floor.

Each tall gable is topped with three keyed semicircular arches. The left gable is fully glazed with a circular light above Tudor-arched cross windows on both the ground and first floors, separated by a cornice. The right gable features smaller square-headed cross windows and a sunken panel, with panels above displaying urns, keyed oculi, and pedimented top panels in steep gables with segmental pediments.

Inside, the entrance hall includes steps with a terracotta balustrade, leading through two segmental arches on Ionic columns to an axial corridor. The interior features glazed brick wainscot and stained glass windows. A large hall in the left-hand block is framed by Doric columns and includes a proscenium arch, a gallery, and a king-post truss roof, along with cloakrooms that have stained-glass partitions.