Old Mathematical School

The Old Mathematical School in Helston is a former literary and scientific institute, now part of the freemasons' hall. It was built in 1799 and features a facade of coursed greenstone with granite dressings, including an ashlar plinth, quoins, jambstones, voussoirs, a mid-floor string, and a triangular pediment at the front with scrolled kneelers. The building has an asbestos slate roof and a rectangular plan, standing two storeys tall. The principal first-floor has round-arched window openings, with the front end being blind and a four-window range on the right-hand return. There are two 12-pane horned sash windows on the left, while two openings on the right have been blocked with brick. The pedimented gable is a prominent feature of the Helston townscape and signifies an important phase in the town's social history, coinciding with the prosperity brought by the tin mining industry and the construction of fine villas in the area, such as those on Cross Street.