School House With Rear Boundary Wall

The School House with rear boundary wall is a former extension and residence for the Assistant Governor of Portland Prison, built around 1870, likely designed by the office of Captain Du Cane, Royal Engineers. Constructed from Portland ashlar with a slate roof, the building has a compact L-plan shape, featuring a slightly set-forward wide gable on the left and a set-back lower wing. It is two storeys high with a 1+1 window arrangement. The windows are paired sashes with a horizontal bar, set in chamfered surrounds with stops to the jambs and a central mullion, and have flush, deep chamfered cills. The gable is coped and features a small roll mould saddle stone above a blind oculus in a flush relieving arch. The building has a plinth, a mid moulded string, moulded eaves, and three large stacks with moulded skirts and heavy cappings to Lombard bands. The set-back wing includes two small sashes above a plank door set in an arched opening with Romanesque mouldings and a drip course. The left return gable is coped with kneelers and a central stack. The right return features a tall stair window to the right, with the string stepped below its cill.

At the rear of the site, there is a tall ashlar boundary wall that incorporates a wide blocked opening with rusticated quoins and voussoirs to a segmental head; this was formerly an access point from the house to the adjoining prison. The building is an important part of a cohesive group, situated between St. Peter's Church and Grove County Infants' School, and its detailing indicates it was designed by the same office.