Paignton Community College

PAIGNTON

SX8860 BISHOPS PLACE 1947-1/5/4 (North side) 26/07/91 Paignton Community College

GV II

Part of Paignton Art School, formerly the School of Art and Science. 1908 (datestone). C17 in style. MATERIALS: Rusticated red breccia with red brick and freestone and some terracotta dressings; sgraffito panels on right return; slate roof. PLAN: Deep rectangular plan on a corner site between Bishops Place and Gerston Place. Entrance from Bishops Place at left end into a stair hall, well-lit studios on ground and first floor, the first-floor rear windows positioned to take full advantage of north light. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical, regular 5-window front. Deep plinth; moulded terracotta string to the ground floor; cornice at first-floor level below deep freestone band inscribed with 'School of Art and Science' in Roman lettering. Deep projecting eaves cornice with modillion frieze, plain parapet with moulded coping. Rusticated Baroque doorway to left with a stone porch hood with panelled soffit on moulded consoles and egg-and-dart moulding. Datestone in tympanum flanked by symbols of Art and Science; pair of half-glazed panelled doors. 4 round-headed ground-floor windows with spoke glazing bars above the transom. 5 first-floor Gibbs-surround windows with heavy rustication, keystones and rusticated voussoirs, glazed with 9 over 2-pane sashes. The right return (onto Gerston Place) has 6 ground-floor windows matching those on the front and, on the first floor, a frame of moulded glazed tiles surrounding a series of sgraffito panels that extend the full length of the building. These illustrate respectively Applied Design, Sculpture, Painting and Architecture. The rear (north) elevation has 2 massive first-floor windows, rising above the eaves and canting backwards for maximum light. INTERIOR: Retains an open-well top-lit stair with a balustrade of cast-iron panels and a rounded timber handrail with projecting beads. Other surviving original features include a wood-block floor; vents for central heating, originally from a coal-fired boiler; sliding doors with diagonal boarding between the two first-floor studios and some original fittings, including a vertical chest for storing paintings and stout timber storage cupboards. HISTORY: The sgraffito panels were executed by the first headmaster, Wallis, and are said to have been influenced by the sgraffito work on the Royal College of Organists, Kensington. They are a rare example of English external sgraffito work. They were in poor condition at time of survey (1991) but there are plans to repair them. The Science and Art School was originally located in New Street and was first financially supported by the Council in 1895. PLANs for the new school were first approved in June 1907, total cost »11,650, building completed in October 1908 (Penwill). (Penwill FR: Paignton in Six Reigns: 1935-: 49, 67).

Listing NGR: SX8871660765