27, Castle Street

BARNSTAPLE

SS5533SE CASTLE STREET 684-1/7/89 (North East side) 31/08/88 No.27 (Formerly Listed as: CASTLE STREET (East side) No.27 27 Castle Street (including No.12 Cross Street))

GV II

Sunday school, now used as offices. 1894. By Lindley C Bridgman of Brayford. Cream-coloured brick with relieving arches of blue brick; dressings of stone and patterned tiles. Slated roof with pierced red ridge-tiles. 3 storeys with garret. 6-window Gothic-style front to Castle Street, 3 windows to Cross Street. Ground and 2nd storeys (except in the altered ground storey to Cross Street) have windows with pointed or round arches, the heads of the openings being filled with solid panels; the windows themselves are flat-headed and divided into 2 lights by columns with pink shafts (probably of sandstone) and foliated limestone capitals. Third storey has small paired windows, also with pointed arches, each window flanked by attached columns matching those below. Cross Street front has a similar window in the gable, but with a round light in the head of the arch. Castle Street front has a dormer gable, centrally placed, with 5 stepped, flat-headed openings containing louvres. Panel of yellow patterned tiles in apex of gable. Return front to left, facing N down Castle Street, is 3-window range with a 4th window on the splayed corner. Window pattern is similar to that in the other 2 fronts, except that in the 2nd storey the lights have round arches; patterned glazing with coloured glass. Doorway on corner has short attached columns and a round arch, within which is a trefoiled fanlight. Above the door is a stone plaque inscribed: THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM. HISTORICAL NOTE: these were built as the Jubilee Schools belonging to the Congregational Chapel in Cross Street. They replaced a slightly smaller building designed in similar style and for the same purpose by RD Gould in 1858. In 1905 the schools had 16 teachers, 211 scholars and 164 members of bible classes. (Gardiner WF: Barnstaple, 1837-97: 1897-: 100; Baxter J & Baxter J: Barnstaple Yesterday: 1980-: PLS 10, 13; Barnstaple Castle Records, plans & committee minutes: 1891-; Harper's Albums: 41).

Listing NGR: SS5570433143