Old School Coffee House Formerly Horwoods School

The Old School Coffee House, formerly Horwood’s School, is a remarkable example of a 17th-century charity school, located on Church Lane in Barnstaple. It was restored in 1917, as indicated by a commemorative plaque. The building is constructed from local stone rubble with a slate, gable-ended roof, and features a left-end stack with an old brick corner shaft.

The original 17th-century layout remains largely intact, comprising a single schoolroom on the ground floor, originally heated at the left end, with a cross passage entrance to the right. A rear projection houses a staircase rising from the end of the passage. The first floor is divided into two rooms; the left heated from the same stack, and the right unheated.

The exterior presents an asymmetrical two-window range on two storeys. A fine doorway, located on the right, retains its original moulded frame with elaborate carved stops and a studded panelled door. A four-light window to the left, likely dating from 1917, has ovolo-moulded timber mullions, an original chamfered stone cill, and remnants of the original stone hoodmould. Two original three-light mullioned windows are present on the first floor, all with 20th-century diamond-leaded panes. A slate plaque above the door is carved with the initials "A H 1659," a coat of arms, and an inscription detailing the school's founding and restoration.

Inside, the schoolroom is separated from the passage by an original screen with moulded planks. Though the original moulded doorway has been blocked and replaced, features like the fine, segmental-headed stone fireplace, with plaster decoration including the initials AH, a Tudor Rose, and Prince of Wales’ feathers, remain. A three-light mullioned window on the rear wall (now internal) is a later addition, dating from 1917. A narrow, moulded plaster cornice projects slightly on the rear wall. An attached timber screen retains old pegs, possibly original, used for coats and hats. The staircase, likely from the 1917 restoration, features turned newels. Upstairs, an original internal porch is present in the larger room. The upper rooms are divided by an original moulded plank screen with a stopped doorway and plank door with strap hinges, as well as a similar door adjacent to the fireplace. A coved plaster ceiling in both upper rooms includes a slender, moulded cornice to match that downstairs. A recess next to the chimney stack may have once contained an original cupboard.

Historically, the school was founded in 1659 following a provision in Alice Horwood’s will of 1652, building alongside her almshouses in Church Lane. A new building was constructed in 1844 to accommodate both the girls' and boys' schools, and in 1882, the girls moved to the new National School (Bovett). This building represents an exceptionally well-preserved example of a small, 17th-century charity school.