Kenton School

This is a school building that originated as a church house, likely dating back to the early 16th century, with substantial alterations following. The structure is primarily red sandstone, with some visible ashlar masonry on the rear elevation, while the front is rendered. It has a slate roof with gabled ends, and end stacks, including two projecting lateral stacks at the rear with dismantled shafts.

The original layout is obscured by modern plaster and interior partitions, but it appears to have been a single-depth range with three rooms. A cross passage is located to the left of centre, and two concrete or reconstituted stone doorframes in a 16th-century style are present on the front elevation, one leading to the passage. These may be original doorframe facings, copies, or entirely new. The carpentry in the right-end room is of simpler quality compared to the high-quality moulded ceiling beams to the left of centre, suggesting it held a lower status. A small block attached to the rear of the main range on the right, forming a right angle, is likely a 19th or 20th-century addition, as are two flat-roofed single-story additions against the rear wall.

The front elevation is long and asymmetrical with six windows, featuring regular fenestration and two segmental arched doorframes with hollow chamfers and square-headed hoodmoulds. The front doors are planked, with studded cover strips, and the right-hand door has a glazed rectangle. 19th-century two-light timber casements with small panes are fitted. The rear elevation displays exposed ashlar masonry, some rubble masonry, and brick repairs. Both rear lateral stacks are capped below the shaft level, with the rear left stack having set-offs. Five first-floor and two ground-floor 19th-century timber windows are present on the rear.

Inside, there are two nicely moulded ceiling beams to the left of centre, likely concealing older joists. A chamfered crossbeam is visible on the ground floor to the right side. Fireplaces are blocked, with possible survival of early lintels and jambs. The first floor was not fully inspected, but the roof trusses are concealed and could be of interest, although they may have been replaced. A charity commissioners report of 1823 indicates the building was originally granted to William Moyle and another in 1550, and subsequently to Carew Courtney in 1559, and had been used as a house for the poor for many years.