Wynnstay House

Wynnstay House is an infant school, dating from 1830, later extended in the mid to late 19th century, and with restorations and alterations in 1990, as indicated by the date above the entrance. It was originally built for the Reverend Francis Close, designed according to the educational principles of Samuel Wilderspin. The building is constructed of Cotswold stone coursed squared rubble with ashlar quoins, pinkish-brown brick to part of a rear extension, and has Welsh slate roofs. The original form was a rectangular single-cell block, with a later wing added to the south, creating a T-plan that was subsequently infilled on one side.

The north facade, facing the street, has quoins and a central truncated stack. It is believed to have been originally blank, with a blocked entrance to the left framed by a Gibbs surround, and a later 20th-century entrance to the right with a plank door. There is a cornicing and a renewed parapet. The east gable features two tall two-light stone mullioned windows with multi-paned casements and hollow-chamfered dripmoulds. An inscription board, now blank, is visible in the gable. The west gable has a tall three-light mullion window with similar casements, and a hollow-chamfered hoodmould. The gables are coped.

The south front exhibits a tall two-light mullion window. The centre of the south facade now projects. It features a two-light mullion-and-transom window between an entrance to the left with 20th-century double doors and the remains of a similar window, now a plain overlight with a hoodmould. To the left is a gabled porch with four-centre-headed double plank doors in a tooled and chamfered surround with a hollow-chamfered hoodmould. Four 1990 attic dormers are present, along with a window in the gable end.

The original interior comprised a single schoolroom measuring 60 feet by 30 feet, designed to accommodate 250 children aged two to seven. A gallery has since been inserted to create office space.

Wynnstay House is considered the oldest surviving specially designed infant school, reflecting contemporary educational ideas. It opened on 20 July 1830. It is believed that the south facade originally featured four tall windows, the parapet was castellated, and there was a small gallery to the west end.