County Library Dean House The Old School House (Including Front Boundary Wall And Piers)

This building, originally a National School with two teachers' houses, now comprises two houses and a public library. It was built in 1846, as indicated by the inscription "Painswick National School: 1846". The construction is of limestone ashlar with a slate roof. The central, school section is tall, with l½ storeys. It is flanked by projecting wings with coped gables and kneelers. At the junction of the centre and wings, deep ashlar stacks feature five flues set diagonally, cropped to ridge level on the right, and at ridge level on the left. The central section has a three-window front, with recessed, chamfer casements, two-light with transoms and pointed heads to the lights, set under a continuous string course. Above them are four-centre arches with dropped floral bosses, which frame plank and batten doors with two-pane transome lights. The first floor has three gables, with kneelers, and two- and five-light casements with recessed chamfer moulding, and a stopped drip to the centre. The wings have one-light over two-light over two-light recessed chamfer mullion casements, also with stopped drips. The returns on the building are two storeys high and have three windows, with contemporary doors leading to steps and gabled porches between two-light casements, and below two-light casements. The interior of the school section has been altered to create a library. A boundary wall, approximately 1 meter high with saddle-back coping, runs across the full width of the site and is punctuated by four pairs of square piers with pyramid caps; the outer pairs retain original gates. The building is built in the Cotswold tradition and is of historic interest, providing an important feature on the approach from the south.