Former Whorlton Memorial School And Schoolmaster'S House

Former Whorlton Memorial School and Schoolmaster's House

This is a former village school with attached schoolmaster's house, built in 1856 by an unknown architect, probably commissioned by the Marquis of Ailesbury, lord of the manor of Whorlton. The building is constructed of brick with stone dressings in Elizabethan revival style, under a Welsh slate roof.

The plan is T-shaped, with the main schoolroom parallel to the street frontage and a side wing extending forward to accommodate two smaller schoolrooms. The main entrance leads to a cross passage at the right end of the main schoolroom, with the master's house forming a cross wing to the right of this passage. The master's house has its own entrance to the right side. Playgrounds and outbuildings, including a detached toilet block, occupy the rear and are enclosed by a boundary wall. A modern flat-roofed attached toilet block of no special interest was added later.

The exterior features mullioned or cross-mullioned windows with diamond leaded lights in ashlar, except for the side and rear windows of the schoolmaster's house. Gable ends have raised coping supported by shaped kneelers. The building has a plain flush-faced ashlar plinth with ashlar quoins at the corners.

The gable wall of the side wing displays a simple stone cartouche inscribed "WHORLTON MEMORIAL SCHOOL 1856" beneath a hood mould, with a triple-light cross-mullioned window below it also under a hood mould. To the left is a bell tower, a wall thickness in depth, surmounted by a bell-cote constructed in ashlar. At its base is a single-light window, and near the apex of the gable is a ventilation slit. A Tudor-style door with a stone surround forming a four-centred arch, with planked design and decorative strap hinges, is located to the left of the wing. To the right is an inserted modern casement window, while to the left, in the wall of the main schoolroom, is an original three-light mullioned window. Chimney stacks rise either side of the wing where it intersects the main schoolroom.

On the front elevation, to the right of the side wing, is another three-light mullioned window lighting the main schoolroom, with the main entrance door to the right. This door is similar to the side door. To the right is the cross wing forming the schoolmaster's house.

To the left, the gable wall of the main schoolroom has a four-light cross-mullioned window with a ventilation slit above. The rear elevation is blank, with the main schoolroom lit by a row of large flush roof lights. The flat-roofed toilet block to the rear conceals an original rear entrance with a recessed porch.

The schoolmaster's house gable end facing the street frontage has a two-light mullioned window at first floor with a ventilation slit above, and a three-light cross-mullioned window below. Both windows have been slightly altered with small inserted plain glass opening casements.

The side elevation of the schoolmaster's house comprises four bays. The left bay, closest to the road, has a later-added bay window at ground floor and an inserted modern casement at first floor. The next bay contains the entrance door, with planked design and decorative strap hinges similar to the others but with a square rather than arched lintel. Above is an original two-light mullioned window with plain glass. The two rear bays have similar original windows at first floor level, but at ground floor there is another modern inserted casement window. The rear gable has a back door and an altered window to the right with a modern casement, and a further first-floor two-light window to the side overlooking the playground. The ridge line has two double chimney stacks.

Inside the school, the lower parts of the roof trusses to the main schoolroom are exposed, with timbers chamfered with run-out stops. The ceiling has a ventilation grill in decorative ironwork. Between the main schoolroom and the larger room in the side wing is a timber cross-mullioned four-by-four window with the lowest run of lights leaded with stained glass, the upper lights subdivided with glazing bars. To the left is a part-glazed panel door and to the right a simple fireplace. A later inserted movable partition, designed to subdivide the main schoolroom, also subdivides the internal window.

The schoolmaster's house entrance opens onto a small stair hall with a dog-leg staircase with open string, stick balusters, and ramped handrail. To the left, facing the street, is the study with built-in cupboards and bookcases. The fireplaces, like others in the house, are mid-twentieth century replacements. There are simple built-in cupboards in some of the other rooms. Internal panelled doors and other joinery are mainly original.

The garden to the front of the main school entrance and master's house is enclosed with a nineteenth-century iron fence. The school boundary walls, of brick with stone coping, are largely complete except for the boundary that originally divided the rear playground into two halves. A number of outbuildings survive, in dilapidated condition at the time of survey, including the original detached toilet block.

The school was built in Swainby village in 1856 at a cost of £800, probably funded by the Marquis of Ailesbury, lord of the manor of Whorlton. This was around the time of the opening of ironstone mines in nearby Scugdale, which prompted the rapid expansion of Swainby village to house miners. The school buildings appear on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1893 and remained unaltered on subsequent editions apart from a small flat-roofed extension added to the rear in the twentieth century. The school closed in 1968 and was subsequently used as a church hall.

The former Whorlton Memorial School is a relatively rare surviving example of a village school pre-dating the 1870 Education Act, which prompted dramatic expansion in school provision nationally. The architectural treatment of the street frontage, in Elizabethan revival style, successfully integrates the school and master's house. The complex is well preserved both internally and externally, with alterations mainly confined to the house and not overly detrimental to the whole. The survival of additional features such as the iron railings and boundary walls is also notable.