Former School And Chapel

SD 88 SE BUCKDEN OUGHTERSHAW

2/48 Former school and chapel

• II

School and chapel, now house. Dated 1856. Probably by John Ruskin for Charles Woodd, in memory of his wife Lydia Wilson Woodd. Coursed limestone and gritstone blocks in contrasting bands, graduated stone slate roof. A rectangular single-storey building with 3 windows on the south side and an entrance bay on the east end. East end: a massive round arch of 2 orders, with imposts and dripmoulding, provides a full-height porch. Within is a shouldered-arched board double door with large strap hinges decorated with elaborate leaf motifs. Flanking attached columns support the arch with contrasting coloured voussoirs and the tympanum below has a chi-rho symbol in relief and inscription: "LYDIA WILSON WOODD AT PAU 16 JUNE 1856 AGED 32". South side: 3 windows composed of paired round-headed lights with colonette. A bellcot with corbelled cover to right. Moulded stone guttering on plain brackets; shaped kneelers and gable coping with cross finials. West end: a 3-light window as south front, circular plaque with 4-petal motif to gable. The south and east walls are decorated with fossiliferous marble plaques of diamond, shield and circular shapes. Interior not inspected at resurvey. The building post-dates the publication of Ruskin's "The Stones of Venice" (1851 and 53). Ruskin made frequent visits to the north of England in the later 1850's and was aquainted with the Woodd family of Oughtershaw Hall. The family archives include letters from Ruskin regarding the school. In his "Stones of Venice", Ruskin emphasised the horizontal layering of masonry and the link with geology and advocated bold chamfers and outlines, with deep recessed openings. All these features are displayed in the school at Oughtershaw. R. Dixon and S. Muthesius, Victorian Architecture, 1978, p201. A. B. Woodd, personal communication.

Listing NGR: SD8705581486