Flaxton Old School

Flaxton Old School is a former Church of England primary school built in 1867 by Thomas Abbey of Claxton. The building is constructed of mottled red brick, with some later red brick detailing, raised quoins, and pale yellow brick window dressings. The roofs are covered in blue slate, with fish-scale patterned slate on the front elevations, and the brick outbuilding has a pantile roof.

The school is centrally positioned on the main village street. It comprises an open hall, accessed via a porch to the north-west and another to the north-east. A small outbuilding against the rear boundary is not of special interest.

The main building is a single-storey structure with a pitched roof and overhanging eaves. It has a brick plinth around three sides, a tall chimney stack in the centre of the rear elevation, and side and rear porches. All the main windows are lancet arched with cusped top lights, and a mixture of casement and pivoted openings. The front elevation (south-west) has three pairs of windows with raised brick dressings, and the main entrance is within the north-west porch, which has a solid wooden door set in a rubbed brick architrave. A timber dormer is centrally located on the main roof, carrying a clock face, surmounted by a small cupola and weather vane. A stone plaque on the north-west side wall above the porch acknowledges that the building was funded by the Rector, Rev. James Griffith, and the Parishioners. The rear elevation has a central porch with a side entrance door, and two paired windows. The side porch has a blocked opening to the rear.

The interior side porch connects to the main room via a plank door. The hall is open to the roof structure and is boarded with two timber trusses. The walls are wainscotted, and there is an inset blackboard at the far end. The later rear porch opens from the rear wall. A hatch in the centre of the front ceiling provides access to the clock mechanism, and boxed conduits in the front corners contain the weights and chains for winding the clock. The outbuilding contains toilets at the southern end and storage at the other.