Decombe House

DeCombe House is a former grammar school, dating from 1876 to 1882 and designed by Giles and Gough. It is now a building of group value, converted into apartments. The construction is of coursed limestone rubble, with Ham Hill stone quoins and dressings, and a slate roof.

The building is largely three storeys high, with an eight-window front. A projecting, two-storey gable is located to the far right, featuring a crenellated finial to the moulded coping and set-back, offset buttresses. This gable contains a pointed-arched, five-light stone mullioned window with cinquefoil heads to each of the four panes of glass; a panelled band separates the floors, and the ground floor has pointed-arched, five-light stone mullioned windows with sunk spandrels. The main facade has mostly three-light, chamfered stone-mullioned and transomed windows on the first and second floors, gabled half-dormers to the second floor, and four-light stone mullioned windows on the ground floor, some with pointed arches and sunk spandrels. Buttresses flank steps leading to double doors, consisting of six panels each, set within a high Tudor arch with a glazed overlight. A hoodmould with foliate stops incorporates a panel with a shield and inscription above the arch, and shields are set within the spandrels. A canted bay with a hipped slate roof is located to the far left, where the ground slopes down; a castellated canted bay is positioned to the left-of-centre.

The interior features glazed inner doors with chamfered frames. The hall floor is laid with polychromatic tiles, and a wide, open-well staircase extends through three floors, featuring stone treads, scroll balusters, and cast-iron newel posts. The skirting is also of stone. The building was named The Mount Pleasant School in 1880 and was subsequently extended with a gymnasium in 1884 and a swimming bath in 1888.