Countess Gytha County Primary School (Original Building Only) With South Boundary Wall And Railings

The Countess Gytha County Primary School, originally built in 1873, was a gift from Capt Harvey St John Mildmay, lord of the manor. It is constructed of local lias stone with Ham stone dressings, and has a plain clay tile roof with coped gables. Brick chimney stacks sit on stone bases with offsets. The design is typical of the Victorian early Gothic style, with considerable detail.

The main south facade is single-storey and symmetrical, with five bays. The central bay features a full-height gable topped with a bell turret. Projecting porches are located in bays two and four. Bays one and five have three-light shoulder-arched mullioned windows. Bays two and four have gabled porches with pointed arched doorways, boarded doors, and stone plaques inscribed "BOYS SCHOOL" and "GIRLS SCHOOL" respectively. Small circular lights are positioned on either side of the doorways. The central window is a three-light plate tracery-style window with a central circle, diamond leaded, and featuring external ferramenta. Above the window is a quatrefoil light, and carved panels with shields, one likely depicting the Mildmay Arms and the other a St Andrew's cross representing the Diocese of Wells. The bell turret has a fluted cap to square columns, topped with a gablet and wrought iron cross finial. East and west gables have pairs of two-light lancet windows with circular motifs above, set into pointed arched recesses with quatrefoil windows.

Later additions to the rear, north, and other parts of the site are not of particular architectural interest. A lias and Ham stone boundary wall, approximately 0.75 metres high with shaped coping, runs along the south boundary, set about three metres from the school building. Ashlar piers mark the ends and gateways opposite each doorway. Two simple horizontal square rod-rails, braced with uprights at one-metre intervals featuring twist points and wing barbs, top the wall. The whole design is a classic example of its period and is prominently situated in the village opposite the church.