Bangor Grammar School, 13 College Avenue, Bangor, County Down, BT20 5HJ

Bangor Grammar School, 13 College Avenue, is an asymmetrical multi-bay two- and three-storey Edwardian school situated to the west of College Avenue near Bangor town centre. It was designed in a free style by Ernest Lucius Woods, Bangor's town surveyor, and built in 1906 by contractor Hutchinson Keith (recorded in contemporary sources as "Hutchinson Keeth") of Glenravel Street, Belfast. The building was extended to the north in 1914 to designs by Young and Mackenzie, and to the south in 1960 to designs by H. A. Patton. Two small flat-roofed extensions have also been added to the rear.

The building is irregular on plan. Its principal elevation faces east and is characterised by a three-stage projecting castellated clock tower and a full-height box bay to the front. The clock tower originally carried a timbered cupola-roofed belfry with a weathervane — this feature has since been lost — and now has a flagpole at its top and a crenellated parapet. The central stage of the tower has a stone panel with a clock flanked by small windows; the ground floor has two windows; the first floor has a single window. To the right cheek of the tower are two windows; to the left cheek are two windows and a fire exit at ground floor level. To the left of the tower is a gabled bay with three windows to the second floor, three smaller openings above (one blank), and at ground floor a projecting canopy carried on two slender masonry columns, abutted to the left by a modern single-storey extension of no architectural interest. The central projecting bay has two windows to each floor (one to the right at first floor), with a diamond motif to the gable, and a further bay with two windows to each floor adjoins it.

The roof is pitched natural slate with Dutch gables and a series of rectangular chimneystacks, and cast-iron rainwater goods on projecting eaves. The walling is pebbledash with Doulting stone dressings and kneelers, and quoins to the clock tower. Windows are mainly one-over-two timber casements set in stone surrounds, some mullioned, with chamfered sills.

The south elevation is partially concealed and has windows to the first floor, with a modern extension abutting at ground floor level. The west (rear) elevation is seven openings wide, with a fire exit at first floor to the right and a single-storey flat-roofed extension abutting at ground floor to the right. There is a projecting gabled bay to the right with three openings to each floor.

The 1914 northern extension, known as Crosby House, was originally built as the headmaster's residence. It is finished in roughcast render rather than pebbledash and has six openings to the first floor. At ground floor it has a small projecting bay left of centre, with a modern timber door with transom light and two windows to the right, and a further window to the left. A single-storey flat-roofed extension abuts at ground floor. Three skylights are set into the roof.

The north elevation has a centred single opening on all three floors.

The school's origins date to a bequest made by Robert Ward in his will of 1831, which left £1,000 "for building and endowing a school for the education of boys in Mathematics, Astronomy and Navigation, so as to qualify them as masters of foreign vessels." The school was first established in 1856 on a site in Main Street now occupied by the Bank of Ireland, and remained there until 1901. It was then housed in temporary buildings until a further bequest, by W. K. Crosby, made it possible to build the present school in 1906. In May 1905 the Irish Builder announced the proposal to erect the school, noting that the design made provision for future extension, that the windows were mullioned with openable top portions to ensure ventilation, that the walls would be finished in roughcast of natural cement colour with Doulting stone dressings, and that the tower surmounted by a bell turret formed the principal feature of the façade. The ground floor was to contain a large hall suitable for examinations and other purposes, a reception room, and two large classrooms; the upper floor was to contain a laboratory, three further classrooms, a masters' room, and cloakroom and lavatory accommodation. The building first appears in valuation records in 1907, initially described as Bangor Endowed School and valued at £80, with playing fields at £2 5s. In 1915 a principal's house was added to the description, raising the valuation to £100.

The 1914 headmaster's residence to the north was designed by Young and Mackenzie. After the Second World War it was incorporated into the school as additional classrooms and offices. The school appears to have been known as Bangor Endowed School at least until the beginning of the Second World War, being so marked on an Ordnance Survey map of 1939. Subsequent phases of expansion included the flat-roofed southern extension of 1960 by H. A. Patton. A sports hall was added in 1987 and a design and technology centre in 1990. Further classroom accommodation for the History, Mathematics, and Geography departments and two large computer suites were built in the mid-1990s. A Science and Technology building was opened in 2002, and in 2003 the original school building was refurbished and modernised internally.

The cupola that once topped the clock tower has been lost, and the original design has been considerably altered by subsequent additions and a large modern extension to the rear. Although of some local importance, these extensive alterations have compromised both its architectural and historic interest. There are better examples of Woods's work, notably the Arts and Crafts style Carnegie Library on Hamilton Road and the house at 32 Maxwell Road, which he designed as his private residence.

The school sits in a suburban street surrounded by mainly Edwardian houses, connecting Ballyholme Road to Shandon Drive. The eastern frontage is open to the street, with the boundary marked by a group of mature trees. To the rear are a modern sports hall (1987) and technology centre (1990), with a car park and playing field enclosed by mature hedgerow and trees.