Old Paton's Mill School, Greenside Street

The Old Paton's Mill School, dated 1864 and designed by John Melvin (senior), is a well-detailed, two-story, three-bay, rectangular former school building. Later wings were added in 1900 by John Melvin (junior) of John Melvin & Son. The building’s principal elevation faces north and exhibits a symmetrical arrangement of the original 1864 bays, including a four-stage centre tower with a decorative, shaped pedimented windowhead. Additional, taller, single-story wings were constructed to the sides, displaying shaped gable fronts with Gibbsian doorpieces.

The original construction uses stugged sandstone ashlar for the exterior, with ashlar dressings, while the sides and rear feature roughly coursed snecked rubble and relieving arches. It incorporates a base course, string courses, and an eaves course. The windows are round-headed, three-light designs within recessed segmental arches, with stepped and semicircular string courses forming hoodmolds on the ground floor and shaped pediments above the first-floor windows. Stone mullions, chamfered arrises, and projecting cills are present. The centre tower includes a deep-set doorpiece with a vertically-panelled timber door, a tripartite window above with a moulded datestone, roundels within moulded lozenges at a higher level, and louvered tripartite windows at the top, culminating in pierced battlements with decorative angle pedestals. The original 1864 bays feature windows on both floors and raised panels on the pediments. A later, angled bay projects to the outer left, featuring a swag above the Gibbsian doorpiece, a small triangular-pedimented panel bearing a carved lion head, and a monogrammed panel bearing the initials ‘J P S & Co’ (John Paton, Son & Co.) at the gablehead. A similar wing is located to the outer right, with a large triangular-pedimented tripartite window, a blocked door to the left, and a datestone reading "1900" at the gablehead. All original doors are of panelled timber. The rear, south elevation has three bays and regular fenestration, with a knepped gable.

The glazing pattern largely consists of plate glass within timber sash and case windows, with top-opening windows, all of which were boarded in 2010. The roof is covered with grey slates. The building has ashlar stacks, some of which appear truncated with cans. Ashlar-coped skews are present, along with some moulded skewputts.

Inside, the floor plan remains largely unchanged, featuring large schoolroom spaces on both floors of the original 1864 building. Cast iron columns support the ground floor, and part of the first floor has been removed. A newel stair with a timber handrail is also present. The 1900 east wing has an unusually shaped, timber-lined roof. Some dado rails are retained.