St Leonard's Primary School, St Leonard's Street, Dunfermline

St Leonard's Primary School on St Leonard's Street, Dunfermline, was designed by architect David Barclay (or H and D Barclay) and built between 1900 and 1902, with later additions. The original building is single storey and T-shaped in plan, displaying a simplified Edwardian Baroque design with distinctive 2-storey ogee-roofed pavilions and pedimented breaking-eaves dormers to the principal east elevation.

The building is constructed of coursed rockfaced sandstone with droved edges at the arrises and droved ashlar dressings. The east and west elevation is harled. A base course and cill band run across the principal wraparound elevation. Windows feature chamfered reveals; those on the principal elevation have droved surrounds, whilst others are mainly droved.

The principal east elevation presents a symmetrical 7-bay composition. At the centre is a slightly projecting wide gabled bay containing a large Palladian window arrangement with a central bipartite window featuring a column mullion. Narrow flanking windows sit to either side with a bracketed entablature that continues (set back slightly) across the central bipartite window. Above these is a round-arched overlight with keystones and rusticated voussoirs. The gable is shaped and shouldered with scrolled coping sections; at its apex is a cornice surmounted by a ball finial on scrolled legs, with a pendant finial below. On either side of this central bay are pairs of tall breaking-eaves mullioned and transomed quadripartite windows with curved pediments. Small windows in the outer flanking bays each sit above a 2-storey pavilion; the ground floor windows have moulded surrounds, curved at the head, whilst the windows above feature breaking-eaves bracketed shouldered pediments with curved aprons. Each pavilion is topped by a tall ornate wrought-iron finial with a ball at its apex.

The west elevation is harled with 3 gable ends at the centre, each stepped back from that to its left, and 4 regularly disposed windows to the central gable end with a central buttress. Added and altered sections are set back to either side.

The north elevation features a 2-storey pavilion bay to the outer left, with a ground floor window of moulded surround and an upper window with curved pediment. To its right adjoins a narrow, slightly lower bay with a small ground floor window; the upper part is corbelled out slightly with a gable and a Caernarvon-arched window. A low single storey section to the right contains 3 narrow windows. A harled flat-roofed mid-20th century section adjoins, projecting to the right. A semicircular pediment to the original entrance, carved with a shield and scrolls, is set back to the right return; a replacement entrance sits off-centre below. A 4-bay section set back to the right features breaking-eaves mullioned and transomed quadripartites with half-timbered gables in each bay, except for a smaller piended breaking eaves window to the left.

The south elevation mirrors the north, with a 2-storey pavilion bay to the outer right, a narrow lower bay adjoining to its left, and a 3-window low single storey section. The mid-20th century harled flat-roofed section adjoins to the left with a semicircular pedimented original entrance (carved with shield and scrolls) set back to the left return, and a replacement entrance off-centre below. The 4-bay section set back to the left features breaking-eaves mullioned and transomed quadripartites with half-timbered gables, except for a smaller piended breaking eaves window to the right.

Grey slate roofs with red ridge tiles cover the building, piended to the lower height projecting sections to north and south adjoining the pavilion bays. Windows are a mixture of timber sash and case frames and fixed frames with opening vents and top hoppers. Tall corniced wallhead stacks with friezes, positioned to the west of each pavilion at either side of the principal elevation, feature round cans. Original cast-iron rainwater goods remain.

The interior preserves the overall plan and some door furniture. A main hall at the centre of the building opens to a king-post roof.

Boundary features include a low coursed rockfaced sandstone rubble wall surmounted by railings to the east of the building, topped with chamfered ashlar coping. Decorative wrought-iron scrolled panels appear at intervals to the railings, with the wall raised in height as piers at intervals. Gateways open to either side of the building; that to the north has had a section of railed wall inserted between piers. Each gateway comprises a pair of square-plan coursed rockfaced sandstone gatepiers with raised moulded coping (semicircular panels to each side) surmounted by ball finials. The southern gateway has gates featuring decorative wrought-iron panels.