School, schoolhouse and walls, Latheron

Latheron School comprises an 1821 two-story, three-bay schoolhouse and a later 19th-century, single-story, four-bay classroom attached to the west gable of the schoolhouse. The school was extended around 1878. The building is constructed of rubble with tooled ashlar dressings and has slate roofs.

The schoolhouse features a central entrance opening with a timber lean-to porch, added in the 20th century. Replacement windows are predominantly 12-pane, and the schoolhouse has coped end chimney stacks. The school has four large windows on the south elevation, and a single segmental-headed window in the center of the west gable, featuring predominantly lying-pane glazing. A stone finial sits atop the west gable, and wallhead chimney stacks are present.

Roughly coped dry stone walls surround the school and schoolhouse, incorporating two pairs of square gatepiers on the south wall and a wall dividing the south frontage.

Latheron School represents a good example of a building of its type and date. The building's exterior retains its historic character as a pre-1872 parish school with an attached schoolhouse, clearly demonstrating the impact of the 1872 Education Act on school provision in the area. Externally, the appearance has changed little since the late 19th century, when the classroom accommodation was extended.

The schoolhouse may have been designed by William Davidson or Mr Alexander of Golspie and dates from 1821. The classroom was built after the schoolhouse, and existed by 1871, as shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map. The Ordnance Survey map of 1871 indicates that the front wall of the rectangular-plan classroom was originally flush with the front wall of the schoolhouse. A newspaper article from July 1878 confirms a southern extension to the classroom, and an additional classroom added at the rear. These alterations are reflected in the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map, revised in 1905. The late 19th-century alterations to increase accommodation are consistent with changes made following the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act, which made education compulsory and increased pupil numbers.