Stornoway., Former Industrial Female School (Lady Matheson Seminary), 74 Keith Street

The former Industrial Female School, known as Lady Matheson Seminary, is a single storey and attic building located at 74 Keith Street, designed by Charles Howitt and Charles Wilson in 1848. It stands on a prominent corner site and features breaking eaves with a nepus gable on the east elevation. The structure is built from squared coursed Lewisian Gneiss rubble, with some dressed margins.

On the Keith Street elevation, the building has five bays, highlighted by a large central breaking eaves gable that is flanked by two narrow piended roofed dormers. The ground floor has regular fenestration with lying pane glazing, some of which is partially boarded as of 2008. The centre gable features a timber mullioned tripartite window, while the flanking gables have plain rectangular windows. Above the tripartite window is a polished inscription panel that reads: "FEMALE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, ON THIS SITE IN 1848 LADY MATHESON THE WIFE OF THE OWNER OF LEWIS OPENED A SCHOOL TO PROVIDE YOUNG LADIES WITH THE OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN A RANGE OF DOMESTIC ACTIVITIES AND CRAFTS. IT LATER PROVIDED A MORE GENERAL EDUCATION FOR YOUNG LADIES UNTIL 1906."

The Scotland Street elevation also consists of roughly five bays, with a two-bay gable end to the east and a three-bay wing to the west. The doorway is located at the centre of the three-bay wing, flanked by windows with plain surrounds. The gable has a single window in the centre and two smaller off-centre windows above. There are small piended roofed breaking eaves dormers on the west side.

The windows predominantly feature lying pane glazing in timber sash and case frames, with some partially boarded as of 2008. The building includes gablehead and ridge stacks with thin slate detailing and some clay cans. There are cast-iron rainwater goods with decorative brackets, while plastic rainwater goods are used in other areas.

The interior, observed in 2010, contains former schoolrooms on the ground floor, which feature some timber dado panelling on the walls, large raised platforms at one end, and a gallery at the first floor, which was originally used as 'infant galleries'.