Old National School

Early C19 National School building, comprising a central storeyed block (which served as masters' quarters and offices), with arched entrance to front, flanked by advanced single storey classroom wings. Built of rubble masonry, most elevations rendered, with dressed limestone dressings. Modern, shallow hipped, slate roofs with advanced eaves and verges over stepped, dressed limestone, eaves courses; rectangular brick stacks with capping along lateral walls of central block. Doors and windows are modern hardwood replacements, the windows emulating the pattern of the original casements; all with dressed limestone surrounds and frames. A flight of stone steps leads up to the central entrance; a wide dressed limestone archway with shallow cambered head, hung with simple double, railed, gates. The open porch beyond the arch has doorways leading to each of the 3 blocks; doors are panelled with chamfered angles. The central doorway has flanking narrow 2-pane lights within a dressed limestone surround. The first floor of the central block is slightly advanced over the entrance, exposed rubble masonry with dressed limestone surround to paired windows over entrance; there is a centrally placed, inscribed name plaque over the central arch which reads: AMLWCH / NATIONAL SCHOOL. The advanced classroom wings have rendered elevations over dressed limestone plinths. There are 3 windows within a dressed limestone frame to each facing elevation, above the windows of the L (W) wing is an incised plaque which reads: BOYS' SCHOOL; GIRLS' SCHOOL is to the R. The R (E) return is a 4-window range, the L (W) return has a single window to the rear and a lean-to porch to the front with doorway offset to the R (S). The rear of the building has irregularly spaced modern windows and doorways; each wing has 2 doorways, the L (W) wing with double glazed doors to W, and the central block has ground floor windows and a 1st floor fire escape doorway.

The interior, though modernised, appears to be true to the original ground plan, with internal access available between all 3 blocks; the L (W) wing is now subdivided as is the central block, though the central block may be following the original divisions of the masters' quarters. The classroom wings retain the original internal roof structure and have partially exposed roof beams showing the lower portion of king post roof construction, each side of the king post with angled braces. Each wing is of 4 roof bays, end bays with T-beams. The top part of the trusses are concealed by tongue and grooved ceilings.