Costain Buildings at Rydal School

The Costain Building and Memorial Hall at Rydal School are a complex of buildings constructed of coursed and squared sandstone rubble, covered by plain tiled roofs. They are dated to the 18th century and designed with a simplified Tudor style, arranged in a two-storied L-plan with a low corner tower at the angle.

The north range, overlooking the courtyard, features a gable marking its west angle, which incorporates a canted bay window with mullioned and transomed lights, with paired windows above. A cloister of five bays extends from this range, featuring small two and three-light mullioned windows in the upper storey, and a high parapet. The west-facing range is similarly detailed, with three-by-three-light mullioned and transomed windows to the ground floor, and matching windows above. A segmentally arched doorway on the right side provides access to a broad through-passage that serves as the lobby for the Memorial Hall. The street elevations have a more elaborate appearance, with wide mullioned and transomed windows in each bay, separated by blind traceried panels. The corner tower has angle buttresses, oriel windows on two faces, and is topped by an embattled parapet.

The Memorial Hall’s southern face includes three high-set windows, above which is a quatrefoil frieze. The hall’s facade is divided into three bays by buttresses culminating in coupled finials, and each bay features a three-tier, two-light mullioned and transomed window. A buttressed fly-tower on the south side has very narrow windows and a shallow pyramidal roof hidden behind a parapet; its austere south-facing elevation is softened by slight pilaster buttresses.

The Costain Building retains its original internal layout, planned with corridors running along its two inner faces, functioning as a cloister on the north range.