Penrhos College Junior School (Ratonagh)

Penrhos College Junior School (Ratonagh)

This is a three-storey brick building with a principal three-window range and a recessed service wing to the southwest. The walls are constructed in brick with terracotta dressings and timber framing in the upper storeys. The building is roofed in plain tiles, with most chimney stacks now truncated, though two axial stacks remain. The style is free 'Jacobethan'.

The entrance front faces southeast and presents a balanced asymmetrical composition. The entrance is positioned towards the centre within a Mannerist timberwork porch featuring shaped pilasters, trefoiled overlights to paired doors, and decorative leaded glazing with stained glass in the margin lights. A similar timber screen and glazed work appears in the entrance hall within. Above the porch is a three-light French window and a hipped roof dormer, slightly advanced on brackets.

To the left of the entrance stands a wide canted three-storey bay window with four-light mullioned and transomed windows. The upper storey is timber framed and surmounted by a high gable. To the right of the entrance is a two-storey canted bay window with two-light mullioned and transomed windows, topped by a strongly jetted timbered upper gable. Throughout the lower windows are enriched terracotta heads, and terracotta aprons emblazoned with the letter 'G'. The upper windows have simpler terracotta detailing.

The recessed service wing to the left features a three-light mullioned window to the ground floor and a two-storey timber-framed oriel window above. The northeast return has paired inglenook windows on each floor within an advanced coped gable, which formerly supported a stack. A timber-work loggia, similar to the main entrance porch and now glazed in, is situated here alongside a canted tower at the rear angle. This tower has sash windows in moulded terracotta architraves and is surmounted by a spire. Trefoiled terracotta and plaster panelling appears at the apex, with terracotta ribs forming a continuation of the window architraves from the upper storey.

The rear elevation is dominated by the tower at its lower angle and a canted stone mullioned and transomed stair window, with the roof above overhanging on brackets. Stepped windows of a secondary stair lie beyond. An advanced gable to the right carries mullioned windows of three and four lights. A rear wing, formerly housing a gymnasium and billiard room, features a jetted timber-framed gable and dormer windows, and joins the house to the former coach house and stable range.

Interior

The entrance and stair hall is flanked by a former library and drawing room in the cross wing to the northeast, and a dining room to the southwest. A spinal corridor opens from the hall to the rear of the dining room, leading to service accommodation. All the principal rooms retain their original detail, employing a Mannerist vocabulary typical of the architects Booth, Chadwick and Porter.

The entrance hall contains a fireplace with fluted brackets supporting the mantel, dado panelling, and ribbed timber panels to the ceiling. The principal beams are carried on carved stone corbels. The galleried staircase features an arcaded balustrade and heavy newels, with decorative leading and stained glass in the stair window.

The dining room has a heavy bracketed fireplace with pedimented overmantel, a low relief plaster frieze, and a fretted wood cornice. The former library features a heavily ornate fireplace set in an inglenook recess with built-in benches and a fretted wood arch separating it from the body of the room. The drawing room has similar timber work to the arch of the bay window across the corner and a heavy plaster ceiling.

The service rooms also retain some original detailing, including cupboards in the former butler's pantry and other spaces.