The Church House (Old Grammar School)

The Church House, also known as the Old Grammar School, is a building dating probably from the 17th century, with alterations and additions in the 19th century. It is a group value building of considerable architectural merit. Originally likely five bays wide and symmetrical, the building is constructed of roughly coursed local stone under a slate roof, hipped at the left end and with a brick ridge stack to the right. A high stone plinth runs along the base. The openings feature dressed sandstone surrounds with flat heads. The main entrance, likely originally central, is now situated under the third window from the left and is framed by a stone doorcase containing double boarded doors with an overlight, now boarded over. A 19th-century gabled timber porch with a swept slate roof stands in front of the entrance; the gable is pierced by a trefoil and small roundels, and the sides feature diagonal boarding with bands of pierced quatrefoils on a sandstone base. The windows have chamfered stone mullions and transoms, with diamond quarry glazing and diamond ventilators. On the ground floor, cross-windows are set under relieving arches, with a pair to the right of the entrance. The upper storey features two-light windows within gabled half-dormers, topped with swept roofs on sandstone kneelers. A truncated brick stack is visible on the west end.

The rear elevation has five windows with a central, full-height gabled projection. There are two windows to either side of the projection, mirroring the front elevation in their window and dormer design. The staircase projection is constructed of brick under a swept slate roof, resting on a stone plinth, and has windows at irregular levels. The gable end of the projection is punctuated by three windows with two lights, in sandstone surrounds. The right-hand return has a boarded door reached by stone steps, and a small four-pane sash window under the eaves, while the left-hand return features a panelled door and a further window far to the left. The east end of the main range abuts Memorial House.

The interior, recorded by RCAHMW in 1994 before conversion to apartments, originally comprised a single open chamber on the ground floor, capable of being divided into two rooms using temporary screens, with high ceilings featuring squared beams and joists, and 19th-century panelling; the gable fireplaces were blocked. A fine 17th-century open-well staircase, with turned balusters, square newels, and a heavily moulded handrail is located within the rear projection, though with some alterations to the upper flight. The upper storey was also originally a single chamber, later divided into two rooms. Four substantial tie-beam trusses support the roof, featuring double collars, vertical struts, and two rows of trenched purlins.