The Old School

The Old School is a complex of buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries, originally constructed as a National School in 1823.

The main block, facing northeast, is a two-storey, three-window building. It's constructed of local brown stone, with a slate roof that is hipped to the left side; two stone stacks rise from the rear roof pitch. The windows have cambered heads with keystones and hoodmoulds to the lower storey, containing 6-over-6-pane hornless sash glazing, with some windows boarded over. The doorway is also topped with a similar cambered head and is currently boarded. Above the entrance is a datestone inscribed "National School 1823". A rendered extension is located to the left of this original block, and features square-headed windows. The southeast end has a window above a 20th-century door.

This main block connects to a later gabled structure, set back and to the left. The upper floor of this later block has a 9-pane sash window, while the ground floor has a broader 20th-century window. It adjoins a mid-19th century single-storey block, constructed of snecked brown stone with slate roofs, a blue brick end stack to its right side, gablet ventilators in steep roof pitches, and a belfry with a pyramidal rooflet to the ridge.

The front of this block, facing southeast, features a large gabled section on the right containing a large three-light window with a square hoodmould. To the left of this is a narrow projecting gabled range, serving as a porch and cloakroom block, with a three-light window facing southeast and a doorway on the southwest side, offset to the left. Further to the left, the building has two square-headed windows, partly boarded, separated by a lateral stone stack. There are no windows to the southwest gable end. The rear of this block has two similar windows.

Adjacent at right angles is a former science room dating from about 1900, attached to the main building by a lower link and a brick cloakroom with a blue brick stack on the far side. To the left of the science room, between it and the 1823 block, is another gabled wing with a large three-light window.

In 1996, the 1823 block was recorded to have a central wooden stair with a room on each side. The main schoolroom had a large L-shaped open hall with arch-braced wooden trusses with iron ties, a boarded dado, and original brick fireplaces. A moveable screen was located at the west end to subdivide the space. A room to the northeast had a mezzanine floor, while the science room to the rear had a roof ceiling at collar level, a glazed brick dado, and hopper windows. Access to the interior was not possible at the time of inspection.