Welsh School is a Grade II listed building in the Ceredigion local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 25 June 1984. Dock.

Welsh School

WRENN ID
leaning-sentry-umber
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Ceredigion
Constituency
Ceredigion Preseli MP: Ben Lake (PC)
Country
Wales
Date first listed
25 June 1984
Type
Dock
Address
Welsh School, Aberystwyth
OS grid reference
SN 584 815
Coordinates
52.41367, -4.08267
Source
Cadw listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Welsh School is a Gothic-style building constructed in 1874. It features a one-storey, nearly symmetrical north front with five buttressed bays and gabled wings at both ends. The exterior is made of rubble facings with freestone dressings, and yellow brick is used for the eaves and plinth courses, as well as more extensively on the rear elevation. The steep slate roofs have ridge cresting, and there is a square bellcote on the ridge topped with a spirelet, weathervane, and cusped lucarnes.

The central gablet has a pointed window with triple lancets arranged in echelon, while the lesser windows are shouldered tripartites, with a modern porch to the left. The outer gables feature 4-light windows. The side gables also have 4-light transomed windows with quatrefoils above. The elevation facing Park Avenue has a stepped design with 2-and 3-light shouldered lights, a tall tapered chimney stack, and ornamental iron grille covers. The original ironwork railings with finials add to the building's character.

Inside, the Assembly Hall in the north range has a five-bay interior with A-frame trusses that are boarded above the tie-beams. Arched braces are supported by mid-wall corbels, with double braces at the center, all adorned with pierced quatrefoils and chevron ornament. The original timber architraves have crossover corners, and there are braced and boarded doors along with boarded dados. The flanking classrooms have similar detailing and open roofs, although they now feature lowered ceilings and modern partitions. A tablet in the Assembly Hall indicates that the building opened on 4 August 1874, designed by architects Szlumper & Aldwinckle.

The wings have been extended to the south, incorporating some details from the 1890s along with modern alterations.

Local climate

Welsh School sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,290 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 94% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 91% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 31 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 61% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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