Headlands School

The Headlands School is a building dating from the 18th century, constructed of grey stone with rusticated stonework to the basement, bathstone dressings, and quoins. Radyr stone and red brick are also incorporated, with a course of blue bricks below the cornice. The roof is slate, with prominent red brick chimneys featuring yellow brick banding on bases of blue-grey bricks. The building is four storeys high, with a basement, and comprises seven bays, with two attached parallel blocks, the left-hand block being lower.

The main elevation features a prominent attic storey with alternating single windows beneath triangular pediments and paired windows under segmental pediments, topped with ball finials. Cast iron grilles bear a 'TVR' monogram. The windows of the second floor are framed by bathstone architraves. The first floor windows are tall, with the outer windows having square heads and cornices. The central five bays alternate between triangular and segmental pediments, with red brick banding above the pediments. Cast-iron balconies are present on the odd-numbered bays, with a prominent balcony over the central ground floor porch. Red brick banding is also visible over the pediments and cornices. The ground floor central porch features Corinthian pillars, cornucopiae carved into the spandrels, and a heraldic shield above the double-panelled doors. Flanking the porch are paired round-headed windows, followed by segmental-headed windows, and then paired round-headed windows, with a continuous red brick band course above the windows.

To the left of the main block is a two-storey block (three bays) constructed from matching materials, with an added upper storey circa 1930. The upper storey of this block has three square-headed windows, while the ground floor (originally a ballroom) features a group of three round-headed windows mirroring the main block, but with blue brick aprons.

The right-hand elevation is characterised by two gables, the broader right-hand gable projecting a chimney. The doors and windows on this elevation are similarly styled to the main ones. A two-storey porch (the ground floor partially obscured by later additions and a fire escape) is present, with round-headed first-floor windows and camber-headed ground-floor windows.

The left-hand elevation incorporates a first-floor French door with an iron balcony, flanked by sash windows. The ground floor has five bays, including round-headed windows and a central pierced stone balcony. Four segmentally-headed windows illuminate the basement level.

The rear elevation has five bays, with three bays to the right set back and incorporating an attic storey. A central two-light window is set under a segmental pediment, flanked by single-light windows with triangular pediments. The second floor has three windows with stone architraves. The central bays of the first and ground floors exhibit a semi-hexagonal bay, with square-headed windows on the first floor and segmental heads on the ground floor. This bay is flanked on the first floor by tall windows with architraves and, on the ground floor, by paired round-headed windows. A projecting section to the left includes an attic-level two-light window with a segmental pediment and a pair of small segmental-headed windows to the right. The second floor to the left has a single window, while the second floor to the right has a pair of square-headed windows. On the first floor to the left is a two-storey semi-hexagonal bay, and to the right are paired square-headed windows. The ground floor features a bay to the left and paired round-headed windows. To the right of the main block is a two-storey block with windows matching the front elevation. A rear return contains a door with a segmental head featuring the Taff Vale Railway arms.