Cowbridge Grammar School

Cowbridge Grammar School is a substantial building dating from the 18th century, rebuilt in 1747, and possessing group value from its historical significance. The external walls are faced in blue lias stone, topped by slate gabled roofs featuring tall ashlar stacks, some square or octagonal with embattled coping. Transomed and mullioned windows are set into the façade with dripstones.

The elevation to Church Street comprises two adjoining wings parallel to the street, with the southern wing having a higher roofline and full-height gabled projections. At the southwest end are two gabled projections, the southern one taller and wider, featuring a transomed four-light kitchen window, an oriel bay window to the first floor, and an attic slit window. The second gable contains the main school entrance through a four-centred doorway with a dripstone, a transomed two-light window above, and an attic slit window. Subsequent bays are set back with a sequence of single-, three-, and two-light transomed windows on the ground floor, punctuated by an external chimney breast with two octagonal stacks. The first floor mirrors this arrangement, topped by a gabled two-light dormer. A narrow gabled projection on the northern end of the southern wing has a three-light transomed ground floor window and a two-light mullioned first floor window, with an ashlar belcote to the rear. A taller, wider gabled projection at the south end of the lower northern wing incorporates two single-light ground floor windows, two two-light first floor windows with dripstones, an attic slit, and a square embattled stack at the gable end. Recessed bays feature two three-light transomed and mullioned windows on the ground floor; a two-light window within a tall gabled attic dormer, and a plaque on the first floor with the inscription “IN HONOREM DEI ET ECCLESIAE/HANCCE SCHOLAM/NOVIS AEDIFICIIS AMPLIFICATAM/RESTITUIT/MUNIFICENTIA COLLEGII JESU/OXON. ANNO DOMINI MDCCCLVII”. A gabled porch completes the elevation.

The south-east, or garden, elevation incorporates the headmaster’s apartments, which present three conjoined gables in a style reminiscent of St Fagan’s Castle or Ty Mawr, Llantwit Major. An attached ball court is located to the northeast. A long rear wing extends at a right angle, forming a boundary with the churchyard.

Inside, the Old Assembly Hall on the ground floor northeast features a ceiling divided into panels by stopped and chamfered beams in the local vernacular manner, similar to those found at 37 High Street, Cowbridge. The Dining Room has a fireplace and similarly deep chamfered beams. Other contemporary fittings of good quality are present throughout, including four-centred doorways.