Description

HORSFORTH APPERLEY LANE
SE 13 NE
1495-/7/10004 Bronte House Preparatory School
II

House, now shool. 1872, enlarged 1899 for William Akroyd, Mayor of
Bradford, converted to a school 1934. C20 alterations and additions.
Ashlar with ashlar dressings and slate roofs with raised coped gables
with kneelers and finials, plus various chimney stacks. Chamfered
plinth and bands. 2 storey plus attics. Gothic Revival style.
Entrance front 4 bays topped with gables. Off-centre projecting
single storey porch with decorated battlements, has 2 moulded round
arches, that to the left with a 3-light casement, that to the right
open, within a segment headed doorway with panel door and overlight
and to the left a lancet window. Above a pair of sashes with pointed
arched head containing a carved roundel inscribed 1872. Above again
a triple sash with taller central light. To the right a single bay
set back with a single plain sash, and above another single sash with
pointed arched head with roundel, topped with a gable. To the left,
2 projecting gabled bays with a large 3-light square bay window, and
a single sash to the left.
Above 2 pairs of margin light sashes, and above again 2 triple
casements with larger central light. Garden front, 3 bays. Central
pair of plain sashes, with above a pair of smaller sashes, topped with
a gable. To the right a shallow 3-light square bay window, with above
a pair of plain sashes with central column and pointed arched head
with carved roundel, topped with a gable. To the left a projecting
single bay with a 3-light canted bay window, and above a pair of plain
sashes with a central column and pointed arched head with carved
roundel. Above in the gable a triple sash with larger central light.
Beyond to the right a single storey, former billiard room, with 3
canted bay windows, each with a 3-light mullion and transom window
topped with battlements. Interior. Rooms to the right of the
entrance retain interior features of 1872, including deep plaster
coving and fireplaces. The Dining room, staircase and present Common
room retain features of 1899 including plaster ceilings, doors and
doorcases. The Dining room has 3 arches; bay window arch, a buffer
arch and an inglenook arch with a fine tiled fireplace with wooden
surround and overmantel. The staircase and entrance hall has a coved
and glazed ceiling, a Jacobean style staircase and arched screen,
good quality fireplace with glazed tiles, wooden surround and
overmantle. The former billiard room, has an ornate coved and
decorated plaster ceiling with wooden coving, panelling and a stone
inglenook arch with a good quality fireplace with wooden surround and
overmantle. This house replaced in 1872, an earlier house on this
site called 'Underwood House' where Charlotte Bronte was employed as
a governess from March to December 1841.

Listing NGR: SE1985038706

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26533132

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)