Description

DARTINGTON
5X7862-5X7962 DARTINGTON HALL
12/135 Gymnasium immediately S of
Foxhole School

II

Gymnasium. 1933-34 by W E Lescaze of Howe and Lescaze of America. Built
by Staverton Builders for Dartington School. Rendered brick walls to steel
or concrete frame, concrete coping to parapets concealing flat roof.
Plan: Rectangular plan. Large gymnasium hall with a gallery at the north
end reached by a rectangular tower on the north west corner which rises
above the roof level to give access to the roof which was intended for
outdoor recreation. Under the gallery a stone, locker room, lavatories and
showers. On the east side a lower block was the exercise room and the
staff room is by the north east entrance International Modern style.
Exterior: On both east and west long sides there are 6 rectangular high
level windows with steel frames with large panes. On the right of each
side double doors, the east doors have circular lights and a porch with a
reinforced concrete canopy supported on a thin steel part and rendered side
wall. The south end the blank by 2 louvred ventilators. On the north west
corner the rectangular stair turret interlocks with the main block and
rises above its roof level with a doorway to the roof; there is also
external doorway at the base of the tower and 2 windows above. The
gymnasium was originally freestanding but is now attached to Foxhole School
building by a Post-war 2-storey building on the north side and a single
storey building on the east side.
Interior: The walls are whitewashed brick. The floor is hardwood boards.
The gallery at the north end is jettied into the gymnasium and faced in
plywood with wire grille viewing windows. There are plywood double doors,
one with round viewing windows. The flat roof is supported on 5 transverse
RSJs on concrete piers between the high-=level windows. Below each window
is a heating radiator high on the wall.
The gymnasium equipment includes wooden wall bars on each side, exercise
bars that can be adjusted to various levels by pulley mechanisms and
climbing ropes that can be similarly drawn out across the gymnasium.

Listing NGR: SX7908062238

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26610546

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

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  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version