Description

WIRKSWORTH

812/0/10015 CROMFORD ROAD
17-NOV-03 Wirksworth County Infants School and a
ttached railings and walls

(Formerly listed as:
CROMFORD ROAD
Wirksworth Infants and Junior school a
nd attached railings and walls)

II

Also Known As: Wirksworth Infants and Junior school, HARRISON DRIVE
Also Known As: Wirksworth Infants and Junior School, HARRISON DRIVE
School. 1851-2. By H.I.Stevens of Derby.

MATERIALS: Coursed squared and tooled sandstone with ashlar dressings and plain tile roofs with coped gables with kneelers and finials.

PLAN: Irregular plan with three main elements, the gables facing to south.

EXTERIOR: Tudor style with stone mullion and transom windows. Single-storey and attic. West front faces Harrison Drive/Cromford Road and is a single-storey range with a projecting porch to left with wall blank to road but for a quatrefoil window and curved hood-mould. Stacks mainly truncated but tall moulded stone stack to central south front element. From the corners extend the boundary wall to left and the railings to right. In the returns are doors either side within moulded Tudor arch surrounds. Six two-light windows to right. On either end is a four-light window. The south front facing Cemetery Lane is a U-plan with a truncated projecting stack to the side of the Cromford Road element, a two-light window, and a porch with door in similar surround. The front facing south has two- and three-light windows and in the gable a tablet inscribed 'This School Erected A.D. 1851'. The return has a door in similar surround, with two-light dormer over and a single-light window with lattice glazing. This element also has a basement and the facing gable has a canted bay window on a high plinth with a two-light window over. Single-light lattice and other windows to the return from which projects a porch with door in similar surround, leading to a third tall single-storey element which has a four-light window facing south, and three-light windows and projecting porch to east. The north front of this element is blank, and there are other windows and a door in similar surround to the higher central element.
From the road porch extends the boundary wall to left. This is of coursed squared stone with triangular coping and there is a small outbuilding on the north side. From the right of the porch extend the railings to right with two sets of stone gatepiers. The railings have knob finials and extend round to the south front and from there the wall continues round the perimeter.

INTERIOR: Not inspected.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
Wirksworth County Infants School and attached railings and walls, Wirksworth, are designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* A fine and little-altered school of the period by a significant local architect.

SOURCES: M. K. Askey, 'The Life and Works of Henry Isaac Stevens - Architect, 1806-73'. Unpublished PhD thesis, 1994.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26670090

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

• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)