Description

1790/0/10005

LONGBURTON
MAIN STREET (A352)
The Old School House (Village Hall)

25-OCT-07

II
Former village school with attached school master's house, now a village hall. 1852, with C20 rear additions, and probably commissioned by the Earle-Drax family.

MATERIALS: Coursed local stone with stone dressings in a Tudor style. The roof has decorative clay tiles with raised copings to the gable ends. There is a central ridge stack of stone to the school master's house. The windows are largely mullioned and transomed; mullions only to those in the master's house, and all have metal casements.

PLAN: T-shaped with the main school room parallel to the street frontage and attached school master's house forming a cross wing immediately to the north. Several single storey C20 extensions have been added at the rear of the building which are not of special interest. Immediately north of the school is a detached lavatory block.

EXTERIOR: The principal (east) elevation fronts the roadside. The school room is a three bay, single storey range and the cross wing to the right is of single depth. From left to right the façade can be described thus: two tall flat-headed mullioned and transomed windows set below stone hood-moulds and an entrance porch to bay three. The porch has a four-centred moulded doorway and, probably, the original timber door with strap hinges. Above the doorway is a stone plaque carved with `1852'. To the left of the porch is a further plaque bearing the coat of arms of the Earle-Drax family, probably the school's benefactors. The two storey cross wing has a two-light window to the ground floor and one to first floor. The north elevation is plain with a doorway at the left hand end. An entrance porch with hipped roof has been added towards the rear of the cross wing, probably in the late-C20, and is not of special interest. The ground floor of the rear (west) elevation has been obscured by C20 flat-roofed additions which are also not of special interest. At first floor in the cross wing is a two-light window that has been boarded over, but it retains its casement. The south gable wall has a large three-light window; above is a projecting semi-circular plinth with an applied hood, although the statue is missing. At the apex of the gable is a bellcote which retains its bell.

To the north is a small single storey building which housed the lavatories. It is built in a similar style to the school house with the same decorative roof tiles, but the walls are of coursed rubble stone. It has a central round-headed doorway to the front (east) elevation with a flat-headed, two-light casement window to either side. In the south gable wall are two doorways and a single-light window between them. The interior has been refurbished and is now used for storage. This building has undergone some alteration and is of lesser interest.

INTERIOR: Internally the school building is little altered, retaining some original joinery and much of its plan form. The roof of the school house consists of trusses with tie beams. There are chamfered arch braces and a single row of trenched purlins to either side of the roof. The trusses rest on stone corbels which are visible in the school room; the ceiling appears to be a later insertion. The interior of the master's house has several fireplaces, although one to the first floor has been removed. The plain staircase is C19, and the roof appears to have been strengthened.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: The rubble stone boundary walls are largely complete and are probably original to the school, or at least date to the C19.

HISTORY: This former school and attached school master's house was built in Longburton village in 1852. Its construction was most probably funded by the Earle-Drax family, whose crest is mounted on the front of the building. The school closed in the 1960s and was sold by the Salisbury Diocesan Council of Education. It is now the village hall.

REASON FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: The Old School House, Longburton is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* A relatively rare surviving example of a village school that pre-dates the 1870 Education Act
* Despite some rear additions, the plan form is clearly legible
* As a complete ensemble of school room and attached master's house, as well as separate lavatory block and boundary walls, it is well-preserved both externally and internally.

Reasons for Listing

REASON FOR DESIGNATION DECISION:
The Old School House, Longburton is is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* A relatively rare surviving example of a village school that pre-dates the 1870 Education Act
* Despite some rear additions, the plan form is clearly legible
* As a complete ensemble of school room and attached master's house, as well as separate lavatory block and boundary walls, it is well preserved both externally and internally.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26671519

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

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)