Summary

A Congregational Sunday School of 1883 by Otho Peter.

Description

A Sunday School of 1883 by Otho Bathurst Peter, constructed by William Burt.

MATERIALS: in brick with a façade of polychromatic granite, limestone and sandstones, and slate roofs.

EXTERIOR: of two storeys with a hipped roof and brick stacks. The three-bay Gothic façade, which is the elevation of primary interest, faces south to Northgate Street, and has polychromatic stone dressings including quoins, under a plain stone eaves cornice. The central entrance has a panelled door with fanlight and a moulded stone doorcase with a pointed head and keystone, and connects with a storey band detail. The bays to both sides have openings with ashlar architraves and low pointed heads and Gothic glazing bars to the sashes. The first floor has a central blank window under a Gothic arch with a trefoil panel in relief and a crest below. To each side are tripartite round-arched openings with timber sashes and stone cills. The west flank wall is rendered with a small modern opening to ground floor left. The west flank of the school room has five gothic-arched openings. The building has been altered in the C20.

INTERIOR: Not inspected.

History

Cornwall has a long and rich Nonconformist tradition. George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, was imprisoned in the North Gatehouse of Launceston Castle in 1656 for distributing religious papers, and Cornwall became one of the most important centres of Methodism in the C18. Eventually there were over 900 Nonconformist chapels in Cornwall.

The first Congregationalist church in England was founded in 1616, and this prosperous denomination built well-finished and well-furnished buildings. By the C19 they were commissioning some of the best architects such as Waterhouse and Butterfield. Otho Peter was the pre-eminent architect in Launceston at the time, prolific in this town as Sylvanus Trevail was in Truro, and James Hicks in Redruth. Peter’s skills as an architect are evident in his design of the Barclay’s Bank in the town (listed Grade II) with its distinctive Gothic design using polychromatic stonework, also in evidence at the Congregational Sunday School.

The Congregational Sunday School was built in 1883 when the rooms adjoining the nearby chapel became too small for the purpose. The church is shown on the Ordnance Survey Map of 1906, largely on its current footprint. During the 1960s and 1970s the buildings to the west and north of the school were demolished, resulting in the loss of some of the historic context. Castle Street was extended to the north, alongside the building, and there have been some additions to the building itself. The school remained in Methodist use until 2012. The following year, the chapel opposite suffered partial collapse and was subsequently demolished. In 2015 there is a proposal to redevelop the Sunday School building.

Reasons for Listing

The Congregational Sunday School, Castle Street, Launceston, of 1883 by Otho Peter is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: a successful example of the Gothic Revival using quality materials, with excellent use of polychromatic stonework, this is an assured and well-realised example of a C19 Nonconformist ‘show front’ to an otherwise utilitarian building;
* Architect: Otho Peter is a regional architect of note, responsible for much of the historic character of late-C19 Launceston, and a number of his buildings are listed;
* Historical interest: the building represents the Nonconformist activity in Launceston in the C19, in particular the Congregationalists who were few in number in this part of the country;
* Rarity: Congregational Sunday schools, especially architect-designed examples, are relatively uncommon;
* Group value: as part of an important group of historic buildings, including some listed at higher grade, at the core of the town. The school façade is impressive in its own right, and a prominent feature in the streetscape.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26677598

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

• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)