Description

Burnet, Boston and Carruthers, dated 1906. 4 storeys and basement Classically inspired Board School, with stepped facades and dentilled cornice construction of squared and snecked pink sandstone with ashlar dressings and details, and rock faced base courses.

S ELEVATION: 3 storeys and basement, 13 bays, (centre 7 bays advanced). 'Infants' doorway with carved segmental pediment at terrace level in outer right bay of centre. Jettied plain frieze below top floor. Swagged panel, with crest, flanked by engaged Doric columns at centre of 1st floor.

N ELEVATION: 6 bays (central 4 bays) advanced. Entrance in outer left bay of centrepiece. Arched aperture with fanlight flanked by engaged Ionic columns, inscribed 'Boys' on entablature, forming arcade with 3 arched triforate windows to ground floor. Jettied frieze below 3rd floor, inscribed 'School Board of Glasgow'.

E ELEVATION: 7 irregular bays. Central entrance flanked by fluted Ionic pilasters, with segmental pediment and 'Girls' inscribed in tympanum. Single storey outshot to left of entrance.

W elevation: 7 irregular bays. Entrance to left of centre obscured by brick porch of later date. Blank jettied frieze below 3rd floor, to left.

Timber framed sash and case windows with plate glass (non original). Panelled timber external doors. Grey-green slate roof.

INTERIORS: typical Glasgow School Board school layout, having stairs at E and W converging on galleries around a central light well, lit by skylights on arched timber rafters. Stone stairs with iron balustrades and wooden rails. Stair walls lined with white ceramic tiles. Minor stairs in lower floor have timber balustrades. Several classrooms and halls have glazed timber partitions to corridors. Glazed timber doors. Timber floors.

JANITOR'S HOUSE: 2 storeys, 2 x 3 irregular bay arrangement. Rectangular plan. Hipped roof with exposed rafter ends. Oriel window with slate roof on ground floor E elevation. Cornice above entrance on S. Moulded cills. 3 narrow chimney stacks. Irregular courses of droved sandstone with ashlar dressings, and massive ashlar base courses. Grey-green slate roof. Window and door apertures currently blocked (2010).

GATEPIERS & RAILINGS: 3 pairs of ashlar gatepiers to St James' Rd, some retaining moulded coping. 1 pair gatepiers to S. Simple iron gates and railings mounted on dwarf walls, with saddleback coping, to N and S and around janitor's house. Terrace and retaining wall to S.

Statement of Interest

Built as Canning Place Public School, to accommodate 1090 pupils, at a cost of £17,500. The school is of local significance as the sole surviving pre-WWI building in the immediate area. A well detailed example of Scottish school design at the end of the 19th century, and by a respected practice, it retains its Janitor's House (in separate ownership) and parts of its boundary walls.

The practice name, Burnet, Boston & Carruthers, was only used between 1901-08, although Frank Burnet began his practice in 1889. Most of the work of Burnet's office executed before 1901 and after 1908 goes under the name of Burnet & Boston. Frank Burnet (1846-1923) mainly designed tenements before being joined in practice by William James Boston (1861-1937), in 1889, thereafter branching out to do all types of commission. This is their only known school however, and it was executed at the time when most of the design work was undertaken by James Carruthers (1872-1952) and John A Campbell.

The school building has an alternative community use as the Phoenix Centre, for complimentary therapies (2010). Some original features, such as timber partitions and tiled walls are extant in the interior, alongside later work from the 1960s and 1970s when the building served as an annexe for Allan Glen's School. Classroom interiors have been largely stripped of original detail, although an Edwardian fireplace has survived in the headmaster's study. The janitor's house had been sealed by the time of viewing and the only visible window frames were non-original. While the roof structure of the house appeared intact, the stonework showed signs of wear. The school has lost much of its context due to the demolition of the surrounding tenements from which its pupils were drawn, and especially by the loss of the rest of the pre-1950s streetscape, including Canning Place, the cul-de-sac which it originally terminated. Some ancillary buildings, presumably lavatories and shelters, shown on the 1908 OS map have also been lost, together with the playground to the W of the school.

List description revised and change of category from B to C(S), 2011.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56634109

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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  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
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  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
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