History in Structure

Former Grammar School, School Place, Kirkwall

A Category B Listed Building in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands

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Coordinates

Latitude: 58.9815 / 58°58'53"N

Longitude: -2.957 / 2°57'25"W

OS Eastings: 345085

OS Northings: 1010876

OS Grid: HY450108

Mapcode National: GBR M42Z.S4C

Mapcode Global: WH7C4.KJ32

Plus Code: 9CCVX2JV+H5

Entry Name: Former Grammar School, School Place, Kirkwall

Listing Name: School Place, Orkney Islands Council Offices, Formerly Kirkwall Grammar School, Including Boundary Walls

Listing Date: 15 July 1993

Category: B

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 381680

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB36809

Building Class: Cultural

Also known as: Kirkwall, School Place, Former Grammar School

ID on this website: 200381680

Location: Kirkwall

County: Orkney Islands

Town: Kirkwall

Electoral Ward: Kirkwall East

Traditional County: Orkney

Tagged with: School building

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Description

T S Peace, circa 1890. Single storey and 2-storey irregular-plan school with internal courtyard playground, converted to offices (1980). Squared and snecked rubble sandstone with polished dressings. Contrasting long and short quoins and surrounds to openings; raised window margins.

SW (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 2-stage bell-tower; bracketed stepped cornice over ground floor; tripartite louvered openings to 1st stage; French pavilion roof with fishscale slates and decorative iron brattishing; gabled lucarnes to each face. Gabled single storey range adjoining to outer left. Single storey range adjoining tower to right and linking with gabled 2-storey range. M-gabled 2-storey window recessed to outer right.

NW ELEVATION: 7-bay single storey range; 3 central bays advanced and pedimented with oculus and corbelled fleche. Gabled 2-storey window recessed to outer left.

Replacement small-pane windows. Grey slate roof; flat lead roof to additions; corniced gablehead stack; block skewputts.

INTERIOR: not seen, 1993.

BOUNDARY WALLS: low coped boundary wall to School Place.

Statement of Interest

The Burgh School was founded by Bishop Reid in 1544. According to Groome, the present buildings on this site developed from a single storey H-plan school, built in 1820 by a Mr Gillespie. Thomas Smith Peace enlarged the building to their current scale in the 1890s. In 1980 the interior was remodelled and lead-roofed additions were made to the internal court, when the school was converted to offices for the Orkney Islands Council (Burger, p 26).

External Links

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