Cargilfield School, 37 Barnton Avenue West, Cramond, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh

Description

Original block John More Dick Peddie & Sir George Washington Browne, 1899. Large 2-storey and attic near-symmetrical Queen Anne style school with later single and 2-storey additions to front; original U-plan at rear with advanced 2-storey and attic, 2-bay outer wings (headmaster?s houses). Harled and tile-hung; timber boarding to gableheads; red brick detailing to ground and 1st floor openings. Red sandstone base course; timber dentils beneath boarded gables; stepped and corniced red brick stacks. Segmental-arched tripartite windows; large Venetian windows; pedimented tile-hung tripartite box-dormers. Single storey, 6-bay harled chapel encloses courtyard at N (circa 1922); red brick base course; leaded windows; swept red clay-tile roof. Detached single storey, 4-bay nursery block at rear; single storey with attic cricket pavilion at front (1929).

N (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: original block at centre; a-symmetrical disposition of later additions to left and right. Flat-roofed canted bay at ground in re-entrant angle to right; 2-leaf modern entry at centre; plate glass bipartite fanlight; flanking bipartite windows; 10-bay, flat-roofed extension to right. Rectangular-plan, 2-storey, 5-bay red brick N wing; ground floor obstructed; tripartite windows in all bays at 1st floor; conical-capped ridge ventilators in bays to left and right of centre. Bipartite windows at all floors aligned above entry; single windows at ground and 1st floors in advanced 2-bay piended wing to left; bipartite attic windows above. Tripartite window at ground in penultimate bay to outer left; bipartite window above; tripartite attic; quadripartite box dormer. Segmental-arched tripartite windows at ground and 1st floors in bay to outer left; Venetian attic window centred in apex; raised keystone; architraved surround; plain wooden panels flank arch. Piended 2-storey, 2-bay recessed block to left (headmaster?s house); segmental-arched hoodmould above timber panelled door in central bay; quadripartite fanlight above. Bipartite window at ground in bay to outer right; single storey with attic addition in bay to right. Double bipartite window at 1st floor off-set to right of centre; tripartite box-dormer above; velux insertion to left.

S (REAR) ELEVATION: near symmetrical; grouped 2-1-3-3-1-2. Segmental-arched entry at ground off-set to right of centre comprising timber panelled and glazed door; multi-paned fanlight; segmental-arched hoodmould. Segmental-arched tripartite windows at ground and 1st floors in 2 bays to left and single bay to right of entry; tripartite box-dormers aligned above; projecting cornices; pediments at centre. Segmental-arched tripartite windows at ground and 1st floors in advanced bay to right of entry; Venetian attic window centred in apex; raised keystone; architraved surround; plain wooden panels flank arch. Advanced double-gabled 2-storey, 2-bay block to outer right; canted Venetian windows to both floors in all bays; segmental-arched single dormer at centre. Double-gabled 3 bays advanced to left of centre; bipartite windows at ground and 1st floors in bays to outer left and right; 3-light canted attic windows aligned above; single windows in central bay at all floors; large single (stair?) window in recessed bay to left; tripartite box-dormer above. Advanced 2-storey, 2-bay gabled block to outer left; canted Venetian windows to both floors in bay to outer right; Venetian window at ground in bay to outer left; tripartite window above; tripartite box-dormer.

Multi-paned leaded windows to Venetian openings in outer wings; variety of timber casement, 9- and 12-pane timber sash and case windows to remaining openings. Red clay-tile roof; large red brick apex and wallhead stacks to N, E and W; ridge stack to S at centre; ridge stack to chapel aligned above S gable; projecting string courses; stepped cornices; some circular terracotta cans.

CHAPEL (COURTYARD) ELEVATION: canted bay at ground centred in stepped gable above; 2-leaf timber panelled and glazed door set in E facet; bipartite fanlight above. Double bipartite windows at ground in bays to outer left and right; bipartite window in bay to outer right; flat-roofed addition obstructs bay to outer left. Projecting half-engaged octagonal altar centred in E gable; 2 single windows facing courtyard.

INTERIOR: relatively unchanged; minor alterations circa 1993, Simpson & Brown architects. Dog-leg stair comprising stone treads, timber handrail and decorative cast-iron uprights; timber boarded dado; timber skirting boards; 6-light round-arched fanlights running along internal corridors; original 2-leaf timber panelled doors. Chapel: barley-sugar-columned pews; altar rail and pulpit; brass lectern; timber panelling; decorative timber organ case; round-arch with detached Doric columns to apse. Swimming pool: hidden and covered by gymnasium floor.

NURSERY N (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: single storey, 4-bay a-symmetrical block; modern flat-roofed additions to N and S. Whitewashed harl; projecting base course; long and short red-brick surrounds to windows; overhanging eaves. Timber panelled door off-set to left of centre; original tripartite fanlight above. Bipartite window in bay to left of entry; single window in bay to right; bipartite window in bay to outer right. W (SIDE) ELEVATION: 6-bay. Boarded timber door at centre; replacement fanlight. Single windows in 2 bays to right of entry; large bipartite window in advanced bell-cast bay to outer left. Predominantly 4- and 12-pane timber sash and case windows; various velux insertions. Red clay tile bell-cast roof; red pantile detailing.

CRICKET PAVILION E (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: single storey with attic, 3-bay boarded timber pavilion on red brick (partly rendered) base course; surrounding timber-railed verandah; regularly disposed timber bracketed columns (set off-ground on metal supports). Original timber panelled doors flank centre; bipartite windows in bays to outer left and right. Bell-cast attic-storey (score-board) at centre; piended square-plan tower at centre containing clock in W facet. Original timber sash and case windows; red clay tile bell-cast piended roof.

BOUNDARY WALLS, GATEPIERS AND GATES: rubble coped random rubble grey sandstone wall to Gamekeeper?s Road; squared and snecked yellow sandstone gatepiers flank entry; ogival pyramidal caps. Random rubble wall to Barnton Avenue West; round-arched coping; squared and snecked yellow sandstone piers; projecting cornices; ogival pyramidal caps; decorative wrought-iron gates with curvilinear foliate detailing (Jamieson & Arnott, 1927).

Statement of Interest

Designed by John More Dick Peddie (1853 - 1921) and Sir George Washington Browne (1853 - 1939), Cargilfield School is of considerable architectural interest. Relatively unchanged internally and externally (particularly from the rear), it is a fine example of the Queen Anne style. Note the Venetian windows, red-brick detailing and stacks, tile-hanging, multi-paned windows and decorative arched fanlights (particularly that above the side entry to the Headmaster's house). According to its entry board, Cargilfield was "Scotland?s 1st Preparatory School."

Formerly listed as, '37 Barnton Avenue West and Gamerkeeper's Road, Cargilfield School Including Chapel, Nursery, Cricket, Pavilion, Boundary Walls, Gatepiers and Gates'. Statutory address updated 2012.

External Links

Historic Environment Scotland Listing
Wikidata IDs Q17809728 Q17809760

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