Description

Possibly Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, dated 1875. 20th century additions. Single storey, 3-bay gothic school on ground falling to SW. Stugged squared and snecked rubble with ashlar dressings, harled extension. Chamfered base course. Pointed-, segmental- and square-headed openings. Hoodmoulds, some with label-stops. Stone transoms and mullions and chamfered reveals.

W (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: steps up to finialled gabled porch in bay to right with pointed-arch

door, weathered hoodmoulded roundel in gablehead and small pointed-arch 4-light window on return to right; set-back bay to right with bipartite window below tiny pointed-arch opening in dormer gablet breaking eaves above. Advanced broad gabled bay to left with 12-light segmental-headed window and quatrefoil panel in gablehead.

N ELEVATION: symmetrical 4-bay elevation. 3-light windows to centre bays flanked by similar hoodmoulded windows with hoodmoulded roundels to dormer gablets.

S ELEVATION: gabled bay to centre with 3-light transomed window and hoodmould incorporating incised panel worded 'ST VIGEAN'S (eroded) PUBLIC SCHOOL/1875', quatrefoil in gablehead. Lean-to link bay adjoining later flat-roofed bay set-back to outer right.

E ELEVATION: mirrors W elevation but with bipartite window to centre porch-like bay and extensions to outer right and left.

Small-pane glazing patterns in timber windows throughout. Graded grey slates. Ashlar-coped skews with stone finials. Coped ashlar bell-cote ridge stack with cans. Some square-section cast-iron downpipes with decorative fixings.

INTERIOR: (not seen 2001). Fireplaces retained (but boarded). Decorative cast-iron ceiling vents to each classroom.

Statement of Interest

The possibility of Sir Robert Rowan Anderson as architect is based both on stylistic grounds and on the fact that he was working nearby on the renovation of St Vigeans Parish Church in 1871. Described by A N Paterson in 1921 as "the premier architect of Scotland", Anderson's palette ranged broadly across gothic and classical designs but among many examples of the former are what Sam McKinstry describes as "a series of mostly small, ecclesiologically 'correct' churches for Episcopalian congregations all over Scotland from the mid-1860s to the mid 1870s, followed by restoration work at St Vigeans, Arbroath (1871-73) and by the consolidation of Iona (1874-76)". Educational buildings also featured heavily in Rowand Anderson's designs, including for example, the fine West Primary School, Milton Road, Kirkcaldy, Fife, and the Stockbridge Primary School, Hamilton Place, Edinburgh.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17772077

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

• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair