Description

John Campbell, mason (probably to a design by Alexander Ross - see Notes). 1875. Single-storey and attic, rectangular plan former school and schoolhouse comprising 3-bay schoolhouse with entrance porch and two gabled dormers and 3-bay school room with entrance in lean-to wing adjoining gable. Rubble with tooled long-and-short sandstone ashlar dressings. Deep, bracketed eaves. Pointed-arch doorways. Largely intact schoolroom.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: projecting timber porch supported on stone corbels. 2-leaf timber door with stained glass fanlight above.Louvred roundel above pair of windows to E gable end. Single storey former toilet block outshot to rear centre. Small detached rubble built and slated outbuilding to NE corner of former playground area.

Predominantly four-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows with thinly moulded glazing bars to ground floor. Ballachulish slate. Rendered brick ridge and end stacks; ornamental clay cans. Cast iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: schoolroom remains essentially unaltered with ribbed, timber panelled ceiling, timber wall panelling to window height and original timber flooring. Timber surround to kitchen range. Later stair in hall leading to converted attic space with exposed timber beams.

BOUNDARY WALLS: drystone boundary walls extends to rear separating teachers garden from the former playground.

Statement of Interest

The Old School at Balnacra is one of the few surviving examples of its type in the Ross-shire area to substantially retain both its original plan form and internal details. The interior of the schoolroom is particularly intact with ribbed timber ceiling, timber panelwork to cill height and timber floor. Relatively simple by design, the building is promiently situated beside the road and railway through Glen Carron at the southern end of Loch Dughaill and contributes to the remote setting. The 1875 School at Balnacra was a response to the Education Act of 1872, which required Parish Boards to construct schools in outlying areas. It first opened on 8th October 1875 and closed in 1955. It was designed to accommodate up to 60 pupils but the schools' Day Journal records that Inspectors complained that by 1890 it had never had more than 26. The school was constructed by Inverness contractor and mason, John Campbell to a standardized design following the style of Alexander Ross of Inverness, the renowned and prolific highland architect whose prominent works include Duncraig Castle, 1866 and Lerwick Town Hall, 1881 (see separate listings). Ross was the architect behind more than 70 schools in the Highlands between 1875 and 1878.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77780610

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

• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)