History

The National School in Llanfaelog was built on glebe land and opened in 1849 at a total cost of £669. By 1904 the school had closed down, the building being used as a church hall until sold by the church authorities. In more recent years it has been used as a community centre for the village.

Exterior

A mid C19 rural school building; symmetrically planned, 2-storey with advanced gable wings to each end, a modern, single-storey, lean-to addition at the rear. Built of local rubble with gritstone dressings and moulded kneelers; slate roof with rendered stacks. The principal elevation faces the road to the W; the left (N) and right (S) advanced, gabled wings with mirrored openings at each gable end. Each has a depressed, pointed-arched headed outer doorway and a 3-light, 6-pane, casement window alongside; above the window the elevation is broken by a moulded string. The first floor has a single, 6-pane casement window above the doorway and a similarly detailed 2-light casement over the window. Gable apex detail differs: the N wing has a weathered gritstone panel (once probably bearing the name of the school) and a pointed opening housing the school bell, the S wing has a narrow ventilation slit. The linking block has a 3-light, mullioned, casement window offset to the right (S) end; the lower part of the central light has been altered to accommodate a square-headed doorway. The S wall has a 6-pane casement window to the W and a similarly detailed paired casement to the E. To the rear (E) of the S wing there is a square-headed doorway to the left (S) end (reached by 5 stone steps), and a 3-light, 6-pane casement to the right. The first floor has similarly detailed windows; a single window above the door, a paired window to the right. The ground floor openings have the remains of render over the stone lintels, the doorway with a stressed keystone.

Interior

Modernised when the hall was converted for use as a community centre.

Reasons for Listing

Included as a good example of a rural schoolhouse, designed according to Gothic Revival principles and retaining much of its original character. The school is one of a series of such buildings built on the island throughout the C19, and a particularly well-preserved example. Prominently sited within the centre of the village and forming a focal point for the village landscape, the church forms a group with the nearby Rectory and church of St. Maelog.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29497764

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

• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)