History

Opened in 1928 as Dolau Council School, by D Pugh Jones, county architect, and Williams & Davies of Caerphilly, contractors. The courtyard plan is characteristic of schools designed by Pugh Jones during this period, other examples being Tonyrefail Grammar School of 1931-3 and St Ilan Higher Elementary School, Caerphilly, of 1911-13.

Exterior

A single-storey brick school in neo-Georgian style, composed of wings enclosing a square inner yard, in which are a school hall and an additional classroom. The classrooms form the wings around the courtyard and are under hipped roofs, the boys originally occupying the W wing, girls the E wing and infants the S wing. They are linked by lower service rooms such as cloak rooms, toilets, staff rooms and vestibules. The roofs are slate with projecting billeted eaves and brick stacks over the service rooms. The main angles have stressed quoins. Horned small-pane sash windows are used throughout, although the classrooms have tall windows with openings lights above the sashes.

The main entrance is on the N side, which has a symmetrical front with a central, recessed 3-bay porch with round arches, above which is an inscription band in reconstituted stone and a stepped parapet with the Glamorgan Coat of Arms. The main doorway has a moulded architrave with inscription 'Deffro Mae'n dydd' and double panelled doors with raised fields. On its R side is a segmental sash, on its L side a similar segmental-headed vent with louvres to ventilate the boiler room. The entrance is flanked by 4-bay classrooms. On the L side the sills of 2 of the windows are raised, while the upper parts of the windows are infilled with boarding. The entrance front retains original cast iron rainwater goods with heads dated 1927.

On the W front the classroom of the N wing has a 2-bay return. To its R is a lower entrance link which has a pedimented doorway, the plain entablature of which bears inscriptions recording architect and contractor, and 'Bechgyn'. The doorway is flanked by a sash window to the L and 3 small sash windows to the R. Further R is a projecting single-bay office with pedimented gable, beyond which is a 16-bay classroom wing. Set back beyond this is a lower 3-bay link with a double-panelled door on the L side and sash windows to the staff room on the R. This has a 1-bay return under a hipped roof to the S front, balanced by a single hipped bay, housing the cloak room, projecting on the R side between the recessed 12-bay infants' wing. The cloak room has a single bay set back further R and a single-bay return to the E front, to the R of which is a doorway over which is the inscription 'Babanod'. The E front has a 16-bay classroom, to the R of which is a projecting single-bay office with pedimented gable, then a 3-bay link with central pedimented doorway with 'Merched' in the entablature, flanked by a sash window to the L and 2 small windows to the R. The single-bay return of the classroom facing N has a single altered window and an added stack rising from the eaves.

Within the yard the E and W wings had open-fronted canopies on cast iron piers that continued around the S wing, but these have been enclosed to form corridors. On the E side the piers have been retained but the openings are infilled. On the W side the piers have been replaced by a modern brick wall. The classroom on the S side is offset from the original canopy by a short entrance vestibule, and has a hipped roof. It has 2 windows in the E wall, while the W wall has a window to the R and a door replaced in its original opening to the L. The main hall projecting from the N wing also has a hipped roof. On its E side are 2 tall windows breaking through the eaves line, and to the L replaced double doors beneath a tall segmental overlight. On the W side are 2 similar tall windows and a segmental-headed sash window to the R. A lower projection is built against the S wall. In the NE corner of the yard is an extension of the toilet block.

Interior

The interior has a glazed tile dado throughout. Facing the yard each classroom retains half-lit doors and 2 sash windows, while above all the openings are hinged small-paned lights above the level of the canopies to the yard. The E and W wings each have 4 classrooms, while the S wing has a single and a double classroom, of which the latter has a movable half-glazed partition. In the N wing is a corridor giving access to the other wings and into the main hall through 2 double half-lit doors. The hall has a boarded ceiling with trusses exposed to collar-beam level.

Reasons for Listing

Listed for its architectural interest as a finely composed Georgian-style school dating from the inter-war period, which clearly expresses the segregation favoured in education during the period.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29501380

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

• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper