Building record 1347/0/51 - The Old School

Village School built in 1839-41, extended in the 1870s, altered in the 1890s and refurbished in 1999-2000. The school closed in 1930 re-opening briefly for evacuees in 1940; since then it has been in community use. The school is constructed of limestone with stone dressings. There is a red brick extension and slate covered roofs. It is rectangular in plan with the extension to the middle rear, under a catslide roof. A new village hall has recently been built which is attached to the north west corner of the Old School. The school was assessed for designation in 2011 but failed to meet the required criteria.

{1} The Old School was the first elementary school in Stanwick. It was built by subscription as a National School between 1839 and 1841, with grants of £54 from the Council of Education, and £30 from the Northampton National Society. The site and the building stone was donated by the Rev. John Sargeant. The school was described in the ‘History, Gazetteer and Directory of Northamptonshire’ (1849) as ‘a neat stone building, having separate rooms for boys and girls, and apartments for the teachers.’ In 1871, following the Education Act of 1870, the School Board assumed responsibility for the school as it was failing to meet the required standards: the classroom was too small for the 70-80 children, the ventilation was poor, and the lavatory facilities were inadequate. In 1873 an Inspector recommended that a new infant school should be built because the school room was divided into separate areas only by a partial partition and a curtain. In 1876 extra land was purchased and the school was extended; hence the date of 1876 on the entrance porch. In 1892 improvements were made to the roof to make the ceiling ‘impervious to heat and cold’ and the sill of one of the windows was lowered to 4ft from the floor. Three years later a report from the architects states that alterations had been made in the cloakrooms; a wall had been removed, a door built up, a door made for boys, and a glazed screen added. Further alterations in 1898 saw the removal of the gallery, the lowering of three windows, and the widening of the opening between the two rooms. In 1902 the school became a Council School following the national abolition of the School Board and its replacement with the County and Borough Councils. The school was closed in 1930, opening briefly for evacuee children in 1940, and has since been in community use. Further alterations include the replacement of timber glazing bars in the windows with metal glazing bars, and the refurbishment of the kitchen in 1999-2000. A new village hall has recently been built which is attached to the north-west corner of the Old School, the two buildings forming an irregular L-shape plan. The Old School is located on a corner plot and faces east onto the High Street. It is constructed of limestone, roughly dressed and laid to courses, with stone dressings. There is a red-brick extension, and slate-covered roofs. On plan it is rectangular with the extension to the middle rear, under a catslide roof.

MATERIALS: Limestone, roughly dressed and laid to courses, with stone dressings. Red brick extension, and slate-covered roofs.

EXTERIOR: The single-storey, double-height building has a pitched roof with raised, stone-coped and kneelered gable ends, the south one surmounted by a bell-cote in dressed stone. The principal elevation is dominated by three tall, regularly spaced windows set in projecting architraves embellished with three modillions under the sill. The windows have two moulded mullions containing replaced metal glazing bars, and rise through the eaves to form triangular, stone-coped and kneelered gables. The projecting entrance porch in between the first and second windows has a mono-pitched roof with a triangular gable containing the date ‘1876’, and windows in chamfered, square-headed architraves in the return walls. The timber door, which has plain strap hinges, is set in a Gothic arch surround in dressed stone. The end elevations have three-light windows with Gothic arch surrounds, and the north end has a door in a moulded, square-headed surround. The irregular rear elevation shows evidence of much alteration, with an arched recess on the left, followed by a 20th century fire door, the central red-brick extension, a three-light window with stone mullions, and three blocked openings.

INTERIOR: The building has a king post roof and under-boarding on the ceiling, added in the 1890s. It is divided into two main spaces which are plain except for skirting boards and a dado rail, with access through a four-door opening, panelled along the bottom and glazed in the upper parts, partly with coloured glass. The larger room occupying the south end gives access to the extension which contains the lavatories, and the smaller room at the north end opens into a modern kitchen.

The Old School in Stanwick is not recommended for designation for the following principal reasons:
*Architectural interest: the school has only modest architectural interest
*Alterations: it has been considerably altered and extended, resulting in the loss of early fabric and the original plan form.

<1> ENGISH HERITAGE, English Heritage Listing File, Designation Adviser, 26th October 2011 (Report). SNN111579.

Record last edited

Feb 4 2025 8:41PM