Description

YORK

SE5952SE BOOTHAM
1112-1/12/78 (North East side)
14/06/54 No.51
& Bootham School Block to rear incl.
John Bright Library & attached
railings

GV II*

House, now part of school. Nearing completion in 1804.
Designed by Peter Atkinson senior for Sir Richard Vanden
Bempde Johnstone, Bart. Brick in Flemish bond with painted
stone dressings. Hipped slate roof.
EXTERIOR: symmetrical, of 3 storeys with attics and cellars
and 5 bays. The windows are sashed with glazing bars and are
set in moulded architraves; those on the ground and first
floors have cornices, and the ground-floor windows have a sill
band and fluted friezes. The central windows of the upper
storeys are tripartite, and that on the 1st floor has Ionic
mullions and jambs and a segmental pediment. A balcony of
trellis ironwork extends across the whole front at 1st floor
level. The attic is lit by 3 round-headed dormer windows. The
central doorway has sidelights, a door with 6 raised and
fielded panels, a fanlight, and a portico with 2 pairs of
Doric columns with pilaster responds, supporting an
entablature with a bucrania frieze. Modillion gutter cornice.
Chimneys to left and right, and 2 chimneys near centre of
ridge.
To the rear a Library and classroom block added to the designs
of WH Thorpe and F Rowntree. 2 storeys. Red brick with
terracotta dressings. South-east entrance front has projecting
central doorcase with Ionic columns supporting a pediment,
segment-arched opening with double doors and fanlight. To the
left 2 glazing bar windows. To the right a 2-storey block of 3
windows with chamfered single bay window. North-east front has
a 3-window, 2-storey bay at left then a recessed 4-window wing
with 4 segment-headed glazing bar sashes on the ground floor,
and 4 narrow sashes above, and 2 through-eaves gabled dormers
above again. To the right a projecting library block, 4
windows with basement. This facade is articulated with
pilaster strip balusters and 4 tripartite sashes on the ground
floor with, above, 4 shallow curved bow windows with iron
frame cross casements. The block is topped by an octagonal
wooden cupola.
INTERIOR: of No.51: elegant hall with good stone staircase set
between fluted columns and having iron balustrade; several
good fireplaces.
Interior of Library and classroom block: panelled classrooms
on the ground floor. A stone stair with Art Nouveau iron
balustrade. Upper corridor has dado panelling. Library or
former Assembly Room has wainscot panelling with built-in book

shelves, and a bronze plaque to John Bright and another Second
World War Memorial plaque. Proscenium arch at north-west end,
curved wooden roof trusses supported on stone corbels.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: the front area has plain wrought-iron
railings which extend in front of the portico where they have
a central gate.
(An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York:
RCHME: Outside the City Walls: London: 1975-: 60).

Listing NGR: SE5996952435

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Register. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 16 August 2017.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17550084

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

• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)