Former St Andrew's School, including schoolmaster's house and boundary walls, City, Bradford

Summary

School and attached former schoolmaster's house, 1857-58, by James Mallinson & Thomas Healey of Bradford. Coursed sandstone 'bricks' with ashlar dressings, slate roofs. Single-storey with 2-storey house. Picturesque Gothic style

Description

PLAN: the school complex has a U-shaped plan formed by school ranges on the north-west, south-west and north-east sides, and a schoolmaster's house also on the north-east side, all arranged around a small yard area that originally contained small outbuildings (probably outdoor privies and coal stores, now demolished) belonging to the schoolmaster's house. Along the north-east side of the site are an enclosed former playground and an enclosed garden in front of the schoolmaster's house.

EXTERIOR: ashlar quoining exists to the buildings' corners and door and window surrounds; the latter are connected by a moulded sill band. The slate roofs are laid in diminishing courses with coped gables and kneelers. The school's large Gothic-arched windows all incorporate Decorated-style tracery, but have lost all of their glazing.

Front (north-west) range: this principal elevation facing Listerhills Road has a stepped facade with a long 6-bay range lying parallel to Listerhills Road that has lost some of its slate roof coverings due to fire damage, as well as rafters on the rear roof pitch. The range incorporates a tower to the second bay, which has a Gothic-arched doorway on its south-west side with an ecclesiastical-style panelled door incorporating decorative strap hinges. Above the doorway is a tiny window to the second stage of the tower, with a blind triple trefoil-arched lancet window to the belfry stage above. The north-west side of the tower is similarly styled, but with a pair of small lancets to the ground floor instead of a doorway. The tower has a pyramidal spirelet roof, the uppermost section of which incorporated a lucarne to each face originally and has been removed following the 2009 fire. The 4-bays to the right of the tower have two 3-light Gothic-arched windows set within through-eaves gables, along with a 4-light window and a 2-light window, both with lancet lights (boarded over externally). At the end of the range to the left of the tower, is a wider projecting gable with a 3-light Gothic-arched window. Attached to the far left of the elevation is a cross-gabled range that has its principal elevation facing north-east onto an enclosed playground, but has a projecting gable on the north-west elevation that is again taller and wider with a 4-light Gothic-arched window. The rear-yard facing elevations of both the school's north-west and south-west ranges have Gothic-arched doorways, triple-lancet and mullion and transomed windows.

South-west range: this elevation originally fronted onto a narrow street/lane that has since been blocked-off and subsumed into a neighbouring car park. Set to the far left of the elevation is the south-west gable-end of the school's front range, which is lit by a very large 4-light Gothic-arched window. A 5-bay range to the right is similarly styled to the front range with two 3-light Gothic-arched windows set within through-eaves gables, separated by a 3-light window and a 2-light window, all with lancet lights (mainly boarded-over externally). The south-east return gable end is lit by a very large 4-light Gothic-arched window (boarded over externally). The slate coverings to the north-western half of the range have been lost and the roof of this section has incurred fire damage.

North-east range: this 5-bay range, which faces onto an enclosed playground, incorporates a projecting gabled porch (roof slates removed) to the far right with a blocked-up Gothic-arched doorway and a hoodmould incorporating head-shaped stops. The 4-bays to the left are similarly treated to those on the north-west and south-west ranges, with two 3-light Gothic-arched windows set within through-eaves gables and 4-light windows with lancet lights (mainly boarded-over externally). Set to the far left is a Gothic-arched doorway (boarded-over externally). The 2009 fire has resulted in the loss of much of this range's slate roof coverings and rafters, leaving the scissor-braced roof trusses fully exposed.

Attached to the left (south-east end) of the north-east range is a 2-storey, 3-bay schoolmaster's house constructed of the same materials as the school. The outer bays are gabled and the house continues the moulded sill band of the school, but this becomes a continuous hoodmould across the ground floor due to the fact that the house is set on a slightly higher ground level. To the centre of the ground floor is a blocked-up Gothic-arched doorway (the remains of half a door are visible internally) with spandrel lights, flanked by a shallow canted-bay mullion and transomed window on the left surmounted by a decorative parapet, and a 6-light mullioned and transomed window on the right (both blocked-up internally). To the centre of the first floor is a 3-light mullioned window, with single graduated triple-lancet windows to the outer bays and patterned vents to the gable apexes. The house's south-east gabled return has a single slender blocked-up window to each floor and a chimneystack to the ridge; another chimneystack exists at the opposite end of the ridge. The rear (south-west) elevation, which faces the small rear yard area, has two doorways (one of which is boarded-over externally) reflecting the house's origins as two residences. The doorway on the right has a Gothic-arched head and chamfered jambs, and contains a panelled door with decorative strap hinges and original door furniture. Transomed and cross windows light the ground floor, whilst mullioned windows light the first floor (all boarded-over externally). Some of the slates covering the front (north-east) pitch of the roof have been removed and all of those on the rear pitch have been removed and replaced by corrugated metal sheeting.

INTERIOR: due to a lack of access and also fire damage the interior of the school was not inspected, but scissor-braced roof trusses were visible to all three ranges from the exterior. The schoolmaster's house has a T-shaped hallway to the ground floor accessing two enclosed timber stair flights located at each end of the building that lead up to the first floor and incorporate winders at the landing level; that to the north-west end retains its stick balusters on the landing. The interior rooms, which have suffered some smoke and fire damage, contain stone fireplaces, a cast-iron range, moulded door and window architraves, some original built-in storage, and 4-panel doors. Some of the wall plaster is missing in places leaving exposed brick walls. The first floor was not fully inspected.

BOUNDARY WALLS: enclosing the site on the north-west and north-east sides, including the former playground and schoolmaster's garden, are low sandstone walls with triangular copings; those in front of the front (north-west) elevation incorporate a flat top that was originally surmounted by railings, but these have since been removed.

History

St Andrew's School, along with its attached schoolmaster's house, was constructed in 1857-8 to designs by James Mallinson & Thomas Healey of Bradford as the school for the neighbouring St Andrew's Church, which was constructed in 1853 (demolished in 1971) and was also designed by the same architects. A vicarage (also now demolished) on the other side of the school completed the group.

The school was constructed to serve the Listerhills area of Bradford, which at that time was characterised by streets of dense terraced housing, including back-to-backs. In the 1960s and 70s the terraced housing and many of the area's public buildings, including institutes were swept away, and the area redeveloped with a mixture of commercial, industrial and residential buildings.

The school became an interfaith centre in the 1990s and remained in this use until 2009 when an accidental fire damaged parts of the building. The interfaith centre subsequently relocated elsewhere in Bradford and the school has remained disused since. The schoolmaster's house was originally separated internally into two residences, but by 1908 it had become one. It is believed to have been empty and disused for at least twenty years.

Reasons for Listing

The former St Andrew's School, including schoolmaster's house and boundary walls, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: its strong Gothic design and accomplished composition incorporate a good level of architectural detailing;

* Degree of survival: despite fire damage the major part of the building survives, and its original function and architectural character remain clearly legible. The schoolmaster's house also retains numerous original interior features;

* Architects: it was designed by the notable mid-late C19 Bradford firm of Mallinson & Healey whose specialism in ecclesiastical works is evident in the building's design, and it is a good example of their work;

* Socio-historic interest: it is one of the last surviving buildings illustrating Listerhills' C19 character, an urban area of Bradford that was cleared in the 1960s and 70s for commercial and industrial redevelopment.

External Links

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Selected Sources

P Leach & N Pevsner, , The Buildings of England. Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North, (2009)

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