Description

TQ 58 NW HEATH PARK ROAD, Romford

940/10/10014 Frances Bardsley Lower School

II

High School for girls, founded by Francis Bardsley. 1909-10 by Hickton and Farmer of Walsall. Red brick with artificial stone dressings; machine tile roofs.
EXTERIOR: symmetrical north and south elevations. North front of 2 storeys; 15-window range. Central single-storey entrance narthex with elaborated central doorway of rusticated piers carrying stepped parapet with heavy keyblocks and coat of arms of Essex County Council. Double-leaf panelled doors with upper glazing. Oval mullioned and transomed window right and left, with swags above. 3 4/4 horned sashes either side. Main elevation behind consists of 5 mullioned cross casements with top-and-bottom-hung openers and glazing bars to first floor lighting central hall. Brick pilasters separate the windows and end with a stone cornice. Flanking the hall either side is one projecting and gabled eminence containing the staircases, with rusticated brick pilasters framing a double-leaf door with glazed upper panels set within an artificial stone architrave with a prominent keyblock. One tall cross casement with glazing bars to upper storev. Outer blocks consist of 4-window ranges terminating in rusticated brick pilasters rising to a plain stone cornice. Fenestration of arched ground-floor windows with glazing bars and top-hung openers set below keyblocks. 4 cross casements to first floor with glazing bars, and stone apron plaques. Central hall with gabled roof carrying central square bell-cote with open oval sides and a small dome. Internal gable-end stacks. Outer blocks with gabled roofs, hipped to east and west.
South elevation of 2 storeys; 18-window range. Pair of central gabled projections each with 3 cross casements to each floor, with glazing bars. One ground-floor window converted to door. Side ranges with similar casements. Slightly projecting gabled end bays, against which are single-storey hipped utility blocks. That to east with a 3-light transomed casement under a Diocletian window; that to west with only a Diocletian window as a dormer.
INTERIOR: central entrance hall reached via double-leaf half-glazed doorway in north wall. Large rectangular room occupying central 5 window bays of north elevation. Small-framed dado panelling. Balcony along south side supported on plastered steel cantilevered beams and with iron balustrade, wooden handrail and plastered panels at intervals. Elliptical plastered ceiling consisting of 5 bays of flat steel ribs springing from plastered corbels with cherub heads on floral scrolls. Between ribs are rectangular panels with semi-circular north and south ends with foliage trail to perimeter. Ceiling forms elliptical cut-outs for windows. East and west doorways on south side with double-leaf half-glazed doors beneath semicircular glazing. 2 segmentally-headed windows look into south classrooms, entered through 2 half-glazed doors. 2 stone open-well staircases with open strings and cast- and wrought-iron balustrades supporting mahogany moulded handrails. First-floor rooms to cast and west both with 3 plastered steel ribs to the ceiling and a small oval window with stained glass in the end walls.
HISTORICAL NOTE: notable as the product of campaigning by Francis Bardsley, the first head teacher, a noted campaigner for high quality education for girls.

Listing NGR: TQ5253688798

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q27086041

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.

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