Former Whorlton Memorial School and Schoolmaster's House, Swainby, North Yorkshire

Description

WHORLTON

1324/0/10007 CHURCH LANE
17-APR-07 Swainby
Former Whorlton Memorial School and Sc
hoolmaster's House

II
Former village school with attached schoolmaster's house. 1856 by unknown architect, thought to have been commissioned by the Marquis of Ailesbury, lord of the manor of Whorlton. Brick with stone dressings in Elizabethan revival style, under a Welsh slate roof.

PLAN
T shaped school with the main schoolroom parallel to the street frontage with a side wing extending forward to accommodate 2 smaller schoolrooms. Main entrance to a cross passage at the right end of the main school room with the master's house forming a cross wing to the right of this cross passage. Entrance to the master's house to the right side. Playgrounds and outbuildings (including a detached toilet bock) to the rear enclosed by a boundary wall. Modern flat roofed attached toilet block not of special interest.

EXTERIOR
Except the side and rear windows of the schoolmaster's house, windows are mullioned or cross mullioned in ashlar with diamond leaded lights. Gable ends have raised coping supported by shaped kneelers. The building has a plain flush faced ashlar plinth and its corners are quoined in ashlar.

The gable wall of the side wing has a simple stone cartouche with the words 'WORLTON MEMORIAL SCHOOL 1856' beneath a hood mould. Below there is a triple light cross mullioned window also beneath a hood mould. To the left is the bell tower which is a wall thickness in depth and is surmounted by a bell-cote constructed in ashlar. At its base there is a single light window. Near the apex of the gable there is a ventilation slit. To the left side of the wing there is a Tudor style door with a stone surround forming a 4 centred arch, the door being planked and hung with decorative strap hinges. To the right there is an inserted modern casement window, to the left, in the wall of the main schoolroom, there is an original 3 light mullioned window. There is a chimney stack rising either side of the wing where it intersects with the main schoolroom.

On the front elevation to the right of the side wing there is another 3 light mullioned window lighting the main schoolroom with the main entrance door to the right. This door is similar to the side door. To the right is the cross wing that forms the schoolmaster's house.

To the left, the gable wall to the main schoolroom has a 4 light cross mullioned window with a ventilation slit over. The rear elevation is blank, the main schoolroom lit by a row of large flush roof lights. The flat roofed toilet block to the rear is not of special interest and conceals an original rear entrance with a recessed porch.

Schoolmaster's House Exterior: The gable end facing the street frontage has a 2 light mullioned window at first floor, with a ventilation slit above and a 3 light cross mullioned window below. Both windows have been slightly altered with a small inserted plain glass opening casement.

The side elevation of the schoolmaster's house is of 4 bays. The left bay, closest the road, has a later added bay window at ground floor and an inserted modern casement at first floor. The next bay has the entrance door which with its planked design and decorative strap hinges is similar to the others, but has a square rather than arched lintel. Above there is an original 2 light mullioned window with plain glass. The 2 rear bays have similar original windows at first floor level, but at ground floor there is another modern inserted casement window. The rear gable has a back door and an altered window to the right with a modern casement window. There is a further first floor 2 light window to the side that overlooks the playground. The ridge line has two double chimney stacks.

SCHOOL INTERIOR
The lower parts of the roof trusses to the main schoolroom are exposed, the timbers being chamfered with run out stops. In the ceiling there is a ventilation grill in decorative ironwork. Between the main schoolroom and the larger room in the side wing there is a timber cross mullioned 4 by 4 window with the lowest run of lights leaded with stained glass, the upper lights subdivided with glazing bars. To the left there is a part glazed panel door and to the right a simple fireplace. The later inserted movable partition (designed to subdivide the main schoolroom) also subdivides the internal window.

SCHOOLMASTER'S HOUSE INTERIOR
The entrance door opens onto a small stair hall with a dog leg staircase with an open string, stick balusters and ramped handrail. To the left, facing the street, there is the study complete with built-in cupboards and bookcases. The fireplace, like others in the house, is a mid C20 replacement. There are simple built-in cupboards in some of the other rooms as well. Internal panelled doors and other joinery is mainly original.

SUBSIDARY ITEMS
The garden to the front of the main school entrance and the master's house is enclosed with a C19 iron fence. The school boundary walls, brick with stone coping, are largely complete except for the boundary that originally split the rear playground into two halves. A number of outbuildings also survive, in dilapidated condition at time of survey, including the original detached toilet block.

HISTORY
Whorlton Memorial School was built in Swainby village in 1856 at a cost of £800, probably paid for by the Marquis of Ailesbury, lord of the manor of Whorlton. This was around the time of the opening of ironstone mines in nearby Scugdale which saw the rapid expansion of the village of Swainby to provide housing for the miners. The school buildings are shown on the 1st edition Ordnance survey map of 1893 and remains unaltered on subsequent editions apart from a small flat roofed extension added to the rear in the C20. The school closed in 1968 and was subsequently used as a church hall.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE
Built in 1856, the former Whorlton Memorial School is a relatively rare surviving example of a village school pre-dating the 1870 Education Act, which prompted a dramatic expansion in school provision nationally. The architectural treatment of the street frontage, in Elizabethan revival style, successfully integrates the school and master's house. The whole is well preserved both internally and externally, with the alterations (mainly confined to the house) not being overly detrimental to the complex as a whole. The survival of additional features such as the iron railings and boundary walls is also of note.

External Links

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