Greasley Beauvale D H Lawrence Infant School, Eastwood, Nottinghamshire

Description

1570/0/10018
19-JUN-08

GREASLEY
BEAUVALE
EASTWOOD
Greasley Beauvale D H Lawrence Infant School

Board school, 1877-8 by R. C. Sutton of Nottingham, extended in the 1880s.

MATERIALS: Staffordshire red brick with dressings of Matlock stone and a clay tile roof.

PLAN: An arrow-shaped building with three wings radiating from a corner entrance block. The Mill Road wing originally housed the boys' school, the Beauvale wing was for girls, and the wing diagonally between the two housed the infants.

EXTERIOR: The principal elevation is at the corner of Mill Road and Beauvale. The two-storey gabled block on the corner has a main entrance door flanked by narrow windows with glazing bars. Above the door there is a stone plaque with a relief of an open book surmounted by a crown, and the inscription 'GREASLEY BOARD SCHOOLS. ERECTED 1878'. On the first floor there are three tall windows with glazing bars and stone sills. The gable has moulded brick decorations, stone copings and a floriated stone finial. The side elevations have a dentilated eaves course, roof of alternating bands of red and brown tiles, and a circular stair turret to the rear right. On either side of the main entrance block there are curved single-storey link blocks, each with three windows with glazing bars and a door on the end. Above the doors there are stone plaques inscribed in relief 'GIRLS' over the right door and 'BOYS' over the left door.

Attached to the corner blocks are three double-height single-storey wings, with gable roofs and cross-gables. These wings also have dentilated eaves courses, stone copings and window sills, and floriated stone finials. On the roof of the girls' wing there is a square wooden bellcote with a pyramidal roof and floriated iron finial. Much of the fenestration in the three wings dates from the C20. Original windows (for example in the end gables of the boys' wing) are identifiable by the glazing bars and small panes which match the windows in the main entrance block.

The infants' wing to the rear has a roof of alternating bands of red and brown tiles, and a play shed of 1889 with open sides to the playground. Between the infants' and girls' wings there is a small modern single-storey block, now used as the school entrance, which is not of special interest.

INTERIOR: A number of the glazed partitions between the classrooms survive, particularly in the former girls' wing. Other features of interest include four-panelled doors, parquet flooring, ventilation grilles in the ceilings, and a fireplace with moulded timber surround in the infants' wing. There are some internal curved walls, mirroring the outer curve of the corner entrance. In the inner hall there is a spiral staircase turret, leading to the former committee room of the school board (now a storeroom).

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: Sections of red brick walls from the 1880s survive on Mill Lane and the E side of the playground. The stone walls and railings on the main corner front are later additions and not of special interest.

HISTORY: The 1870 Education Act allowed the creation of school boards who had the power to finance the building of new schools through the levying of a local rate. Greasley School Board was set up in May 1876, with a mix of local dignitaries and miners serving on it. Beauvale (or Beau Vale) was the first school erected by the board. The site was found in June 1876 and the Nottingham architect R. C. Sutton was invited to draw up the plans in February 1877, the members voting against a competition as the school was urgently needed. The school cost £6,000 to build and it opened in January 1878 with accommodation for 550 children. The 1880 Education Act made school attendance compulsory for all children up to the age of ten, and by 1882 Beauvale School was so overcrowded that the adjacent Methodist chapel had to be used to house the overflow. An extension designed by R. C. Sutton was added to the boys' wing in 1883-4, with room for 100 boys. The girls' and infants' wings were extended in 1889 by S. Taylor of Nuthall, providing accommodation for a further 200 children. The Ordnance Survey map of 1880 shows the school in its pre-extension form, while the 1900 map shows it with the additions to the three wings.

The internationally-renowned writer D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) was born in Eastwood and began his education at Beauvale School. He was initially a pupil at the infants' school in 1889, and then returned to the boys' school from 1893 to 1898. He won Eastwood's first scholarship place to Nottingham High School, and later studied at University College, Nottingham.

SOURCES:
Wright's Nottingham District Directory 1891.
Minutes of Greasley School Board, 4 May 1876 to 4 March 1878, Nottinghamshire Archives, SB 21/1/2.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION:
Greasley Beauvale D. H. Lawrence School is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* It is a well-preserved example of a late C19 board school, designed by the Nottingham architect R. C. Sutton
* It has a highly unusual arrow-shaped plan-form, with separate wings for boys, girls and infants
* The corner elevation is handsomely treated and makes a notable contribution to the streetscape
* The internationally-renowned writer D. H. Lawrence was a pupil at the school in 1889 and 1893-98

Reasons for Listing

Greasley Beauvale D. H. Lawrence School is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* It is a well-preserved example of a late C19 board school, designed by the Nottingham architect R. C. Sutton
* It has a highly unusual arrow-shaped plan-form, with separate wings for boys, girls and infants
* The corner elevation is handsomely treated and makes a notable contribution to the streetscape
* The internationally-renowned writer D. H. Lawrence was a pupil at the school in 1889 and 1893-98

External Links

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