tarboat's photos with the keyword: school

School architecture of a certain age often has some lovely details, but photographing them can be fraught with danger in these times when using a camera in the vicinity excites suspicion and hostility. Brierley Primary School in Crewe has an array of terracotta ornamentation on the buildings. In addition to the plaques over entrances for boys and girls, the gables have words of encouragement for the pupils. The boys side has 'Obey', 'Hope' and 'Duty', whilst on the girls side the mottos are 'Love', 'Neatness' and 'Order'.

Wilhelm von Humboldt state school in Nordhausen. This striking red brick building was erected in 1861. Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt (1767-1835) was a Prussian philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin, which was named after him in 1949 (and also after his younger brother, Alexander von Humboldt, a naturalist). He was the architect of the Humboldtian education ideal, which was used from the beginning in Prussia as a model for its system of public education, as well as in the United States and Japan.

This former junior and senior council school was designed by architects Cheers & Smith of Blackburn and Twickenham. It was built as a council school in 1906-7, and formed one of a pair of schools designed by Cheers & Smith for the County Borough of Stockport (the other school, which also opened in 1907, is North Reddish Infant and Junior School, Lewis Road, Stockport). The school closed in 1979, and has since been used as a nursery and adult education centre.

I have always loved buildings that feature polychromatic brickwork and this example from Suffolk is very much to my taste. The old school at Combs near Stowmarket matches the school house next door. The building has a datestone for 1875 above the stone framed window.

This building started life as the Higher Grade School, built in 1894 by Henry Lovatt to the design of T. H. Fleeming, who was architect to the School Board. In 1921 it became the Municipal Secondary School and it is clear that the terracotta lettering was altered at this time to show the new designation. From 1945 to 1974 it was the Municipal Grammar School, but this time the lettering was left alone! These days it is used as a campus of Wolverhampton College.

Art nouveau terracotta on the school at Over Peover.

The Verdin Technical School was the gift of Sir Joseph Verdin, Baronet, in 1897, for the the promotion of technical education in his native town.

Another triumph of terracotta. Next to the Brunner Guildhall in Winsford is the Verdin Grammar School of 1895, designed by Woodhouse and Willoughby of Manchester. It was built for £8,000 by James Fowles, a Winsford builder.