DERRY CATHEDRAL PRIMARY SCHOOL

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Victorian two-storey 'Flemish' red brick Gothic-style former school building with stone dressings. Built in 1891 to designs by John Guy Ferguson. Rectangular on plan with a slate gabled roof, string-courses and a circular stair tower with paired lancet windows topped by a small copper dome to the North East elevation facing onto London Street. South East elevation rests on the historic city walls overlooking the Fountain Estate and the River Foyle beyond with St. Columb's Cathedral (HB01/19/001) immediately to the South West. Built originally as a primary school for St. Columb's Cathedral replacing an earlier school for the Cathedral, constructed between 1837 and 1847, on a site to the opposite side St. Columb's Cathedral gates on London Street.

Principal elevation faces North East onto London Street, just off Bishop's Street Within. Walling is laid in 'English Garden Wall bond' with stone dressings and square headed mullioned windows with transoms; ground floor level contains a series of three-centred arches and a blind brick archway to the left side projecting bay with a date stone of '1891' over moulded red brick arch; gabled principal entrance porch contains a door opening with an engraved plaque over with the words spelling 'Cathedral National School'.

South East elevation abuts the city walls at ground floor level. Exposed first floor contains two projecting gabled bays with stone copings and ball finials at apex; gable-ends have square-headed windows with stone lintels under arched brick voussiours. Elevation is concealed with scaffolding with mesh lining and timber hoarding to ground floor level.

South West elevation overlooks directly onto St. Columb's Cathedral (HB01/19/001) grounds having a projecting gable end to the right side with a circular window at the apex; walling is of brick laid in 'English Garden bond'; square-headed window opening to the right of gable end contains three Gothic-pointed arched lancets concealed with ply sheeting; remaining windows are square-headed with stone mullions. There are ttwo smaller gable ends on left hand side of south west elevation.

North West gable-end elevation overlooks Church entrance and car parking on London Street; the entire elevation is concealed with scaffolding with mesh lining. Walling is of red-brick with square-headed window openings; ground floor is concealed with solid timber hoarding.

At the time of the main survey, all elevations are concealed and partially obscured by scaffolding containing mesh linings. Gable-ends have stone copings with ball finials at apex and stone copings to all parapets. Revisited August 2015 to confirm description.

Slate pitched roof contains semicircular ventilation cowls and stepped red brick chimney stacks; tiles have been partially removed during restoration works.

Setting:
Located on the South West side of London Street adjacent to one of the seven historic city gates within the Cathedral Quarter of the Historic Walled City; Derry Cathedral Primary School directly rests onto the historic wall to the SE side with St. Columb's Cathedral to the SW side; the NW side faces onto the church yard and car park.

Materials:
Roof Slated
RWG Cast Iron
Walling Brick & Stone
Windows Not visible - under scaffolding at time of survey

Historical information

The former Derry Cathedral Primary School, a Flemish Gothic-style two-storey red-brick building located on London Street, was constructed in 1891 and was originally known as the Cathedral Schools.

The first school at St. Columb’s Cathedral (HB01/19/001) was constructed between 1837 and 1847 on a site on the opposite side (of the Cathedral gates) from the current building. In 1837 the Ordnance Survey Memoirs noted that ‘a new school house is in contemplation, intended for about 100 pupils of each gender.’ In 1835 a report of The Honourable The Irish Society recorded that the dean and clergy of the Cathedral intended to ‘employ the building on the Sunday for the purposes of a Sunday School for all who wished to learn … and that during the weekdays it was in their contemplation to use it as an Infant School, to be managed by a committee of ladies of all religious denominations.’ The Sunday School and Infant’s School was completed by 1847 when it was noted by Robert Simpson in his Annals of Derry. A drawing (dated c. 1840) depicted the first schoolhouse as a two-storey Gothic-style building whilst the Londonderry Corporation Map (1857) and Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910) recorded it was a rectangular-shaped hall that possessed a large ground-floor classroom and was known as the ‘Deanery School.’ The original school continued to stand at the gates of St. Columb’s Cathedral until c. 1891 when it was replaced by the current red-brick schoolhouse (OSM; Foyle Civic Trust).

The second schoolhouse at St. Columb’s Cathedral was constructed on Widow’s Row, a group of five houses that were utilised by the widows of the Cathedral’s clergymen. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs notes that ‘the clergymen’s Widows Fund was instituted, in 1729, by subscriptions for the clergy of the Established Church of sums proportioned to their professional incomes as a provision for their widows. The widows of each subscriber enjoys an annuity of £35 besides which the five senior are each entitled to a house rent free in the Widow’s Row – a range of houses built from the Fund soon after its establishment. The five houses were rebuilt between 1834 and 1848-49 but were demolished in c. 1889 to make way for the construction of the Cathedral Schools (OSM; UTD; Foyle Civic Trust).

The Cathedral Schools was designed by one of Londonderry’s most prominent architects. John Guy Ferguson (c. 1830-1901), a local architect and civil engineer who was Diocesan architect to the Church of Ireland and designed many of the city’s most important ecclesiastical, commercial and civic buildings erected during the Victorian period. Prior to the construction of the school, Ferguson had been responsible for the design of the extension to St. Columb’s Cathedral (carried out 1885-87) which added a chancel, a bishop’s room and porch to the Plantation-era church. The design sketches of the Cathedral Schools were made in 1890 and, along with the 1899 Valuation map, show that no discernible structural change has been made to the layout of the building since its construction in 1891. The two-storey red-brick schoolhouse was designed with a circular tower topped with a copper dome. The Natural Stone Database records that the stone dressings of the building consisted of Scottish Locharbriggs sandstone with locally-quarried Derry Schist utilised as a secondary material (DIA; NSD).

The value of the Cathedral Schools was set at £120 by the Annual Revisions following the completion of the building in 1891. The Ulster Town Directories note that the Cathedral Schools was administered by the National School System and was divided into a Male and Female School. The male pupils entered the school from the entrance on the city walls whilst the female pupils accessed the school via the entrance on London Street. The ground floor of the school was utilised for the younger children who advanced to the classrooms in the upper floor as they got older. Following the partition of Ireland the Primary School was administered by the School Trustees and was increased in value to £300 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57). By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the value of the school had been further increased to £320.

The Derry Cathedral Primary School was included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977 and was subsequently listed in 1979. The school continued to be utilised for over a century but in 1995 the building was closed with the opening of the Fountain Primary School. The former schoolhouse was briefly occupied by the Verbal Arts Centre but fell vacant by 2000. The building was acquired by the CRESCO Trust in 2008. During the Second Survey the former Derry Cathedral Primary School was undergoing a £800,000 restoration by Kriterion Conservation Architects aimed at converting the building into ‘a venue for cultural and heritage tourism [that] will create training, education and employment opportunities’ (NIEA HB Records; Kriterion Conservation Architects website).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830)
2. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
3. PRONI VAL/1/D/5/9B – Townland Valuations Town Plan (1834)
4. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/15 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1897-1929)
6. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
7. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
8. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Londonderry (1837)
9. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1943)
10. O’Hagan’s plan of Londonderry (1847)
11. Robert Simpson’s Annal’s of Derry (1847)
12. First Survey Record – HB01/19/066 (1970)
13. NIEA HB Records – HB01/19/066
14. Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (London Street)

Secondary Sources
1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013 (includes 1899 Valuation Map).
2. Ferguson, W. S; Rowan, A. J; Tracey, J. J., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the city of Derry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970.
3. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003.
4. ‘A design guide for the Historic City Conservation Area Londonderry’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 2012.

Online Resources
1. Digital Atlas of Derry - http://www.ria.ie/digitalatlasderry - includes Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1848 49) and Londonderry Corporation Map (1857)
2. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/
3. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com//stone_types.cfm?stc=45
4. Kriterion Conservation Architects - http://www.kriterion.co.uk/news.html

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
T. Historic Importance
S. Authenticity
V. Authorship
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Flemish Gothic-style two-storey red brick former school building of 1891, constructed to the designs of John Guy Ferguson, built originally as a primary school for St. Columb's Cathedral replacing an earlier school on a site opposite the cathedral gates on London Street. The building was in continuous use as a school until 1995. Ferguson (c. 1830-1901) was one of Londonderry’s most prominent architects and designed many of the city’s best known buildings including St. Augustine’s Church (HB01/19/012), the expansion of St. Columb’s Cathedral (HB01/19/001) and the design of the first Guildhall (HB01/19/038). The exterior retains much of its original historic detailing and character such as stone dressings and brick detailing while the interior retains much of the original floor plan. This building is one of the finest remaining examples of red brick Gothic-style architecture inside the historic city walls and indeed two sides of the building actually rest on the city walls themselves. The former school has group value with St Columb’s Cathedral (HB01/19/001) and the Cathedral Quarter is greatly enhanced by its historic authenticity.

General comments

This former school is adjacent to St Columb's Cathedral (HB01/19/001) with which it is associated.