Former St Fagans Church in Wales Primary School

Cadw's description

Location

A part of the group of estate buildings at the entry to St Fagans village from Cardiff.

History

The foundation stone of the school-room was laid in 1851. Clearly designed for a higher than usual budget for a village school, reflecting the importance placed on it by the patron Baroness Windsor and her concern for her tenants' needs. The original building with the schoolmaster's house on the west was extended on the east end in c1890. The building has been little altered from then until the school was closed in 1990. The school building was in the process of being converted to housing at the time of resurvey.

Exterior

The walls are faced externally with blocks of lias of different sizes, Welsh slate roofs, chimney-stacks with ornate octagonal terracotta pots. Elaborately designed village school in C16 to C17 vernacular style with good detailing, school to left (east) and master's house to right (west). Central wing with flanking cross-wings. Front elevation of central wing of two storeys, four bays; chimney stack with three pots to rear. From east to west, first bay with a gable and with a 3-light mullion window on both first and ground floors, ground floor window with transom. Third bay also gabled and with similar windows. Second and fourth window with transom. Third bay also gabled and with similar windows. Second and fourth bays both with parapets; second bay with a narrow single light window opening both above and below, the first floor opening smaller and blind; fourth bay has a narrow single-light window with tracery on first floor and porch with pointed head and six-panelled door in angle with cross-wing to the south-west. Eastern bay of northern or front elevation of cross-wing is gabled and has a transom and mullion window on both first and ground floors; the western bay of front elevation of cross-wing has a parapet and a transom 2-light window on the ground floor; chimney stack with four pots on roof. To the south-west again and in the same plane, there is a lower single-storey wing with parapet and coping to front wall which also has in it a doorway with pointed head and ledged door.
c1890 cross-wing to east of central wing projects forward and is lower; northern gable end of one storey and attic; transom and mullion 3-light window to attic storey; lean-to porch wing across the ground floor with a projecting gabled bay with single-light window with pointed head in centre. This wing has ashlar stacks, slightly higher roofline to rear, bellcote on roof. The east facing roof slope has had two dormers added.

Interior

Interior not available for inspection at resurvey as it was in the process of conversion.

Reason for designation

Included as a little altered Victorian village school and as a part of the important group of historic estate buildings at the centre of St. Fagans village.