Former National School and Schoolhouse

Cadw's description

Location

In an elevated location, set back from the NE side of the western end of the main street through Llangefni; c. 200m SW of the church of St. Cyngar.

History

National school and schoolhouse built in 1851-2 to replace the earlier school of 1818, which by then had fallen into a state of disrepair and was in a dangerous state, the school being held in the town hall. In January 1850 Reverend Henry Owen was appointed to the incumbency at Llangefni and by September had forwarded a memorial to the Committee of the Council of Education requesting aid to build a new school. In the same month it was announced that plans were being made to build a British School on land donated by Sir Richard Williams-Bulkeley. Faced with requests from both schools, the secretary of the Committee, R.R.W Lingen, ruled that local circumstances did not warrant the establishment of two schools and urged both parties to come to some agreement to build a single school to serve the town. Throughout the following year there were a series of heated debates and meetings held, with R.R.W. Lingen putting forward suggestions for comprises to be made by either party to allow plans for a single school to be considered. Finally, in December 1851, he agreed to award grants to both parties and the National School was opened on 29th September 1852 (the British School opened in the June of that year); designed by Henry Kennedy, Architect of Bangor and built at a cost of £800, the Treasury Grant awarded £229. Both schools were to suffer a shortage of funds but requests for further grants were rejected by Lingen; Reverend Owen was able to claim a grant of £70 from the National Society. The schoolmasters house is now a private dwelling, the school itself used to accommodate workshops.

Exterior

Mid C19 National school building with attached 2-storey schoolhouse. The school and schoolhouse were built as one range, the principal (SW) elevation of the schoolhouse facing the street. The school was accommodated in a staggered wing of 2-units; one unit (the infants classroom) was formed by a cross wing at the right (SE) end of the schoolhouse, the second (girls and boys classrooms) by a wing set at right angles to the rear. Entry to the girls and infants classrooms was through a lobby between schoolhouse and infants classroom, entry to the boys classroom through a gabled porch at the NE end of the rear wing. The range is faced with local rubble set roughly to courses and freestone dressings; steeply pitched slate roofs with stone copings and ashlar stacks (the schoolhouse with brick gable stack corbelled out at left (NW) end, and axial stack. The school has horned sash windows throughout (some of which are now boarded over); the infants classroom has large gable windows with ventilations slits above (SW gable with corbelled chimney); right return (SE elevation) has 2 x 4-pane sashes. The girls and boys classrooms each have tripartite windows of 8-pane sashes, the girls classroom, to the left (SW) with the window set in an advanced gabled wing; corbelled chimney above. The NE porch has a steeply pitched gabled roof, entry through boarded double doors set under a segmental-headed fanlight. The schoolhouse is a 2-storey, 4-window range with doorway offset to the left (NW) end; 1st floor windows are 2-pane, side hung casements.

Reason for designation

Listed as a well-preserved mid C19 school and schoolhouse range, designed in a strong vernacular idiom, and which retains the practical character of its design, as well as many exterior features. The range is also of interest as a lesser known work by Henry Kennedy.