Saint George’s Dormitory Block at Howell's School

Cadw's description

Location

The left hand building in a group of 3 overlooking the main school building from rising ground to the NW, and approached by steep flights of stairs as the central axis in a formal stepped garden.

History

Howell's School (with its sister foundation in Llandaff) owes its origins to a bequest made by Thomas Howell, d1540. The Drapers Company of London administered the bequest until 1818, when a Charity Commission Enquiry was initiated. An eventual consequence of this Enquiry was the passage of an Act in 1846, requiring the Drapers’ Company to pay the bequest. It was intended that building would commence in the spring of 1857, and plans were apparently drawn up by Decimus Burton of London. In fact, building work took place 1858-9, the school opened in 1860, and the architect was Herbert Williams. This original building was successively extended, first by additions to the main block, and then by the addition of a group of 3 dormitory buildings or school houses, in 1929-30. These buildings, designed by Maurice Webb, form a tightly symmetrical group opposite the main building.

Interior

Not fully inspected on resurvey.

Reason for designation

Listed as one of a group of 3 school houses which together form a strong component of the complex of buildings at Howell's School, and which exemplify an inter-war essay in school architecture, a modernist paring-down of the free gothic style which gives the school its stylistic integrity.