Allensbank Primary School, Juniors

Cadw's description

Location

On the north eastern side of Gabalfa near Cathays Cemetery.

History

Built in 1904 and designed by Veall and Sant as a variant of this firm's successful Lansdown Road designs. One of a series of schools built by the Cardiff School Board of which only four have retained their architectural character. This one is designed in "ebullient Jacobethan style" and is largely unaltered externally.

Exterior

Newbridge sandstone rubble in thin courses, Bath stone dressings, Welsh slate roofs with some of the brick chimney stacks removed. Two storey block in Flemish-Elizabethan style with large classroom windows with stone aprons between. Balanced elevation to the street, five bays, with a recession for the first and fifth bays, while bays two and four have shaped Flemish gables. Each bay has a 4-light window on either floor. The ground floor one in the centre bay has wider side mullions giving a 2-light window with side lights; the upper window has stepped lights within an elliptical arch. The upper windows in bays two and four have moulded tympana and a circular vent above in the gable. Most of the windows retain their small panes while the lower lights have 2 over 2 pane sashes. Hipped roofs to bays one and five. The right return elevation has double gables with roundels, the front gable has a small window on either floor; the rear one a 4-light window on either floor as before. The left return has one shaped gable with boys' and girls' entrances with shell hoods and an additional projecting single bay wing with single light windows. Paired brick stack with central opening to this wing, additional stack on rear. Rear elevation not seen.

Interior

Interior not seen at resurvey.

Reason for designation

Included for its architectural interest as part of a well designed and almost unaltered late C19 Board School.