The Former Carbrook Board School

 

The former Carbrook Board School

After briefly exploring and photographing the historic architecture and the municipal cemetery in Attercliffe, I headed off towards Attercliffe Common to take a quick look at the former Carbrook Board School – which I thought was a converted church when I first saw it when used as a bar many years ago.

 

A general view

Originally opened in 1874 for 791 pupils, it was the third school to be built in the area – along with the now demolished Newhall and Attercliffe schools - as further response to the growth of the steel industry and consequent provision of terrace housing for the workers, but its size was an issue from the outset.

 

Ordnance Survey maps of Attercliffe/Carbrook in 1854, 1894 and 1903

Such was the rapid increase in the population, further space was needed soon after the original school was built, but the extension was delayed until 1889, when a second school for 600 boys and girls was built, with this again being demolished during the regeneration of the area.

 

A general view

The original building, which has survived despite being once in an extremely dilapidated state, was designed by CJ Innocent of Innocent and Brown, who was contracted to the Sheffield School Board, and possesses several design elements that would become characteristic of work – as I had already seen at the later Walkley and Manor schools.

 

A detail of the gable to the front elevation

The Gothic Revival style is clearly evident in the principal front elevation, where there are recessed arches and a main gable that has a central projecting niche containing the bell, with the carved Sheffield School Board crest below and is topped by an octagonal turret with a spire and finial.

Lettering on the front elevation

Above the ground floor, below the string course, is the date and the 'Sheffield Board School' carved in raised lettering and, beneath this, there are panels that consist of thin rectangular blocks laid out in squares, with a change in their orientation producing a distinctive decorative pattern.

 

A detail of the front elevation

At this stage of the day, the light was getting poor and there was a threat of rain in the air and, on this occasion, I didn’t look closely look at the sandstone that has been used in the fabric but, not seeing any physical characteristics that might make me think otherwise, I assume that it is another example of the use of Crawshaw Sandstone for walling and Stoke Hall stone for dressings.

 

An inscribed gate pier from 1874

For the boundary wall and the inscribed gate piers to mark the entrances for the boys, girls and infants, a coarse sandstone from the Millstone Grit is again used and, although the style of calligraphy has changed, the wall to the demolished school makes uses of a similar sandstone. 

 

An inscribed gate pier from 1889