The Malin Bridge Council School

 

A view of the former Malin Bridge Council School from Morley Street

Having seen several examples of both the Loxley Edge Rock and the Crawshaw Sandstone, when walking down from Walkley to Malin Bridge, I continued my investigation of the historic architecture and building stones of this part of north-west Sheffield by having a quick look at the former Malin Bridge Council School. 

 

The 1910 extension on Dykes Lane

The school was built in 1904 to a design by the Sheffield architect HI Potter, who I had never heard of before, with an extension by Potter and Sandford on Dykes Lane in 1910 – both of which are built in the usual Crawshaw Sandstone from Bole Hill, with Stoke Hall stone from Grindleford in Derbyshire presumably used for the dressings. 

 

Another view of the 1910 extension on Dykes Lane

 

As with all of the still operational schools that I had visited to date, access to the buildings is very limited and I could only take a few record photographs from vantage points behind locked gates, which provided a very limited view of the rear elevation of the principal block. 

A view of the rear elevation of the original school

Making my way round to the rear entrance of the school on Norris Road via Ellenboro Road, I stopped very briefly to photograph the caretaker’s house, which has unusually prominent gables with parapets to the front and rear elevations and very tall chimney stacks. 

The caretaker's house

Viewing the east elevation from a distance, apart from the tall octagonal domed turret, I couldn’t see any features of particular architectural interest. The plain façade has rectangular windows, with large lintels and segmental arches above, which are separated by pilasters on the ground floor of the two central bays. 

 

The east elevation of the original school

Zooming in with my Canon Powershot G7X II camera to the upper part of the two central bays, the arched window heads are composed of a very large lintel, voussoirs of varying sizes with a hood mould and a large keystone forming a feature of the middle window of each bay. 

 

A detail of the east elevation

Above the central windows, there are two large panels into which the name and date of the school have been carved with large lettering in relief. Although I had seen many examples of the name and date carved into band courses and other decorative panels made of Stoke Hall stone or a similar massive sandstone, these are unique among the Sheffield Board Schools. 

 

Details of the lettering in relied

After the Sheffield School Board radically reduced the costs of building in 1881, the lavish decoration seen in the schools by CJ Innocent rapidly disappeared and the early C20 schools are mostly very austere; however, as particularly seen at Hammerton Street and Lydgate Lane - designed in the Arts and Crafts style by WJ Hale - finely cut lettering still remained as a decorative feature and another good example of this can be seen on the entrance gatepiers.

 

Arts and Crafts style lettering in relief at the school entrance