Description
Former Winchburgh Public Schools consisting of 2 school buildings built from late 19th century to 1907 on large site at corner of Main Street (Edinburgh-Linlithgow Road) and B8020 (Hopetoun Road). 1885-1895 primary school with substantial 1902 extension by James Jerdan located to SE with multiple gables. James Jerdan & Son, 1907. Medium-sized senior school to NW of site with prominent gabled bays. Substantial remains of playsheds and other outbuildings.
SCHOOL (TO SE): LATE 19th CENTURY BLOCK (TO W): single storey, 6-bay, irregular-plan school. Squared and snecked stugged stone; droved ashlar quoins; hoodmoulded windows, ventilators; fleur-de-lis finials to gable apexes. S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: stand-alone gabled classroom block to far left with 5-light hoodmoulded, transomed and mullioned window. Recessed roll-shuttered doorway (possible former window) to right linked to central advanced gabled bay with transomed and mullioned tripartite window; square ventilator to ridge. Slightly more advanced gabled porch to right, shouldered doorway; small window to right return. Bipartite window to right of porch; pitched barge-boarded dormer above. Slightly advanced gabled bay to far right with ground floor bipartite window, single window to gablehead. E ELEVATION: central gabled bay with ground and gablehead windows; large square window to left; 1902 school extension adjoins to right. N (REAR) ELEVATION: 1902 school extension encapsulates most of rear of earlier school at ground level; 2 small 20th century single-storey extensions. Late 19th century classroom block (1st building phase) to far right with 5-light transomed and mullioned window. W ELEVATION: central bay, gabled at wallhead, with tripartite window (taller central light); flanking bipartite windows. 3 small circular ventilators to ridge.
1902 BLOCK (TO E): 5-bay, roughly rectangular-plan, double pitched school extension. Squared and snecked stone. S ELEVATION: door to far left linking extension to earlier school, moulded architrave, flanking square windows. Advanced classroom block to E, two shaped gabled bays with Venetian windows. Left gable flanked by bipartite windows; single window to left return and to far right of elevation. Central square-plan timber ventilator. E ELEVATION: 5-bay, double-pitched. Central moulded doorway, round arch to wallhead above; paired windows to left, single window to right. Windows to outer-bays. Small windows to gableheads. N (REAR) ELEVATION: 5 bipartite windows to 1902 advanced classroom block to E. Flat-roofed section to centre with door and windows linking extension to original school to W. Central steps leading down to boiler room in basement.
Predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case windows with 6-pane transom windows now boarded up; 4- and 8-paned timber windows to transoms and mullions of late 19th century school.
Pitched roofs; grey slates. Overlapping stone skews, gablet skewputts with gothic detailing and coped and moulded gablehead and ridge stacks to late 19th century school. Terracotta ridge tiles, flat skews and skewputts, and corniced tapering stacks to 1902 extension.
INTERIOR: original classroom layouts mostly intact. Tongue and groove timber wainscot throughout.
1907 SCHOOL (TO NW): symmetrical. 6-bay, single storey and basement to rear (on falling ground), roughly T-plan school. Rendered; ashlar dressings. S ELEVATION: advanced double pitched gables with paired Venetian windows, slit window to gableheads; tall single windows breaking eaves to right and left returns; flanking single windows; paired breaking eaves windows to outer bays. E ELEVATION: advanced gable to right, 2 windows set close to wall edge; tall window breaking eaves to right return; 2-bay central piended entrance pavilion set in re-entrant angle, door to left, bipartite windows to right. Paired windows breaking eaves to penultimate bay right. Single window to outer right hand bay. N ELEVATION: projecting gabled end, 2 windows set close to wall edge. W ELEVATION: identical to E elevation with small, detached 20th century flat roof addition. Windows boarded up. Pitched roofs; grey slates; straight skews; coped and rendered stacks.
BOUNDARY WALLS and OUTBUILDINGS: low coped and rendered brick wall with straight cast-iron railings to SE along Main Street; low coped random rubble wall with arched cast-iron railings to E at B8020; high coped random rubble wall to rear. Flat-roofed rubble storage shed to E playground. Long pitched-roof lavatory and storage sheds to NW with original faience tiles to stalls. Remains of various playsheds to NW playground and rubble built playshed to E playground. Large timber-built portable classroom on brick base to N of lavatories and to W of senior school. Small plain T-plan former caretaker?s cottage; rendered with ashlar dressings. Former landscaped garden to NW.
Statement of Special Interest
The Winchburgh schools, forming some of the earliest building stock of the town, are a landmark set on a prominent site at an important junction on Winchburgh's main street. The schools also contribute greatly to the early 20th streetscape, with particular correspondence to the miners row cottages built along Main Street which have been recognised as "the foremost of their kind in Lothian" (McWilliam). The original school was probably erected after the establishment of School Board of Scotland Act 1872. It was most likely built after 1885 as there is no mention of it in Groome?s Gazetteer of that year; however there is reference to a public school in Groome?s circa 1895 edition. The formation of the Oakbank Oil Company in 1901 led to a significant increase in the population of Winchburgh thus necessitating the extension of the local public school. In 1901, the population of Winchburgh was 426, but within a year the population had nearly doubled and more school accommodation was required. James Jerdan, a competent Edinburgh architect, was responsible for the design of the school extension which successfully repeated the multi-gabled arrangement of the original building, yet provided distinctive early 20th century detailing with rounded gables and tapered stacks. The extension to the school was said to provide enough accommodation for additional 250 pupils, bringing the total number of scholars to 500. At this time, a school master?s house (also designed by Jerdan) was erected further along Main Street to the E. The population of Winchburgh continued to grow rapidly due to the success of the shale mining industry and another school was built by Jerdan & Son in 1907. There was also provision made for the school caretaker and thus a purpose-built cottage was erected on the school grounds. Unusual to the site was a cultivated garden tended by the pupils. As the shale mining industry waned in the second half of the 20th century, the population of Winchburgh also decreased. The earlier school was recently known as the Winchburgh Day Centre but now lies vacant (2003).