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• Type

  Map

  Title

  Map for Beauly Primary School and Schoolhouse (1875 building and the former schoolhouse only), Croyard Road, Beauly, excluding all later additions and all other structures (LB52683)

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600043347)

Summary

Description

Beauly Primary School and the former schoolhouse were designed by Matthews and Lawrie in the 'school board gothic' style and built in 1875-6. The buildings are located at the northwestern edge of the village of Beauly, set back from the road within a larger school site.

Beauly Primary School is an irregular-plan, single-storey school, constructed in coursed and snecked red sandstone rubble with ashlar cills, mullioned windows and scrolled hoodmoulds. The principal southeast elevation is five bays wide and is largely symmetrical with a central bellcote with bell and fleur-de-lis finial. The outer bays have louvred openings in each gable apex with foliate hoodmould decoration above.

The northeast elevation has two window openings and a lower mono-pitched section abutting the rear, set-back, which forms an entrance into the building. The rear (northwest) elevation has a mono-pitched entrance abutting the right-hand bay and louvred openings without hoodmoulds in each gable. The southwest elevation has a centre gable with a louvred opening and a double entrance door in the right-hand bay.

The window openings are predominantly shallow arched with a mixture of multi-pane and plate glass glazing in timber frames. The gabled roof is covered in slates with overhanging eaves. There are two ridge chimneystacks to the rear of the building and there is a mixture of metal and plastic rainwater goods throughout.

Internally, the school retains its original classroom layout and some 19^th century cornicing.

The detached, former schoolhouse is located to the southwest of the school. The two-storey, three-bay house is roughly L-shaped on plan with an advanced gable to the right, a pedimented entrance porch and pairs of pedimented dormers breaking the roof eaves to the front and rear. It is constructed in coursed and snecked red sandstone with ashlar cills, mullioned windows and scrolled hoodmoulds that match those on the school. The windows are predominantly uPVC replacements in low-arched openings. The roof is covered in slates with overhanging eaves. There is a large wallhead chimneystack on the northeast elevation and two chimneystacks along the roof ridge.

Photographs (dating between 2019 and 2025) show the interior contained some features of the 19^th century decorative scheme including moulded cornicing, fire surrounds, panelled doors and a curved staircase with timber handrail and decorative metal balusters.

The later classroom block was built after 1904 with a rendered 1930s section to the rear. This later classroom block and all other structures on the site are excluded from the listing.

Historical development

The school and schoolhouse were built in 1875-6. The buildings are first shown on the 2^nd Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1902. The school is shown as an irregular plan building with a projecting gable along the southeast elevation and the schoolhouse is shown as a detached L-plan building to the southwest of the school, largely as seen today. This map shows a defined boundary dividing the school and schoolhouse with some small ancillary structures to the rear of the school.

A separate T-plan classroom building was built to the northeast of the original school some time after 1904 (and is first shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1966). It is constructed in red sandstone with similarly arched window openings, timber bargeboards and overhanging eaves with a large, rendered extension to the rear, dating to around 1933 (Highland News). This building is excluded from the listing.

The footprint of the school and schoolhouse buildings remain largely unchanged on the Ordnance Survey map of 1966. This map also shows the expansion of the school site in the first half of the 20^th century. By 1966 the school comprised roughly five separate blocks, including new classroom ranges to the northeast and south of the original school and a canteen building built between the 1875 school and its schoolhouse (since demolished) as well as other structures within the playground.

The site today (2026) comprises the 1875 school building, the early-20^th century classroom with its 1930s extension, some post-1966 timber structures including staff room, some modular classroom and canteen units dating to 2023-4, and the former schoolhouse which is now in private ownership.

Statement of Special Interest

The primary school and schoolhouse meet the criteria of special architectural or historic interest for the following reasons:

• The buildings are a good surviving and notable example of their 'board school' building type. They have high-quality stonework and distinctive gothic-style detailing, particularly to their exterior elevations.
• The designers, Matthews and Lawrie, were a prolific architects' practice in the Highlands, and they have had a significant impact on the built heritage of the local area.
• They are largely unaltered in terms of their plan forms, footprints and much of their exterior fabric.
• Whilst not rare, the school and schoolhouse form a good functional and historic group and, in terms of their design, they are a notable surviving example within their building type.
• They are of historic interest as part of the first phase of board schools built in the Highlands following the 1872 Education Act.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: all later additions and all other structures.

Architectural interest:

Design

Hundreds of board schools were built after the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act. Many were designed by leading local or national architects, resulting in a proliferation of notable school buildings in the last quarter of the 19^th century designed in a variety of styles, from classical to gothic.

Beauly Primary School is an early and architecturally well-detailed example of a rural board school with a detached contemporary schoolhouse of similar quality of design. The school and former schoolhouse are constructed in coursed red sandstone with overhanging eaves, and demonstrate distinctive gothic detailing, including low-arched window openings, scrolled hoodmoulds and cartouche decoration. The school also features gothic detailing in the bellcote and louvred openings. The design quality, including similar decorative gothic detailing on the exteriors of both the school and the former schoolhouse further reinforces the buildings' special architectural interest as a good surviving group within the building type, which are clearly identifiable through their design and by their close proximity to one another.

The tall windows of the school building are typical design features for schools of this date, designed to allow the maximum amount of light into the rooms used for teaching. Likewise, ventilators were common features on public buildings, such as schools and libraries, to ensure clean air circulated throughout and their survival is of interest. As well as their functionality, the louvred ventilators in the gable apexes in this building are more decorative than the more common roof-type ventilators seen on the early-20^th century school building. This detailing reflects the overall design quality of the school and the flourishes and expertise of the architectural practice.

Matthews and Lawrie designed the school and the schoolhouse in 1875-6 (Gifford, p.154). The successful Highland architectural partnership of James Matthews and William Lawrie ran from 1864 until 1887, with offices in Aberdeen and Inverness. Matthews and Lawrie worked on a variety of building forms in the surrounding area, including schools, commercial buildings, churches and houses. In Beauly itself, Matthews and Lawrie designed the French Renaissance-style Lovat Arms Hotel (built 1871-2, listed at category B, LB7130), the Italianate former Bank of Scotland building (built 1871-2, listed at category B, LB7106), the former Free Church (now Beauly Church) on Croyard Road (unlisted) as well as some private houses in the area.

Internally, the decorative scheme of the school largely dates from the early 21^st century, however some standard features, dating to the late-19^th and early-20^th century are retained including the tall, recessed windows and simple cornicing in some of the rooms. The interior plan form of the school appears largely retained, comprising two large teaching rooms with smaller ancillary spaces off those. The schoolhouse contains some interior fabric and decorative features dating to the late-19^th century, including moulded cornicing in the principal rooms, panelled doors and a curved staircase with timber handrail and decorative metal balusters. These are typical features for a schoolhouse of this date however their survival is of interest.

The footprints of both the school and the schoolhouse survive largely as that shown on the 2^nd Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1902 with the exception of a small extension to the rear of the former schoolhouse.

The use of red sandstone is characteristic of the area and is typical of much of Beauly's buildings. The stone used in the school and schoolhouse may have been locally quarried from nearby Ruilick, which is part of the Sarclet sandstone formation (McMillan, p.4).

Many schools from this period survive, therefore particular attention is paid to the level of architectural interest within its building type as well as overall level of survival of features and character. Schools are often, along with churches, notable landmarks and were designed as such. The school and schoolhouse at Beauly survive largely as they were constructed, particularly to their exterior elevations. The high quality of the stonework and the attention to detail is evident in its mirrored gothic-style features. Together they are a good group of post-1872 Education Act school buildings.

There are a number of substantial later additions to the original school site as the age of school leavers was raised and the local population increased. These buildings, although well-constructed, are later in date and show standard architectural detailing for each of their successive periods. See Section 6 for more information about legal exclusions.

Setting

Beauly Primary School is located on Croyard Road at the northwestern end of the village of Beauly in the Highlands. The original school and its contemporary former schoolhouse are set back from the road within a larger bounded school site, and they form a distinctive group of educational buildings that are intervisible with one another. The demolition of the pre-1966 canteen building between the 1875 school and schoolhouse has reinstated the immediate historic setting of the two earlier school buildings which are both now clearly visible from the public road. The buildings form a good group of historic school buildings that are a prominent part of the streetscape.

The wider setting has changed since the school was first built due to an increase in the number of school buildings and related structures across the wider site over time. For the first thirty years or so after construction, the school was the last building along Croyard Road before leaving the village. Since the early-20^th century some housing has been built to the north and northeast of the school, but this has not adversely affected the historic setting of the group of buildings dating to around 1875.

Historic interest:

Age and rarity

The 1872 Education (Scotland) Act made education compulsory for all children aged

5 to 13 and placed responsibility for education in the hands of locally elected school

boards. The school boards were also responsible for providing adequate school buildings. As a result of this legislation, many new buildings were built from 1872 onwards and this unprecedented, publicly funded building programme continued until the early-20^th century.

Many board schools were built in Scotland following this Act and there are a large number surviving across Scotland today. Whilst 19^th century schools and schoolhouses are not rare building types, those dating from the early years following the 1872 Act and surviving close to their original form are increasingly rare.

Purpose-built schoolmaster's houses were often built within sight of or adjoining the

school. The example at Beauly survives well within its historic setting and contains a number of matching decorative architectural features in keeping with the school building, including the window openings, the scrolled hoodmoulds and the cartouche detailing.

Dating from 1875-6, Beauly School is amongst the first phase of board schools constructed and it contains both good quality architectural detailing and a significant amount of its early plan form and exterior fabric. The survival of the school and schoolhouse as a group adds to their historic interest and together they a good representative example of their building type.

Social historical interest

Social historical interest is the way a building contributes to our understanding of how people lived in the past, and how our social and economic history is shown in a building and/or in its setting.

All school buildings have a level of interest because they are found in every community and they are a prolific building type. Prior to the construction of Beauly School, there were two other schools along Croyard Road, a Free Church school and a Roman Catholic school. The construction of the Board school superseded this earlier provision and indicates the development and formalisation of public education in the 1870s following the Education Act. In 1879, the public school had an average attendance of 170 pupils and the Roman Catholic school had 24 pupils (Gazetteer for Scotland).

The Education Act of 1872 covered the provision for housing for the schoolmaster. With the consent of the Board of Education, a school board was required to pay for the construction of a new schoolhouse or the significant enlargement of an existing schoolhouse. Money could be borrowed on the security of the school for this purpose and ensured a resident schoolmaster was onsite. This type of integrated housing provision was common in the late-19^th century and was available to other public roles such as librarians and policemen.

Association with people or events of national importance

There is no association with a person or event of national importance.

References

Bibliography

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

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