Asset type
Historic Building - Education
Local Listing Reference
LLHA0015
Conservation Area (CA)
East Cliff CA
Description
Two storey knapped flint building with red brick dressings and pitched tiled roof. Central entrance with a canted bay window to either side. Three paired windows above, each surmounted by a small gable with bargeboard. The doors and windows all have Tudor gothic arches. There are a number of extensions to the side of varying quality. The building opened in 1856 as ‘National Schools Boys, Girls and Infants’. It was also known as St Mark’s School, and was later used by the Nautical Training Corps. Now in residential use.
Source: Carder 1990
A. Architectural, design and artistic interest
ii. A modest but well-detailed building for its type and age, with high quality knapped flintwork.
B. Historic and evidential interest
i. National schools were founded in 1811 in England and Wales by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. They provided elementary education, in accordance with the teaching of the Church of England, to the children of the poor. They were mostly absorbed into the state school system by the end of the 19th century. The first one in Brighton was in Church Street in 1829.
C. Townscape interest
i. Within the East Cliff Conservation Area, the building is atypical of the area due to its size and detached relationship to other buildings, as well as its Tudor gothic styling and extensive use of knapped flint.
E. Rarity and representativeness
ii. This is a comparatively rare surviving example of a National School building in Brighton & Hove and designed to respect the local context.
F. Intactness
i. The building is largely intact.
Date of inclusion
Pre-2015
