More information : This school is being assessed for listing as part of an English Heritage thematic survey of the surviving schools designed by George Widdows in Derbyshire in 1906-1936. George H. Widdows (1871-1946) is nationally acknowledged as a leading and influential designer of schools in the early 20th century. He was appointed as architect to Derbyshire County Council's Education Committee in 1904, and in 1910 became Chief Architect to the Council. By the time he retired in 1936, he had designed some sixty elementary and seventeen secondary schools. Nine of these have already been listed.
Widdows responded to concerns about health and hygiene in schools by developing a series of revolutionary plan forms which introduced cross ventilation and natural daylight. His schools are characterised by open verandah corridors and large expanses of glazing, including hopper and pivot windows. There are four characteristic plans for the elementary schools built to his designs before 1914. The earliest was the 'marching corridor' type; only five schools were built to this experimental and rather expensive plan. The second type was linear in form, with a larger classroom at each end and often a freestanding hall with linking corridor to the rear. The third type was the most dramatic, a butterfly-shaped plan with pairs of classrooms leading from the corners of a central hall. The fourth type was designed for irregularly-shaped sites and had a corner hall, octagonal in plan. Widdows' designs for elementary schools in the inter-war period were often based on a collegiate system of quadrangle plans. His secondary schools were larger ensembles and tend to have a greater architectural presence. Assessment of these schools takes into account architectural quality and the extent to which the surviving fabric represents Widdows' design innovation in a national context.
Ladycross Infant School was completed in 1908 and first appears on the OS map of 1914. It is constructed of red brick, with a clay tile roof. The plan form is of the 'marching corridor' type, with three blocks of double classrooms connected by wide corridors with verandahs on either side. Unfortunately, the gaps between the blocks were infilled in recent years, and massive extensions built on the west side. A further extension is currently being built. The result is that the original plan form is no longer legible. Only one of the four verandahs is still legible on plan. The exterior is relatively plain, and has been further denuded by replacement of all the window joinery with UPVC.
While this is one of only five Widdows schools built to the 'marching corridor' type, it has been so comprehensively extended and altered, that the plan form is no longer legible. The extensions have entailed the loss of the verandah corridors. The exterior lacks distinctive architectural quality, and the loss of all the window joinery is significant. This school does not have special architectural or historic interest on a national level and does not fulfil the criteria for listing. (1)
|