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.
Alfreton Grange Arts College, formerly Mortimer Wilson secondary school, was probably built in the 1920s and first appears on the 1937 OS map. The buildings are partly constructed of red brick and partly of timber framing and cladding, with corrugated roofs. The plan form is a large quadrangle with a long building in the middle and internal verandahs. There is a small detached timber-clad block at the front which also appears on the 1937 map. The plain and impoverished nature of the construction and materials indicates that the school was put up in a hurry and was probably not intended to be permanent. The structures have not survived well and have been virtually rebuilt. The school has also been considerably extended to the rear.
The plan form of this school is typical of Widdows' inter-war designs, however the poor quality of the design and materials make the attribution to Widdows doubtful. The exterior does not have any architectural quality. There has been a considerable loss of original fabric and some extensions. This school does not have special architectural or historic interest on a national level and does not fulfil the criteria for listing. (1)
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