| Summary : Somerlea Park Junior School was completed in 1924. It is built of red brick, with a clay tile roof. The plan form was originally a large symmetrical quadrangle, comprising verandah wings of six classrooms on its north and south sides and hall blocks on the east and west sides. Covered walkways linked all the quadrangle buildings, as well as the detached butterfly-shaped entrance block to the east. There are a number of detached timber-clad instruction blocks on the north-east side. Some modern blocks have been built to the south. The architectural quality of the original buildings is extremely high, probably the best of Widdows' elementary schools, with fine Arts and Crafts detailing to the rooflines and brickwork. The survival of original features is unusually high, with a wealth of unenclosed verandahs, glazed screens, window joinery and patented north rooflights. A fire has destroyed the classroom wing on the north side of the quadrangle, and the hall block on the east side. |
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. 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.
Somerlea Park Junior School was completed in 1924 and first appears on the OS map of 1938. It is built of red brick, with a clay tile roof. The plan form was originally a large symmetrical quadrangle, comprising verandah wings of six classrooms on its north and south sides and hall blocks on the east and west sides. Covered walkways linked all the quadrangle buildings, as well as the detached butterfly-shaped entrance block to the east. There are a number of detached timber-clad instruction blocks on the north-east side. Some modern blocks have been built to the south. The architectural quality of the original buildings is extremely high, probably the best of Widdows' elementary schools, with fine Arts and Crafts detailing to the rooflines and brickwork. The survival of original features is unusually high, with a wealth of unenclosed verandahs, glazed screens, window joinery and patented north rooflights. Tragically, however, a fire destroyed the classroom wing on the north side of the quadrangle, and the hall block on the east side. Had the plan form been intact, this school would undoubtedly have merited listing. However, the loss of a significant proportion of the buildings has damaged its special interest, and whilst it retains a school complex of considerable local significance, it can no longer be considered to be of sufficient general architectural interest in a national context to justify a listing recommendation. (1)
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