| Summary : The complex of school buildings to the north of the present Brockley Primary School has not been identified as having been designed by George H. Widdows although it is sited next to the present infants school which was designed by Widdows and completed in 1927, and is listed Grade II, Listed Building Number 506516). The northern complex of buildings was developed between 1918 and 1927; it comprises a long, tall but narrow frontage range, and at right angles to this another tall range which extends to the East, next to which is a detached block. All the buildings are of brick, mostly with plain tile roof coverings. With the exception of the verandahs and the window joinery which include hopper ventilators, there are no strong arrchitectural indicators tha the building forms part of Widdows' building campaign. |
More information : The complex of school buildings to the north of the present Brockley Primary School has not been identified as having been designed by the architect George H. Widdows (1871-1946) although it sits adjacent to the present Infants school site to the south designed by Widdows and completed in 1927. This school was developed in the inter-war period on green field site to the south of an earlier complex of school buildings located on the east side of Clown Road. The 1918 O.S.map shows 2 buildings, identified as 'schools' with a large open plot of land to the south. The upper of the two buildings is shown as a linear range aligned north-south with two advanced sections, one at the south end, the other off centre towards the north end.
Further south, a separate rectangular building is shown on a separate plot with its own boundary. The present footprint of buildings on this area of the Brockley site suggests that the upper building was demolished, and that the lower building was extended to the north and to the east. Additionally, the northern extension included an L-shaped verandah, one arm of which extended eastwards as a free-standing structure. Although these verandahs are Widdows type structures, it is not known whether the additions to the existing structures were made at the time of the construction of the new school to the south in 1927. None of the buildings on this part of the site are presently in educational use and are mostly empty, but some areas are let out to a local sports club.
The surviving complex of buildings here appear to be of accretional form with a long, tall but narrow frontage range (building 1) and, at right angles to this, another tall range which extends down sloping ground to the east (building 2) and next to which, at its eastern end, is a detached block (building 3) with a link to the upper building to the west (building 2). To the rear of building 2 is an attached triple gabled range aligned north-south. All of the buildings are built of brick, and mostly with plain tile roof coverings. With the exception of the verandahs and the window joinery which include hopper ventilators, there are no strong architectural indicators that the building forms part of Widdows' building campaign. Little if any of the present complex was in place by 1918, nor do the buildings appear to be related to the works carried out in 1927. The form of the multiple gabled range is reminiscent of Langwith Bassett County Primary School. Although this school has not been confirmed as being by Widdows it is similarly detailed, and has had extensions to either end in the form of short inter-war style verandah corridors.
There is no known documentary evidence which identifies the north complex at the Brockley Primary School site as the work of George Widdows. Widdows is known to have designed the present Infants school to the south, and it is possible that some elements of the north complex may have been influenced by his designs, as this part of the site was not developed until after 1918, by which time his work was widely recognised. However, the buildings are generally of modest architectural quality, and do not form a single coherent ensemble. The school displays none of the spatial planning characteristics or visual coherence of Widdows' designs, nor does its layout conform to any of the main Widdows plan types or their variants. It is architecturally and spatially of modest quality and lacks the degree of special interest necessary to justify a listing recommendation. (1)
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