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King James I
Academy,
Bishop Auckland
Heritage Statement &
Statement of Significance.
Archaeo-Environment
for Sir Robert McAlpine
May 2013
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
2 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Executive Summary
King James I Academy, is located on South Church Road in Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham.
The building sits within a 6.13 hectare site and consists of four groups of grade II listed
buildings, namely the former County Girls’ School (now the Middle School), the Caretaker’s
Lodge and associated railings and gate, gate piers and walls (the drive gates are also
mentioned in the listing but have been replaced), and the toilet blocks and storage buildings
(former cycle sheds). It is also located within the Bishop Auckland Conservation Area. The
building group has previously been known as Bishop Auckland Girls’ County School, Bishop
Auckland Girls’ Grammar School, Bishop Auckland Grammar School, Bishop Auckland
Comprehensive School and King James I Community Arts College.
The objectives of this Statement of Significance are:
To present an overall breakdown of the values of the heritage asset including internal
and external features, focussing on archaeological, architectural, artistic or historic
interest (community interest will also be referenced)
To identify each aspect of the ‘special interest’ or significance of the asset which may
have a particular vulnerability, as informed by the above
To identify the impact on significance of the proposed removal of internal walls in
nine identified rooms
The building dates to 1910 with alterations c.1930s-50s and c.1962 -70s and represents a
high quality Arts and Crafts building with considerable design detail to the interiors and
exteriors.
National Importance
The most important criterion for assessing national importance is external architectural
quality and the former girls’ school has an architectural style and survival of features that
raises it above the average. It was built at a time when there were limitations in funding and
as a consequence, many school designs had become austere and formulaic. However this
school captures the spirit of the time in its architecture without producing a dull building.
Interiors also contribute towards designatable quality. The Arts and Crafts inspired main hall
and the use of Art Nouveau motifs, such as the door handles was quite exceptional in
schools at this time (English Heritage 2011, 4). Although the interiors are simple, they are
unified with the glazed tiles and decorative detailing applied to balustrades.
Completeness can be most important, and here the exteriors and interiors have survived
well. The windows, despite going through a number of alterations have survived and
although a few leaded panes are missing, the overall effect to the elevations is of an intact
building. Similarly the original doors have survived, although a few may no longer be in their
original positions. The most significant alteration to the 1910 build is the dining room. It was
built at a time when many schools were using steel framed buildings in a modernist style
(ibid), but at Bishop Auckland, the architectural quality of the existing school was recognised
and fully referenced in the new build and as a result it does not detract from the importance
of the school.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
3 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Ancillary structures can enhance the case for designation and at Bishop Auckland, the
Caretaker’s Lodge is of considerable architectural interest and indeed has considerable
street presence.
Architectural Interest
The building is of considerable architectural interest. Despite drawing references from a
variety of historic periods and the adoption of different styles in different parts, it manages to
tell the story of Edwardian life through its architecture. The ‘free style’ of the building popular
in the Arts and Craft movement are drawn together by the many arched lights, niched,
windows and doors. Similarly the interior use of brown glazed tiles to dado height not only
unified the interiors, but provided a means to mask alterations and protected the lower walls
from trailing school bags. Externally, the small stretch of railings outside the Caretaker’s
Lodge have a contemporary feel, but reflect the design of the archways in the school
corridors with lattice work and the upside down arches of the balustrade roof tops and so
extends the design themes to the street front. Small details have also survived well such as
the Art Nouveau style thumb latches to doors and stair balustrade detailing. Future
alterations should seek to retain these elements and where changes take place to continue
the use of archways and brown glazed tiles to help new alterations fit in.
Historic Interest
The school does not appear to have any notable associations with nationally famous people,
but it does have a presence in the archives in the form of governors’ minutes and some
inspectors’ reports. These are a valuable insight into school life and the people who
managed it. They are however incomplete. Sadly, there are no early plans of the building
and no documentary material relating to its founding. It is therefore of some historic
interest.
Archaeological Interest
The archaeological interest of the site is limited to some feint ridge and furrow and there is
no evidence that the site would have been attractive to early settlers.
Artistic interest
The building is of limited artistic interest as it does not commonly feature in any postcards
or works of art. It does feature in school group photographs, but in the early days the
grounds were also used as a backdrop.
Communal values
As the school is not under any threat - it is a threat to a school which brings out the
passionate support for the building - it is difficult to gauge public opinion about it. However
the school does have regular reunions and ‘old girls’ do travel far and wide to attend and so
it appears to have a strong and loyal following. The communal value of the school is
therefore of some interest.
Setting and enabling development
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
4 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Externally, there are few constraints. The school was not designed with a principal elevation
nor was it designed to have any particular view that needs to be protected. Its high quality
design does however deserve the space from which to appreciate it. Its original playing fields
and gardens have been through considerable change and have been partially developed.
They no longer impose any constraints but do offer an opportunity for innovative new
landscaping. The playing fields were fenced in 1921 with ‘military fencing with barbed wire’
suggesting a defensive attitude towards the neighbourhood that is still reflected in the
current safety fencing which detracts from the conservation area. The surroundings are
therefore much altered, and so further change is possible.
The proximity of other listed buildings and a registered parkland do not impose any particular
constraints either. Auckland Park is separated from the school site by intervening
development and mature tree cover and the only other listed building to have direct
associations with the school is the former boys grammar school to the north.
In terms of protecting the setting of the listed buildings of both King James I Academy and
the former King James I Grammar School for Boys, any development of the surrounding
area should seek to retain the green and leafy character of this part of the conservation area,
retain the view of the Caretaker’s Lodge and afford a sufficient view of the Middle School
and Austin’s elevation on the Boy’s Grammar School, so that their architectural qualities can
be appreciated from its surroundings. This will help to ensure that any future proposals will
be compliant with the NPPF by helping to conserve the buildings in a manner appropriate to
their significance, so that they can be enjoyed by future generations.
Conclusion
School buildings are places of change. From the day they are built, they are under pressure
to alter and adapt to shifting philosophies on education and changing populations. From the
outset, the Girls’ County School adapted to these changes with dignity by respecting the
original design themes of the 1910 building. By continuing this tradition, the building has
considerable potential for adaptation and reuse and can therefore be the subject of
sustainable development as defined in the National Planning Policy Guidance (2012, para
17). If alterations are also accompanied by the reversal of changes which were detrimental
(such as the cupboard in the assembly hall) or are accompanied by sympathetic repairs to
windows, then the overall effect of the alterations can be beneficial.
The building is nationally important and as such ‘great weight’ should be given to its
significance (para 133) and the need to conserve that significance, as defined in this report,
in any new development proposal. Where significance has to be weighed against any wider
benefits, the NPPF makes it clear that the benefit should be a public one, not a private one
(para 133). Provided that these broad principles outlined in the NPPF are applied and
significance is conserved and enhanced, then the sustainable future of the former Bishop
Auckland Girls’ County School building is assured.
Acknowledgements
The production of reports suitable for use in the planning process require considerable use
of primary, secondary and tertiary sources and local knowledge and this is only possible if
others have gathered information already. In that respect I am grateful to Barbara Laurie of
Bishop Auckland’s local history society for sharing her copy of the school’s Golden Jubilee
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
5 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
booklet and her photographic collection. I also wish to thank the staff at the Durham Records
Office for a short notice appointment and to the school’s caretaker, Shane Northgreaves and
Lee Wayper of Sir Robert McAlpine for showing me around the school. Peter Rowe of
Durham County Council provided HER data in a record amount of time which always helps
to produce reports rapidly as part of a planning process. Finally I am grateful to Phil Lloyd of
Spacegroup architects for commissioning the work on behalf of Sir Robert McAlpine.
Report Author: Caroline Hardie, Archaeo-Environment Ltd
Plans used in this report have been carried out by Oakleaf Surveying on behalf of Sir Robert
McAlpine.
Note: The school has had a number of names throughout its history. It started as Bishop
Auckland County School for Girls, then became Bishop Auckland Girls’ Grammar School. In
1962 it amalgamated with King James I Grammar School (for boys) and became known as
Bishop Auckland Grammar School. In 1974 it became the Bishop Auckland Comprehensive
Secondary School (and Community Centre) and then King James I Community Arts College.
In 2011 it became King James I Academy and the original girls’ school formed the Middle
School.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
6 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
CONTENTS
Summary and acknowledgements 2
Introduction 7
Topography and Geology 7
Planning Policy 8
The Wider Historic Context 13
A Brief History of King James I Academy 16
The Statement of Significance 28
Architectural Interest 29
Historic Interest 42
Archaeological Interest 43
Artistic Interest 44
Communal Values 45
The Significance of the Setting 45
The Importance of the Academy Building (Middle School) 47
Heritage Impact Assessment 50
Conclusion 64
Bibliography 66
Appendix A King James I Academy Chronology
Appendix B Prize Essay written by Dorothy Wearmouth in 1960 looking back at fifty years of
the school from 1910
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
7 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Girls’ Grammar School
‘This school, which occupies an imposing site in South Church Road, is a beautiful stone
building, capable of providing a secondary education for 412 girls. It draws its pupils from a
wide area who have passed entrance examinations at the elementary schools.’ (Bishop
Auckland Urban District Handbook & Guide 1948, 51)
1.0 Introduction
The King James I Academy is located on South Church Road in Bishop Auckland, Co.
Durham (NZ21357 29474). It is located within a wider educational site which includes
playing fields and the currently derelict former King James I Grammar School to the north
which predates the Academy and was originally built for boys (AE 2012). This report covers
the former Girls’ County School, now the Middle School of King James I Academy, which sits
within a 6.13 hectare site at the south end of this complex. The building, along with the
Caretaker’s Lodge, the bicycle sheds, outside toilets, boundary walls and railings, are all
listed grade II and are located within the Bishop Auckland Conservation Area. To the east of
the building, there is a large complex of buildings which are now the Upper School and these
were constructed from the 1970s.
The objectives of this Statement of Significance are:
To present an overall breakdown of the values of the heritage asset including internal
and external features, focussing on archaeological, architectural, artistic or historic
interest (community interest will also be referenced)
To identify each aspect of the ‘special interest’ or significance of the school
To identify the impact of proposed internal wall removals on the significance of the
school
The Statement of Significance is only partial with the site visit being limited to nine rooms
within the Middle School which will be affected by the proposed removal of internal walls as
part of the Building Schools for the Future Project. The classes were being used for teaching
during the visits which limited access and in one case a test was underway, further limiting
access. Some of the interpretations regarding the phasing of the building may need revision
in the light of additional fieldwork.
1.2 Topography and Geology
The development site is located within the middle Wear Valley of county Durham, centred
on NZ 21357 29474, and at a mean elevation of 85m OD. The drift geology across the area
is glacial sandy and gravelly deposits which overlie a solid geology of Upper Carboniferous
date (c.300 million years ago), known as the Westphalian coal measures from which
sandstone and limestone have been obtained as well as coal mined. The sandstone has
been quarried at various times to provide local building materials, while bricks for most of the
19th and 20th centuries were produced from fire clay from local coal mines.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
8 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Figure 1. Location plan
2.0 Planning Policy
2.1 Conservation Areas
King James I Academy sits within a conservation area; conservation areas are considered to
be designated heritage assets and are dealt with in the National Planning Policy Framework
in a similar way to listed buildings, world heritage sites and scheduled monuments (NPPF
annexe 2, p51), although there is an implicit acknowledgement that they vary in significance.
The conservation area is one of 94 in county Durham. Conservation Areas are places where
buildings and the spaces around them interact to form distinctly recognisable areas of
special quality and interest. These places are protected under the provision of section 69 of
the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 which defines them as ‘an
area of special architectural or historic interest, the character and appearance of which it is
desirable to preserve or enhance’. However the local planning authority has yet to produce a
Conservation Area Appraisal for Bishop Auckland which might identify specific areas of
significance against which a future planning application or listed building consent may be
judged. The school sits within an area characterised by green open space to the north, a
tree lined road, a cluster of educational buildings of 19th and early 20th century date and the
start of another character area to the west of terraced housing.
In conservation areas, permission from the County Council is required to make certain
changes that would not normally require permission elsewhere. As a general guide, the
following works require permission:
Works to extend buildings, clad external walls, alter a roof, insert
dormer windows or put up satellite dishes. Most of these would in any
event be covered by the listed building status at the school.
The demolition of almost any building
Work to trees including felling, topping and lopping.
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Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
9 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
The display of advertisements which may have a significant visual
impact.
Figure 2. Designated assets near King James I Academy (outlined in red rectangle). The purple boundary marks the conservation area; the green boundary marks the registered parkland.
2.2 Listed buildings
The school consist of four separate groups of listed buildings, namely the Middle School (as
it is currently known) which is grade II, the toilet blocks and storage buildings (grade II), The
Caretaker’s Lodge (grade II) and its walls, railings and gate and the school drive gates piers
and gate1 (grade II). The listed buildings are described in the official list entry, but legally
includes all structures physically attached to them and constructed before 1948, unless
specifically excluded. The listing does not therefore include the modern school buildings to
the east.
The listed status of the buildings, as grade II, means that they are considered to be of
special interest, warranting every effort to preserve them. The loss of grade II buildings is
considered to be exceptional (NPPF 2012, 132). Listed building consent is required to alter
the character of the building, its boundary features or its setting or to carry out any form of
demolition. This applies to the curtilage of the building as well as its fabric and demolition
can be used to describe quite small scale works such as the removal of windows, particularly
if it also results in a change of character. The current proposal involves alterations to some
internal walls which includes demolition and therefore listed building consent will be required.
1 The school drive gate is an unattractive replacement and is of no significance
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Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
10 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
When a Council considers whether to grant or to refuse an application, it must have special
regard to the desirability of preserving the building, its setting and those features which make
it special. This report aims to set out what aspects of the building’s setting and what features
make it special, so that consideration can be given to these things when planning proposed
changes.
2.3 Registered parkland
The school is 411m away from a registered parkland (Auckland Park grade II*). Proposed
developments need to take into consideration their impact on the significance of the parkland
and its setting and are a ‘material consideration’ in the planning process, meaning that
planning authorities must consider the impact of any proposed development on the
landscape’s special character.2 The impact will alter depending on the nature of any
development and would require some statement of significance for the parkland in order to
assess what is significant about the park and in order to identify any key views which might
be affected.
2.4 Setting of Heritage Assets
The consideration of the contribution of setting to the significance of heritage assets is
referred to on several occasions in the NPPF 2012 where setting is defined as ‘The
surroundings in which a heritage asset is experienced. Its extent is not fixed and may
change as the asset and its surroundings evolve. Elements of a setting may make a positive
or negative contribution to the significance of an asset, may affect the ability to appreciate
that significance or may be neutral’.
2 English Heritage http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing/registered-parks-and-gardens/ [accessed
31.12.11]
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Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
11 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Guidance pertinent to this study regarding setting was produced by English Heritage in
2011, ‘The Setting of Heritage Assets’. The guidance notes that consideration of setting is
necessarily a matter of informed judgement, and identifies its role as making sure this takes
place within a clear framework and is as transparent and consistent as possible. In this study
setting is therefore considered with this document in mind while addressing how it
contributes to the significance and understanding of the various heritage assets in question.
The nearest listed buildings beyond the school itself are clustered around the cemetery to
the south east and at the former King James I Grammar School for Boys to the north. The
cemetery pre-dates the school by over ten years and is now shielded from it by more recent
intervening development. Future developments at the school will need to consider to what
extent they will impact on significant elements of the former Grammar School to the north
which are separated from the Middle School by playing fields. As they formed part of the
same educational institution from 1962 and collectively they form an educational character
area within the conservation area, both schools and the playing fields between can be
considered to be part of each other’s setting. This does not exclude future development
here, but consideration will need to be given to the impact on the significance of the setting
by any future development proposals. This is considered in more detail below.
Figure 3. Listed buildings in the wider area
The planning policy which seeks to find a balance between the importance of these
designated heritage assets and development needs of the community is to be found in
planning guidance as follows:
2.5 National Planning Policy Framework
The National Planning Policy Framework was published on 27 March 2012, replacing all the
previous Planning Policy Statements, including PPS 5, as well as various other planning
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Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
12 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
guidance policies. Its central theme is the ‘presumption in favour of sustainable
development’, set out in twelve core land-use planning principles which underpin both plan-
making and decision-taking.
Although matters relevant to the historic environment are scattered throughout these
principles, particularly design, urban and countryside policies, it is the section on Conserving
and Enhancing the Historic Environment which supersedes PPS 5, that outlines a
significance-led approach to decision-taking. The government and English Heritage have not
formally agreed a methodology to meet the policy framework for the historic environment,
but the Practice Guide which was originally published with PPS5 has not been withdrawn.
Therefore the approach to assessing significance in this document follows the approach
outlined in the original PPS5 practice guide.
The framework makes a number of relevant points which need to be taken into consideration
at the school site. It defines sustainable development as that which responds to local
character and history (para 58) and also seeks to find a balance between innovation and the
need to promote or reinforce local distinctiveness (para 60). The NPPF recognises that to
survive, historic buildings need investment so that they can find a viable use consistent with
their conservation (para 126). As a designated asset, the school is a nationally important
building and as such ‘great weight’ should be given to its significance (para 133) and the
need to conserve the highest levels of significance, as defined in this report, in any new
development proposal. Where significance has to be weighed against any wider benefits, the
NPPF makes it clear that the benefit should be a public one, not a private one (para 133).
These broad principles outlined in the NPPF have to be applied and significance conserved
and enhanced if a sustainable future of the King James I Academy building is to be assured.
2.6 Wear Valley Local Plan Saved Policies
Following local government reform in April 2009, Wear Valley District Council along with the
other 6 former districts was integrated with Durham County Council into a new unitary body
which retained the name Durham County Council. The Planning and Compulsory Purchase
Act (2004) allowed some Local Plan policies to be 'saved' until they are replaced by new
policies in the County Durham Plan. There were a number of saved policies from the Wear
Valley Plan of 1997 which are relevant to the Academy site, but from March 2013, local plan
policies which were adopted since 2004, should only be given weight if they are consistent
with the NPPF. As the saved policies originate in 1997, but were presumably readopted in
2009, they will still apply if they are consistent with the NPPF and so are outlined below.
BE1 Heritage
POLICY: The District Council will seek to conserve the historic heritage of
the District by the maintenance, protection and enhancement of features
and areas of particular historic, architectural or archaeological interest.
BE4 Setting of a Listed Building
POLICY: Development which impacts upon the setting of a listed building
and adversely affects its special architectural, historical or landscape
character will not be allowed.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
13 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
BE5 Conservation Areas
POLICY: The character of each Conservation Area will be protected from
inappropriate development.
BE6 New Development and Alterations
POLICY: The District Council will permit new development and alterations
within Conservation Areas provided it satisfies the following criteria:
i) the proposal preserves or enhances the character of the area in terms of
scale, bulk, height, materials, colour, vertical and horizontal emphasis and
design; and
ii) the proposal will use external building materials which are appropriate to
the conservation area. This will generally require the use of local materials
or equivalent natural materials; and
iii) the proposal satisfies the General Development criteria set out in Policy
GD1.
BE8 Setting of a Conservation Area
POLICY: Development which impacts upon the setting of a Conservation
Area and which adversely affects its townscape qualities, landscape or
historical character will not be allowed.
3.0 The Wider Historic Context
Prehistoric finds or sites from the immediate area are sparse with only a few isolated flints
(Durham HER 95 & 894), suggesting peripatetic activity in the area during the Mesolithic
period. At St. Andrew Auckland there is a conjectured Iron-Age hill fort (Durham HER 1467),
which even if not proven fits in with a settled and farmed landscape by the Iron Age in
common with much of lowland Durham. The north-south line of Cockton Hill Road, leading
into South Street and then Newgate Street is a road of some considerable antiquity and
forms a part of one of the main Roman highways of northern Britain. Dere Street as it was
known by Anglo-Saxon times (as it led to and from Deira, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom largely
synonymous with Yorkshire), formed an important, largely military communication route from
the legionary fortress at York to Hadrian’s Wall and beyond. Less than two kilometres to the
south a secondary Roman Road from the west joined Dere Street close to the modern
Fyland’s bridge. Along this Roman road network were a series of forts, with that at
Binchester some 1.8 kilometres to the north being the nearest. As with roads in any period,
occupation and commerce were attracted to the road and forts and while a major settlement
grew up at Binchester it is also likely that there were concentrations of native Romano-British
life along the street itself where there were also other good topographic or strategic reasons
for doing so. There is no indication that such potential exists along South Church Street near
the school.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
14 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Continued occupation and settlement in the area is known from the Anglo-Saxon period with
pagan Anglian burials from Binchester, and later churches and sculpture at Escomb and St.
Andrew Auckland. Bishop Auckland as a town most likely evolved as a small village in the
9th or 10th centuries beside the Roman road which continued in use, and on the high
ground overlooking the River Wear and in the area of the current Market Place. The only
mention in documentary texts of this period is to Aclit, presumed to be Auckland which was
first mortgaged to the Earl of Northumberland for defending the church from the Scots and
then granted by King Knut as part of his grant of land to the church of St. Cuthbert in the
early 11th century.3 It was not however until after the Norman Conquest and the
appointment of Prince Bishops in the County that the settlement grew into an important
town. The economy of the town was largely dependent on the Bishops of Durham for whom
Auckland Castle became a major, but one of several, manor houses across the county. The
town had achieved borough status by 1242/34 with rights to hold a market, giving it additional
status, importance and wealth. The extent of the borough was however limited and the
school site from lay some distance to the south in open countryside.
While Bishop Auckland appears on the earliest of maps of the county from 1569 (Figure 4)
and onwards, none of these provide any great detail. The first available detailed survey is
the Tithe Plan of 1839 (Figure 5). This shows the site of the school as a large field within a
landscape of enclosures. There was virtually no development on South Church Street, but
the earliest development had taken place at Pollards along the line of the Roman Road at
Cockerton Hill.
By 1861 and the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map, signs of urban and industrial
expansion of Bishop Auckland were evident to the north and west of the school site and to
the south there was only a collection of small houses near Bedford Lodge, another listed
building, now in very poor condition (AE 2013). The site itself still consisted of fields
enclosed with trees and by the time of the publication of the 2nd edition OS map (Figure 6),
there was a small field barn on the southern boundary. To the north the National School had
been built in 1810 and south of that King James I Grammar School for Boys had a new
building constructed in 1864, which was subsequently expanded in 1897, setting a trend for
educational buildings to be located in this area.
3 Hutchinson 2005, 14
4 Pevsner 1986, 107.
Figure 4. ‘Ye Bishopricke’ c.1569, an extract from the earliest map of county Durham. BL MS. Royal 18.D.III, ff.69-70. (Approximate site location in red)
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
15 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Figure 5. The tithe map of 1839 showing the post medieval enclosure landscape where the school was to be built in 1910
Figure 6. 2nd
Edition Ordnance Survey 6 inch to 1 mile 1897showing the location of the future County Girls’ School
By the 1920s when the 3rd edition OS map was published (Figure 7) the Bishop Auckland
County Girls’ school had been built for ten years. The building was constructed at a time of
change in Bishop Auckland. From the mid 19th century, the town had been at the hub of a
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
16 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
railway network with seven lines radiating out from the town to Durham, Spennymoor,
Darlington, Kirby Stephen, Butterknowle, Stanhope and Tow Law and this enabled the large
rural population from the surrounding area to come to the town for shopping. The existence
of the railway was to be critical in the success of the school bringing girls in from this wide
area, although the cost of the rail fares was a continual problem. Cars also made their first
appearance in the early 20th century, although it would be 1958 before they became a
nuisance in the school grounds (DRO E/SW/C 24 Minutes 3.11.1958). The peak of coal
mining in the area was just before the Great War when the North East coalfield produced
20% of the national output of coal. However lead mines had ceased working in Weardale by
1910 and as a result the town no longer provided the services for the lead miners and their
families. The level of public and private building in the first decade of the 20th century was
impressive, but sadly much has since been demolished (Laurie 1993, 1, 16).
The school building was extended in the 1930s-50s and again in the 1960s with modern
buildings added in the 1970s – 80s. The following section explores the growth of the school
in more detail.
In the town, now stands a school
Built where once the rushes blew,
Built to be a seat of learning,
And those pioneers knew
That we too the torch would carry,
Through the years with love and pride.
Stands the school; the memory lives
To seeing minds, creative hands,
Auckland stands; the torch still burns
We guard the flame and pass it on.
(Second verse of the Girls’ Grammar School song)
4.0 A Brief History of King James I Academy5
There were many educational establishments in Bishop Auckland before the Girls’ Grammar
School was built in 1910. St Anne’s National School was built in 1855 and could
accommodate 704 children. Further afield, Cockton School was built in 1908 and was even
bigger, accommodating 1,200. The Bishop Barrington School was located on the Market
Place, built in 1810 for 360 boys including thirty Bluecoat boys. A mixed R.C. school in
Hexham Street was built in 1861 for 400 children. Further along West Lane in Russell Street
there was a Wesleyan School built in 1858 for 350 children. However by 1910, it had
become a Council School. There were two private schools for girls at this time; The High
School for Girls was in the Market Place and later became The Mount. The Ladies’ School
5 An itemised chronology is given in appendix A
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was at no.1 Wear Terrace. The Methodist School was housed in huts behind the King James
I Grammar School for Boys (built here in 1864) on South Church Lane on the site of the later
quadrangle. The boys’ grammar school was undergoing a period of improvement with
increased numbers from 1902-1910. During this period, local authority day grammar schools
were being set up and in 1907 they were required by law to provide 25% of places free
(Laurie 1993, 17).
The school commenced in 1905 (although it takes its foundation from 1910 when the school
building was finished) as Bishop Auckland’s County Girls’ School, when it operated under
the care of the first headmistress Mary Holt. It operated from temporary school buildings
while the new permanent buildings were constructed on South Church Street,6 just 146m
from the existing grammar school for boys. The new buildings were completed during 1910
and could accommodate 270 girls, although average attendance was a little lower initially at
260 (Kelly’s Directory of Durham 1914, 25). The school was opened by Mrs Walter
Runciman, wife of the President of the Board of Education. Her speech attempted to straddle
the delicate balance between the need for a high standard of education for girls, but also the
continued need for housewifery and domestic education (Laurie undated, 72). In doing so it
reflected the politics of the time with women now the majority of the population, and no
longer happy to restrict themselves to traditional female trades such as domestic service.
The construction of the school was designed to meet the growing demand for secondary
education and was paid for by the County Council (Girls’ Grammar School 1960, 7). The
strengthening of the Edwardian professional classes meant that there was a sufficiently
wealthy population that could afford the school fees and who wanted a better future for their
daughters and so the school was maintained with 75% fee-paying students and 25%
scholarship girls until 1927 when it became a grammar school (Laurie 1993, 22 and Laurie
undated, 72). After 1927 admission was by examination only until it became a
comprehensive school.
‘Clearly I recall that September morning in 1910, exactly fifty years ago when we entered the
portals of the new school for the first time with a great joy and a thrill of expectancy of what
lay ahead. At long last we had a permanent home, and a new world awaited us.
Most of our school life in Bishop Auckland had been spent in makeshift accommodation,
chiefly at the headquarters of the school in Cockton Hill Methodist Schoolrooms and an
adjoining annexe, and for a short period in the Edgar Memorial Hall at the other end of town.
Consequently, we older people were more than elated when we actually ‘entered into
residence’ – such a ‘highly desirable residence’ too – at the new school, where we were all
housed under one roof and were a united whole.
I remember the first Speech Day on October 5th, 1910, held appropriately in the school hall.
We wore white dresses and small sprays of flowers, each form having different flowers.’
Recollections of Bella Parker, nee Coates who was a pupil from 1907-1911 and who
recorded her early memories for the school’s Golden Jubilee in 1960 (quoted in Laurie,
undated, 72)
6 http://www.northeastlifemag.co.uk/out-
about/places/bishop_auckland_girls_39_grammar_school_centenary_celebration_1_1638923
[accessed 10.5.13]
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
18 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
The school was ‘specially equipped with laboratories, gymnasium and domestic apartments’
(Kelly’s Directory 1914, 25) and subjects taught at the new school included English, Maths,
German, French, Domestic or Experimental Science, Geography, Music, Botany, Household
Management, Religious Knowledge, Latin, PE and a brief experimental period of teaching
Esperanto between 1918 and 1920.7 Initially the school uniform was navy gym tunics, red
blouses and long black stockings (Laurie undated, 72), but in 1918 the girls voted for a
school uniform consisting of a bottle green tunic and hat with tussore8 blouse. The school
was divided into four houses in 1918: Aclet, Dunelm, Ediscum and Vinovium (DRO
E/SW/C19 Minutes 22.7.1918).
Towards the late 19th century, schools included smaller classrooms and specialist facilities
such as a gymnasium, machine room or chemical and physical laboratories (English
Heritage 2011, 4) and these were reflected in the new school in 1910 with importance placed
on the laboratories and the Science Mistress travelling around other schools in the country in
1914 to exchange ideas on teaching practice and the best way to set out the laboratory
space (DRO E/SW/C19 21.9.1914).
Once the new buildings were complete in 1910, the school pupils and staff settled in and
soon the expected ‘snaggings’ appeared and a programme of maintenance was embarked
on. Outbuildings were limewashed internally and the caretaker’s home was wall papered, a
basin added to his house and the chimney altered with iron plates to help direct smoke up
the chimney rather than back into the caretaker’s room. One window was not fitted with a
stay in the school and so the hinges were frequently broken and had to be replaced;
remarkably this still featured in the minutes until 1920. The windows between the classrooms
and the hall needed new sash fastenings by 1915 and also in 1915 the school suffered a
gas explosion in the kitchen due to a faulty boiler and £5-17 was paid in compensation from
the insurance company (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 07.06.1915). This was used to update the
ovens and distemper and whiten the kitchen walls. By 1918 the radiators were being moved
around (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 13.9.1918).
The most prolonged snagging concerned the school grounds and in particular the school
drive, gardens, the botanic gardens, rockery
and paths with no resolution until November
1916.
Figure 7. The school layout in 1920 (3rd
ed OS map 25 inch)
The design and laying out of the gardens
had been put out to tender and two
proposals were received. That by Mr
Lawrenson was accepted as he was well
known for his botanic gardens at Jarrow
Secondary School. However Mr Lawrenson
sub contracted the work and it was
considered to be sub standard by the
governors and the County Council. From the documentation, some idea of how the grounds
7 This subject list is derived from the governors’ minutes between 1913-1962 and may not have been taught at
the same time. 8 Coarse silk
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
19 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
were intended to look can be obtained. The layout was intended to include border plantings,
a rockery close to the entrance, planting to the drive, a botanic garden for botany classes
and a school garden with plots to be worked by the students. The ‘border by the side of the
wall’ was originally the site of the botanic gardens, but as part of the remedial works, this
was redesigned to have all shrubs taken up except the broom and willows and replanted
after manuring with thirty six shrubs added consisting of Wiegelia, Guelder Rose, Ribes,
Golden Cut Leaved Elder, Olearia Haastu, Berberis Dulcis with tall shrubs at the back.
Then and Now...
Plate 1. The west side of the school showing the hard playground area immediately outside the school and the gardens and grass to the west. The flower beds were marked out with bricks on their sides, as recommended by the County Council in 1919.This would appear to pre-date the new dining room built between 1936 and 1954
Plate 2. A similar view in 2013. The presence of the dining room prevents the more distant view of the main school block. An arched window has been partially blocked, but otherwise there are few significant alteration s to this elevation
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
20 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
The botanic gardens were moved to a plot of land 93’ x 23’6” adjoining the Basket and Ball
playground and was to be treated similarly to the Jarrow Secondary School Botanic
Gardens. Stones were to be laid in a rustic formation to form pathways and to enable the
students to work in every weather. Provision was to be made for pond plants and Alpines
and beds were to be made according to the Natural Orders of Plants.
‘Outside were splendid facilities for recreation near at hand – a large, pleasantly situated
playing field and hard tennis courts.’ Recollections of Bella Parker, nee Coates who was a
pupil from 1907-1911 and who recorded her early memories for the school’s Golden Jubilee
in 1960, 23
The school garden was marked out with creosoted boards, although a report on the garden
dating to 1919, suggested lying bricks at an angle to form borders and this can be seen in
plate 1. A small rockery was recommended by the side of the Caretaker’s Lodge and
adjacent to the entrance and planted with ‘very common rockery plants’ such as London
Pride, White and Yellow Alysumn, Common Arabis, Creeping Jenny, Periwinkle and Violas.
It was thought that this would add to the appearance of the entrance, but there were
concerns that the rockery would be damaged by local children and so it may never have
been implemented. In any case, in 1917, the Ministry of Agriculture requested that all
available land be used for productive purposes as part of the war effort and so the school
governors chose a plot of land next to the Caretaker’s Lodge as the soil was considered light
enough for girls to till (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 14.5.1917). This may have been the same
plot of land that was to house the rockery. This was grassed over in 1920 once the
requirement was passed (DRO E/SW/C19). A shrubbery border was also recommended
including Scotch laburnum, Box, Rowan and Mountain Ash and Hollies.
The school grounds, having had a difficult start, and with a design that had to be modified
because of the poor quality work, underwent more change throughout the years. In 1917 the
playground had a rough asphalt surface (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 14.5.1917), but later
school inspections in 1941 required more hard surfaces. In 1921 it was proposed to use
local labour to plant the drive with shrubs. At the same time, tree planting on the playing field
was proposed in the form of six specimen trees to be purchased and three removed from the
border side bed which had become overgrown. The playing field was fenced with military
fencing with barbed wire in the same year (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 1921). The playing
fields were extended (probably eastwards based on the OS mapping evidence) between
1931 and 1949, the school drive was resurfaced in 1952 and another tennis court proposed
beside the ‘unfinished building’ (E/SW/C 23 Minutes 4.2.1952; 3.11.52). The school gardens
were abandoned in 1957 when Tarmacadam was extended up to the walls of the new dining
hall. Another site was found on the ‘far field’ and it was to be planted with plants suitable for
science studies (E/SW/C 24 Minutes 1.11.1957; 30.5.1957). A new side entrance and path
was created in 1959 (E/SW/C 24 Minutes 14.9.1959). The most significant changes were
made from the 1970s when substantial new blocks of accommodation were constructed as
the school became a comprehensive school on the site of former playing fields.
Throughout the governor’s meetings, unauthorised absence, the removal of a pupil without
adequate notice and insufficient numbers staying for a sufficiently long time to benefit from
the education continued to be a problem, but the school rapidly became oversubscribed with
40 girls being turned away in 1915 due to insufficient accommodation (DRO E/SW/C19
Minutes 20.09.1915). In 1915 the school decided that pupils would only be accepted if their
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
21 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
parents signed an agreement that they stay at the school for three years, unless there were
exceptional circumstances.
Plate 3. An undated photo of the school possibly with landscaping preparing for the new wing started in 1936. The gable end arched window is now partially blocked and remains so to this day (photo courtesy of Barbara Laurie)
Exceptional circumstances were to occur in 1914 with the outbreak of war. This manifested
itself at the school with initial fears that the school would be taken over by the local military
as barracks and the school headmistress made strong representations to prevent this
happening (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 12.10.1914 and 09.11.1914). Dark blinds were fitted to
windows and the local police suggested that public buildings put up distinctive signs
identifying the buildings so that if they were bombed, the building could be recognised from
the rubble (and the sign), but this was never implemented. The Home Secretary wrote to ask
that woman be given suitable training to enable them to take the place of men during the
period of war, especially to help with the shortage of ‘men clerks’. However as Bishop
Auckland’s Urban District Council was doing nothing to promote the employment of women
the school decided to do nothing. The local Bishop Auckland Civil Defence Corps requested
the use of the playing fields for drilling on Saturday afternoons. A public prize giving was
cancelled because of the ‘circumstances of war’; spouses were injured, kitchen staff left to
join the munitions factory and in 1915 the school agreed to take and fund a Belgian girl who
was a refugee from the War (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 10.05.1915). The school organised
fund raising events to raise funds to help with the distress caused by the war in May 1915
(DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 08.03.1915) and subsequently another event to fund the war
memorial in 1920 (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 8.11.1920). Nearby, the boys at the Barrington
School to the north of the Girls’ School, were transfixed during a playtime as they listened to
a low insistent booming sound in the distance. They learned later that it had been the sound
of the German guns bombarding Hartlepool (Laurie 1993, 36).
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
22 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Plate 4. Aerial photograph of the school in 1945 with the incomplete west wing (Google Earth)
As the school proved to be
popular, further complaints
were made at governors’
meetings regarding the lack of
space for fee paying pupils in
1917 (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes
10.12.1917) and more
significant alterations to the
fabric of the building gradually
became necessary. In 1918,
the laundry room was used for
cookery classes while the original cookery rooms were used as a class room.9 By 1919 a
number of older girls were returning to the school to do advanced or commercial work and
this had an effect on the available space in the school. Initially, space was reorganised in the
science theatre to create an additional classroom without any structural alterations, but in
time, new buildings would be required (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 6.6.1919).
Figure 8. OS 25 inch map of 1939 (left) shows the plot of land laid out for the new wing on the west side of the school. The next edition of OS mapping dating to 1962 (right) shows the wing as completed, which had also been extended on the west side. The square shape marked out with a broken line in the SE corner was a garden area enclosed behind iron railings; the outline is still marked out today. In the meantime, a further building had been constructed beyond the NE corner of the building.
There are references to a new housecraft block with sick room and bathroom being built
sometime between 1931 and the date of the inspector’s report in 1949. This appears to have
been a north extension on the west wing which first appears on maps in 1939. The
construction of a new wing on the west side of the school started in 1936, but progress was
slow with works at a standstill by March 1938 leaving the building with only half of the
services introduced and the decorating still to be done (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes March and
9 The minutes say a glass room, but this might be a typographical error for class room.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
23 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
April 1938). This new wing was to be a gym ‘started just before the recent war’ which had
still not been completed by 1949 when the school was inspected. By this time the new gym
no longer met building regulation requirements for a gym and so was going to be used as a
kitchen/dining room, so that the old kitchens and dining rooms could be used as a new
library (Ministry of Education 1949). By 1952, what was called the new dining room and
toilets were still not finished and it was proposed to site a new tennis court next to this
unfinished building (E/SW/C 23 Minutes 4.2.1952; 3.11.52). Remarkably, it was not until
1954 that the headmistress could report to the governors that the new dining room was in full
use and the new library had much more accommodation than the old one (E/SW/C 23
Minutes 5.4.1954). The new dining room and kitchens therefore appeared to have taken 18
years to build.
Figure 9 The first main new additions to the building after 1910
Sometime between the end of the Second World War and 1962, a further building was
added to the school just beyond the north east corner (see fig 8 right). The school
inspector’s report of 1958 (Ministry of Education 1958) referred to new offices built since
1949, but also referred to the lack of suitable PE facilities and that the science labs were too
small, therefore the new block could have been built in response to any of those needs.
Governors agreed to explore the possibility of a new gymnasium with showers and changing
rooms, plus the renewal of floors in the labs in 1958 and in 1959, the governors’ minutes
also referred to structural alterations within the school and the installation of a new heating
system. At the same time a new side entrance and path was created and the mapping
suggests that this was on the north side of the school with an additional path leading from
the school drive.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
24 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Plate 5. The long awaited dining room which started life as a gym. Despite being built between 1936 and 1954 it references the Tudor style windows of the original build and the use of arches, but internal fittings such as doors
are distinctively in a 1930s style
Plate 6. The school and playground; the playground was made of compacted earth and clay, then covered in loose gravel and sand, but rainwater drained slowly from the surface resulting in messy playtimes. The game area lines were made using powdered lime and chalk which required replacing at the beginning of every month. More hard surfaces for playgrounds were recommended in the inspector’s report of 1949, by 1952 the drive was resurfaced and by 1957, Tarmacadam extended up to the new dining hall (photo courtesy of Barbara Laurie)
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
25 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Plate 7. The school in the late 1970s or early 1980s with some significant alterations to the windows which have since been reversed.
The school celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1960 and two years later it was amalgamated
with King James I Grammar School for Boys. A new lab had been fitted one year previously
and in 1962, building works concentrated on creating toilet facilities for girls in the boys’
school. There were other proposals discussed including the demolition of the ‘old building’
and the creation of a multi-storied science block, however the old buildings at the boys’
school nor the girls’ school were never demolished.
In the 1970s, substantial building works took place to the east of the school, demountables
were placed to the north of the school playground and the entrance arch on the south
elevation was partially demolished to let delivery trucks through during construction works.
Photographs of the school, possibly dating to the late 1970s or early 1980, suggests that the
windows were poorly altered resulting in a change of character. These changes have since
been reversed.
These large scale works were triggered by its move towards comprehensive school status in
1974 which resulted in an increased number of students and the need for additional facilities.
It subsequently became known as King James I Comprehensive School and Community
Arts College and in 2011 it was converted into an Academy.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
26 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Then and Now...
Plate 8. The school c.1975 from the new school buildings. A number of windows have been replaced in unsuitable materials, since reversed
Plate 9. A similar view in 2013 with softer landscaping
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
27 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Plate 10. The school in the 1970s with additional development to the east and demountables in the playground
Figure 10. The phasing of building works at the Middle School
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
28 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
5.0 Statement of Significance
The significance of King James I Academy
The broad divisions of national, regional or locally important convey an indication of overall
importance, but such broad divisions need to be refined in order to provide a basis for
decisions about intervention and management, not only articulating the key values, but
relating them to specific elements of the site. Each historic asset has a unique cultural
significance derived from a wide range of varying interests and perspectives encompassing
not just the physical fabric of the site but also its setting, use, history, traditions, local
distinctiveness and community value (Kerr 2000, 4). Successful management or
development of a site is based on protecting these various elements, foreseeing any
potential conflicts of interest within them, and minimising any potential threats arising in the
future.
The following section looks at just what it is that contributes to the unique site significance of
the school based on the information outlined above, however the detailed room by room
statement only covers nine rooms where works are proposed. This is to help assess the
acceptability of alterations to the building and the impact on the building’s significance as
outlined in the Historic Environment Planning Practice Guide 2010 and the National Planning
Policy Framework 2012.
This assessment of significance includes an assessment of the nature, extent and level of
significance of the heritage asset. The nature of the heritage asset’s significance is divided
into archaeological, architectural, artistic and historic interest (HEPPG 2010, para 12). To
this is added communal value by which an assessment is made of the value that the asset
has for the wider community (English Heritage 2008, 31).
The level of significance is important as the loss of a feature of high significance is worse
than losing one of low significance. The level of significance is based on to what extent a
particular element contributes to the asset’s heritage significance. For example a 19th
century staircase might make a considerable architectural contribution to the character and
significance of a particular Victorian house, but a mid 20th century opening might make a
limited or no contribution to significance. Within this report the following terms are used to
define significance and are designed to aid informed management and the need to balance
heritage significance with any wider public benefit of the proposal which is the spirit of the
National Planning Policy Framework:
Considerable: aspects of the site considered as seminal to the archaeological, architectural,
artistic and historic significance of the site, the alteration or development of which would
destroy or significantly compromise the integrity of the site.
Some: aspects that help to define the archaeological, architectural, artistic of historic
significance of the site, without which the character and understanding of place would be
diminished but not destroyed.
Limited: aspects which may contribute to, or complement, the archaeological, architectural,
artistic of historic significance of the site but are not intrinsic to it or may only have a minor
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
29 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
connection to it, and the removal or alteration of which may have a degree of impact on the
understanding and interpretation of the place.
Unknown: aspects where the significance is not clearly understood possibly because it is
masked or obscured and where further research may be required to clarify its significance.
None: aspects which may make a negative contribution or a neutral contribution where its
loss would make no difference to our understanding and interpretation of the place.
5.1 Architectural interest
There was a philosophy behind the architecture of Victorian schools which survived until
Edwardian times, although the architectural styles had become much more simplified. It was
thought that they should be well lit, have open spaces around them and be distant from bad
influences. Schools built until the 1820s tended to favour classical styles of architecture, but
with the national building programmes created from the 1870s, Victorian Gothic revival styles
were favoured (English Heritage 2011) which can be seen at the King James I Grammar
School for Boys to the north. The County School for Girls adopted more recent architectural
fashions which reflected the changing times of the Edwardian era. The stone mullioned
windows in a Tudor style harked back to the English past; the spacious and light Arts and
Crafts style influenced the central assembly hall while the balustraded roof tops referenced
Classical traditions. Such free style use of combinations of architectural influences were to
be found throughout the country such as many designs by Edward Lutyens and others who
were part of the Arts and Crafts Movement.
The architectural style of the 1910 building was of high quality snecked stone with horizontal
tooling to the ashlar plinths, quoins and dressings. The windows in particular consisted of
leaded lights within stone mullions, Mullions and transoms and Venetian windows. The
lanterns were a distinctive style adopted in a number of similar schools such as the Boys
County School in Barnard Castle (1883), but Bishop Auckland School out did them all with
lanterns and bell towers in abundance. However the neo Gothic styles of the Victorian period
have been firmly rejected with pointed arches replaced with substantial round arched
openings which were used not just on the exterior elevations, but throughout the whole
building for internal windows, doorways and blind arches. The high degree of ornamentation
from the late 19th century now seemed fussy and the elevations were much plainer, crisper,
simpler and lighter with barely a pinnacle in site.
‘Light, airy form rooms led from the lofty, large, well-proportioned central Assembly Hall.
Then there was the lovely Art Room...The Headmistress and Staff now had a Study and
Staff Room worthy of the name. Upstairs, we had the service of a commodious Dining Hall,
another innovation.’ Recollections of Bella Parker, nee Coates who was a pupil from 1907-
1911 and who recorded her early memories for the school’s Golden Jubilee in 1960, 23
The style of the building was designed to be impressive, but unusually it had no particular
principal elevation. The original public access was via the school drive from the caretaker’s
house and from there below an archway that linked the bicycle sheds (and toilets?)10 with
10
The governors’ minutes of 1917 state that the toilet pipes had frozen over winter suggesting that the toilets
may have been outside (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 12.2.1917.) Toilets are overhauled in 1939 (DRO E/SW/C19
Minutes) but there is no reference to their location. The listing description refers to the outbuildings as toilets,
but the interiors were not seen.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
30 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
the main school block and in through a narrow entrance foyer. This side of the building was
hemmed in by the outbuildings, although the land to the south was still largely undeveloped
with Woodlands Road only partially built and Queen’s Road not underway at all. But if the
entranceway was the principle elevation, then it was obscured by the outbuildings and a
boundary wall which was not an auspicious view at all.
The first phase of building was orientated for a best fit in the enclosed field. The main block
was north south so that the playing fields on the east side of the school were hidden by the
school from the main road. But a west wing took advantage of the field width to create an L-
shape, thus forming a semi enclosed area within which to have a playground. This was not
an auspicious view of the school either as the main elevations could not be appreciated from
the roadside. The north elevation was more imposing and the playground was where most
school photos were taken. The east elevation faced fields and could only be viewed from a
footpath.
The design of the building was also symmetrical in places with the view of the west elevation
of the main block being identical to the east elevation. The school therefore does not appear
to have been designed to be seen from any particular viewpoint, or to have a principal
elevation. The significance of each elevation is therefore identical in terms of those qualities
which provide architectural interest. With its substantial size and high quality design set
within an open green space, it did however have some street presence, particularly as in
1910, the tree cover was immature and the school much more visible. It also encapsulated
the aspirational qualities of the school’s teachers, pupils (and more particularly their parents)
and governors.
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Then and Now...
Plate 11. The school entrance as designed in 1910. The covered corridor linked the cycle sheds (and outside toilets?) with the school. The dining room had still to be added.
Plate 12. School entrance c.1972 with the dining room and encroachment of cars. The railings were lost to the war effort
Plate 13. The two central arches have since been removed from the arcaded covered corridor in order to allow delivery trucks through when the site was under development in the 1970s. Today this view is marred by safety fencing. The garden has been reduced in size to allow more car parking. The fencing obstructs views of he building
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
32 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Plate 14. The elevation facing South Church Road would have been the most visible to passersby in 1910, however the building of a new dining hall in the 1930-50s obscured this view and at the same time enclosed the playground. The use of arches is distinctive to all the early 20
th century buildings with the design being used not
just for windows and doors, but also upside down on the balustrade roof top.
Plate 15. The elevation facing north towards King James I Grammar School for Boys with main central Venetian window arrangement, stone mullions to windows, roof top balustrades, lanterns and bell tower all adding architectural interest.
The interiors are splendid examples of Arts and Crafts styles and again represent the
English Edwardian rejection of modernity at a time of great technological advance, especially
amongst the middle classes. The hall with its massive beamed queen post roof on carved
corbelled braces captures the essence of the movement by not only showing its workings,
but harking back to times when life’s necessities were made by hand and not mass
produced. The entire interiors, whether built in 1910 or added later, made use of brown
faience tiles up to dado rail height, finished off with a matching tiled dado rail in all corridors,
stair wells and many classrooms. Door detailing is also a unifying theme throughout. Many
with arches over the doors, half glazed doorways to let in maximum light, and beautiful
curving art nouveau thumb latches. However the decoration stopped here with no added
ornamentation and even the entrance hall with its founding stone are relatively simple.
Subsequent works to the building have retained the tiles and the arched doorways (even if
they are blocked, they are often still visible) and so the arched theme is repeated again and
again along corridors and the arcaded galleries that overlook the hall.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
33 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Plate 16. From the outset the distinctive brown dado tiles unified the interiors in classrooms and corridors
The windows for the school were distinctively revivalist and of a style particularly popular in
Arts and Crafts buildings. The ‘free style’ choices available to architects of the time were
generally rooted in Tudor England, but traditional stylistic boundaries became well and truly
blurred here and in many other large buildings, so that the way was ultimately paved for the
advent of Modernism (Louw 2007, 47). On a single elevation at the Girls’ School there were
Venetian windows, mullioned windows and mullioned and transomed windows. The original
windows were leaded light iron casements which was brought back into favour by the Arts
and Crafts Movement. Early photographs suggest that there were a number of different ways
to open them; some opened at the top by swivelling on a pivot and thus provided ventilation.
Such pivotal windows were a regular feature in institutional buildings where ventilation was
considered important, such as schools and hospitals (ibid, 67). Others had traditional
fastenings and stays in a revivalist ‘cottage’ style, although we know from the school
governors’ minutes that sash fastenings had to be repaired to the windows between the
classrooms and the hall by a ‘local competent man’ in 1915 (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes
11.10.1915) and in 1916 that the lack of stays in some windows resulted in frequent damage
to hinges when they were blown open.
The minutes of a governors’ meeting in 1937 record that Hopper windows were installed at
that time. It does not say where, but a number of ‘hopper frames’ do exist and have been
fixed to arched windows or those that overlook corridors. They were also fitted to the new
dining room. These frames were so popular in hospitals that they were often referred to as
the ‘hospital light’ (ibid). Again, a reference in governor’s minutes and school inspector’s
report of 1931 suggested that stuffiness was an issue in classes which overlooked the
central hall and the Hopper frames may have been a remedy for this, but by 1949 when the
Hopper windows had been in place for twelve years, stuffiness was still raised by the school
inspector as a problem. Some extant windows in the school are not opening at all and
appear to be original, possibly mostly located in non-classrooms, while there have been a
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
34 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
few replacements which do not reflect the leaded lights of the originals but have opted for a
simple pane of glass with no leadwork. Later photographs dating to the late 1970s or early
80s show some replacement and partial blocking which was to the detriment of the school
elevations, but these appear to have been removed and replaced.
Plate 17. The original top opening Arts and Crafts window style (left); a Hopper window with metal framework which operated the top opening windows (centre) and a replacement window with vertical leadwork missing (right)
Overall the building is of considerable architectural interest and those elements which
contribute to that interest are as follows:
Nature of interest Image Level of interest
The original window and door openings in a Tudor style
Considerable
The revivalist leaded windows and original 1910 panelled doors
Considerable
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
35 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Balustraded roof tops See above
The use of the arch theme throughout and repeated use of Venetian window arrangement and hood moulding
Considerable
Chequer board pattern to arch niches
Considerable
The dated cast iron rainwater goods
Considerable
The use of bellcotes and lanterns
Considerable
String coursing to divide the elevation
See above Considerable
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
36 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Snecked stone detailing to highlight the entrances
Considerable
The Welsh slate roof
Considerable
The arcaded linking corridor with the cycle sheds
Some (due to some loss of significance caused by removal of two central arches)
Datestone and Girls door sign
Considerable
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
37 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
The caretaker’s lodge including boundary wall to rear, gateposts
Considerable
School drive gates
None
Caretaker’s railings
Considerable
The dining room
Considerable
Metalwork to overlight near dining room
Considerable (reflects the lattice work on the railings and inside the school)
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
38 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Railings
Some (not original) but make a positive contribution to the playground area
Boundary wall See above Considerable
Internal features
Brown glazed tiles
Considerable
The repeated use of archways
Considerable
The half glazed doors with Art Nouveau handles
Considerable
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
39 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
The exposed beams of the central hall, the window and door openings around it and cornicing detail to entrance doors
Considerable
The Hopper frames
Some
Original leaded lights
Considerable
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
40 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Stair balustrades and rails
Considerable (one is partially lost due to the installation of a stair lift, but parts of it are still in storage)
Stair safety railings
Unknown. Designed to match balustrades, but status not known
The commemorative stone in the entrance
Considerable
Commemorative plaque (not in original position)
Considerable
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
41 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
The original workings for the school bell and adjacent barometer
Considerable
The 1930s (?) fireplace in the school secretary’s (?) office.
Some
Dining room internal doors
Some (external doors match the 1910 building and are of considerable interest)
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
42 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Then and Now....
Plates 18 and 19. The assembly hall in the late 1970s or early80s (left) and in 2013 (right). The top balcony windows have been glazed but otherwise the hall is intact. This was used as the gym until 1962 and had climbing bars and ropes attached.
5.2 Historic Interest
The school does not appear to have any notable associations with nationally famous historic
people or events, but it does have a presence in the archives in the form of governors’
minutes and some inspectors’ reports. These are a valuable insight into school life and the
people who managed it. It is also a fascinating insight into the effects of war on the school.
They are however incomplete and the fact that works to the building are proposed and
agreed in the minutes does not always mean that they took place. Sadly, there are no early
plans of the building and no documentary material relating to its founding. The school also
appears to have had a relatively low profile in the regional press, but there are accounts of
speech days and meetings of the Durham County Education Committee where the school
was discussed dating to 1914-22 in the Newcastle Journal and Evening Telegraph. It is
therefore of some historic interest. He presence of the school commemorative plaques in
the entrance foyer are visible reminders of the school’s history, but many other reminders
have been lost such as portraits of former head mistresses or historic gifts to the school such
as barometers, are now out of sight in store cupboards.
‘Miss Ashworth, the head mistress of the Bishop Auckland Girls’ County School states that
since the war the management have been asked why they are continuing to teach German.
The reply was that if it were necessary for them to understand their friends, it was ten times
more necessary to understand their enemies’ (Exeter and Plymouth Gazette 26.11.1915 and
Newcastle Journal 26.11.1915).11
11
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000511/19151126/003/0002
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
43 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
5.3 Archaeological interest
There is no evidence that the site of the school has any archaeological evidence which
predates it. The school was constructed on enclosed fields and there was a field barn
located on the south field boundary. This was located under the bicycle sheds and so was
presumably destroyed. There is no evidence that it was incorporated into the new build.
The early growth of settlement around Bishop Auckland appears to have been based around
the Market Place, Newton Cap and South Church and any Roman evidence should
concentrate towards Dere Street (over 200m west of the school) and Binchester. It is likely
that the site formed part of the arable land or forest associated with North Auckland as it was
called in the Boldon Book of 1183 and was well outside the town limits. Auckland Park was
used for hunting throughout the medieval period and was the location of the mill, but both
are at least 400m north of the school. Similarly, the Bishop’s Palace was located there from
the 12th century, but again some distance to the north and around a loop in the river.
There are no sites recorded on the Historic Environment Record for the school site, apart
from the school itself. A rapid desk based archaeological assessment carried out by the
Durham County Council archaeology section on behalf of the Building Schools for the Future
Project in 2009 found no evidence of archaeology on the site, but because archaeology was
found ‘in the immediate vicinity’ of the site, recommended a programme of archaeological
evaluation including monitoring any geo-technical test pits or bore holes (DCC 2009,
abstract). It also stated however that the archaeological potential of the site below the
buildings was low to negligible and medium to low on the playing fields. In terms of the sites
in the immediate vicinity, the nearest is a well which was found in 1974 near the cemetery
lodge which is to the north of the Town Cemetery and was thought to be possibly Roman
(HER 1473). This seems unlikely as three wells are all depicted on historic mapping and
they appear to be 19th century in date (OS 1st and 2nd ed OS).
Other archaeological sites referred to in the DCC report include the Roman Road, Dere
Street just under c. 230m to the west of the school (ibid, abstract), while the main body of
the report states that Dere Street runs 825m east of the school (ibid, 3). The route is thought
to extend down Cockerton Hill towards the Market Place before swinging through what is
now Auckland Park, across the river towards Binchester. Although Roman roads do attract
activity, especially when the road is near a Roman fort or close to an area likely to attract
occupation anyway, such as a river crossing, there is no evidence of Roman activity on the
school site which is at a sufficient distance to make related activity seem unlikely without
additional reasons. The DCC report does not discount the possibility that Roman settlement
remains might lie on the site, but there is no evidence of any and nothing on any aerial
photographs.
The proximity of the river and the topographic position on high ground may have met some
of the criteria for early settlement, but these tend to favour tributary sites close to the river
and such places exist on the other side of the river and further north towards the King James
I Grammar School for Boys, Auckland Park and of course on the site of Bishop Auckland
itself. The school site does not conform to such favoured locations.
The nearest archaeological work to take place to the school was at Ferrins Mill Weir (HER
4950) where archaeological recording after flood damage concluded that the weir was 19th
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
44 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
century in date. Geophysical survey, evaluation and watching brief at Bishop Auckland
Sports Ground revealed no significant anomalies or archaeological features (HER 7705,
7838).
If there were any buried remains on the playing fields, they will have been truncated by
ploughing in the past. There is no direct evidence for levelling of the playing fields and some
feint traces of ridge and furrow can be seen as parch marks running east west across the
playing fields to the north. Photographs of the relatively new school suggest that there were
considerable earthmoving operations to create a level area for the school however.
The archaeological interest of the site therefore appears to be restricted to some feint ridge
and furrow on the playing fields to the north and is therefore only of limited archaeological
interest.
Plate 20. Possible traces of ridge and furrow can be seen running east west across the playing fields to the north. Other lines appear to be mowing marks.
5.4 Artistic interest
Artistic interest is usually taken to mean the interest in the heritage asset as a subject in
historic artistic views. Where such an interest exists it is possible to look at to what extent the
historic view would be affected by any new development. A trawl through artistic views of
buildings and landscapes held by Pictures in Print12 and through the internet has found no
views of the site of the school. The majority of published views in Bishop Auckland relate to
the Bishop’s Palace or the deer park. The only views available of the school are traditional
school photographs which are normally taken in the playground with the school’s north
elevation as a backdrop, although a number of early photographs use the playing fields as a
backdrop. The school is therefore only of limited artistic interest.
12
A collaborative project of printed maps and topographical prints of County Durham created before 1860 held
by Durham University Library, Durham County Library, Durham Cathedral Library, Sunderland Museum,
Sunderland City Library and the British Library
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
45 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
5.5 Communal value
For many, schools are formative buildings and much valued elements of the public realm.
They are an emotive category of heritage asset (English Heritage 2011), because they have
strong associations for anyone who was taught there or who worked there. There is a small
web page for former girls13 and a facebook page,14 but neither are particularly well stocked
with photos or memories. As the school is not under any threat- it is a threat to a school
which brings out the passionate support for the building- it is difficult to gauge public opinion
on it. However the school does have regular reunions and former girls do travel far and wide
to attend (Barbara Laurie pers comm.) and so it appears to have a strong and loyal
following. The communal value of the school is therefore of some interest.
5.6 The significance of the setting
The National Planning Policy Framework seeks to protect those elements of an asset’s
setting which are considered to be significant. The English Heritage definition of setting is
very wide: ‘The surroundings in which a heritage asset is experienced. Its extent is not fixed
and may change as the asset and its surroundings evolve. Elements of a setting may make
a positive or negative contribution to the significance of an asset, may affect the ability to
appreciate that significance or may be neutral.’ (English Heritage 2012, 2).
Schools were often local landmarks designed to inculcate pride in learning and the school is
grand and substantial enough to do that, although its discrete entrance (the lodge gates
excepted) do not have quite the symbolism of entering into the realm of learning and
advancement of knowledge that some earlier Georgian or Victorian institutions might have
had. The school is set back from the road and its street presence does not seem to have
been important in its design; indeed a stone wall and the bicycle sheds on its south elevation
discouraged any view inwards from the south. Further, the regimented lines of safety railings
imprison the fine building and do much to detract from the otherwise green and leafy
qualities of the character area and the school’s setting.15 It forms an important distinctive
educational character area within the Bishop Auckland Conservation Area and there is an
added value in having a group of educational historic buildings constructed in high quality
public realm styles to provide a sense of grandeur and pride – a valuable contribution in an
area with so many rundown buildings. Indeed the Conservation Area is listed on the Heritage
at Risk Survey by English Heritage as being in poor condition with no apparent trend
towards improvement. This is a decline over the last few years when it was previously
thought to have trend towards improvement (English Heritage 2013 and AE 2012). 16
Instead, it is the collective value of the two grammar schools and the former National School,
plus the playing fields, cricket pitch and more particularly the mature trees that create a
character area of considerable interest. The caretaker’s lodge has greater street presence
as it sits directly on the street front with a distinctive neo-Jacobean style that contrasts with
the more humble terraces opposite. The diagonally set gate piers which match the
13
http://www.lakedge.com/BAGGS/Girls54-59.htm [accessed 18.5.13] 14
http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk/bishop-auckland-girls-grammar-school/b/83e1f37b-1977-4dce-b173-
dce2c5586436 [accessed 18.5.13] 15
It is interesting to note that vandalism was reported in the school minutes as early as 1919 16
http://risk.english-
heritage.org.uk/register.aspx?id=5335&rt=6&pn=1&st=a&ctype=exact&crit=Bishop+Auckland [accessed
20.5.13]
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
46 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
caretaker’s garden walls, also provide considerable street presence, although the listing
describes them as being topped with ball finials – they are in fact a more modern geometric
shape. The school is therefore of some architectural interest for its contribution towards
the streetscape, but the caretaker’s lodge, railings and the drive gate piers are of
considerable architectural interest for the contribution they make towards the streetscape
and the wider character area is also of considerable architectural interest. The gates into
the school drive are unattractive modern replacements of no interest despite being included
in the listing description and the modern safety fencing which sits on the original dwarf wall
detract from the conservation area and the setting.
Plate 21. The modern safety fencing does much to detract from the setting of the school and the conservation area
Further afield, there is only one designated heritage asset which could be affected by any
changes at the school and that is the former King James I Grammar School for Boys. As the
two schools contribute towards the distinctive character area, then changes to one have the
potential to affect the other. However there were no designed views between the two and for
periods in history any associations between the students of the two were probably forbidden!
The views of the Austin designed part of the boys’ grammar school was designed to be seen
from South Church Road and is of sufficient architectural interest to merit retaining a view of
the elevation from the south (AE 2012). This does not preclude development within the
playing field between the two schools providing that they respect the views of the two historic
schools and retain a green and leafy character.
Further afield, there is no evidence that any heritage assets within the grade II* Auckland
Park will be affected by changes to the school. While there are designed views from the
pleasure grounds on the east of the castle, they are across parkland and gardens with
considerable mature tree cover and are separated from the school by the intervening
development of The Dell, The Willows and Durham Road. The main entrances into the park
are from the Market Place in Bishop Auckland and from the north side of the Park; neither
are close to the school site. The setting of Auckland Park is therefore unlikely to be affected
by any development at the school.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
47 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
6.0 The Importance of the Academy building
Schools are especially vulnerable to conversion and demolition, and there is widespread
public interest in the future of these distinctive historic buildings (English Heritage 2011, 2).
Education buildings are particularly sensitive ones, but designation and the positive
management of these places are in no way incompatible with aspirations for educational
improvement or change and reuse. School and higher education buildings also contribute
greatly to the richness of the local scene and King James I Academy is no
exception.
The guidance for listing (ibid) suggests that schools dating to between
1870 and 1914 survive in large numbers in England, although they are a
diminishing resource (English Heritage 2011, 9). As a result of the large
numbers surviving, English Heritage policy on listing historic schools has
stricter criteria for listing buildings in this later date range. The most
important criterion for listing is external architectural quality and the
former girls’ school has an architectural style and survival of features that
raises it above the average. It was built at a time when there were
limitations in funding and as a consequence, many school designs had
become austere and formulaic. However this school captures the spirit of
the time in its architecture without producing a dull building.
Interiors also contribute towards designatable quality. At this time, fixtures
were generally plain and most plans were formulaic and increasingly
standardised: exceptions are thus of interest (ibid). The Arts and Crafts
inspired main hall and the use of Art Nouveau motifs, such as the door
handles was quite exceptional in schools at this time (English Heritage
2011, 4). Although the interiors are simple, they are unified with the
glazed tiles and decorative detailing applied to balustrades.
Completeness can be most important, and here the exteriors and interiors
have survived well. The windows, despite going through a number of
alterations have survived and although a few leaded panes are missing,
the overall effect to the elevations is of an intact building. Similarly the
original doors have survived, although a few may no longer be in their
original positions. The most significant alteration to the 1910 build is the
dining room. It was built at a time when many schools were using steel
framed buildings in a modernist style (ibid), but at Bishop Auckland, the
architectural quality of the existing school was recognised and fully
referenced in the new build and as a result it does not detract from the
importance of the school.
Ancillary structures such as carefully designed walls, railings, gates and teacher’s houses
can enhance the case for designation and at Bishop Auckland, the Caretaker’s Lodge is of
considerable architectural interest and indeed has considerable street presence. The railings
may not be original. In 1918 a runaway horse dashed into the railings in front of the
caretaker’s lodge and completely smashed the railings on the left of the entrance gate. They
were repaired, but the school lost its railings to the war effort, although it is not clear if all of
them were removed. Historic photographs show railings around the playground and to the
Plate 22. Art Nouveau inspired door handles survive on many doors
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
48 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
garden area near the caretaker’s lodge and they were all removed. A pillar and gate were
knocked down in 1944 and there were proposals to widen the same gate a few years later.
The originals within the curtilage were simple vertical poles linked with horizontal bars
towards the top and bottom. Photos of the school taken in the 1950s show the playground
with temporary netting instead of metal rails. However the railings that do exist today have
been cleverly designed to reflect the designs of the glazing inside the entrance hall. They
also help to harmonise the street presence of the school, although their contribution towards
the streetscape is marred by safety fencing along the pavements. The gateposts are original
however and are fine examples.
Plate 23. The lattice work on either side of the hall doors is reflected in the design of the railings outside the Caretaker’s Lodge. Similarly the use of the arch theme is reflected in the railings and gate. As the school donated its railings to the war effort it is not certain that they are original (the caretaker may have been exempted from donating) but their design is in keeping with the design of the school. The safety railings and street clutter diminish appreciation of the railings.
At a more local level it is less clear how many other schools survive in such good condition.
There are one hundred and two schools on the County Durham Historic Environment Record
but there is insufficient information to record the numbers demolished or an accurate date
range. Of this 102, 90 are pre 1900 in date and so Edwardian schools are not well
represented locally. Seventy one schools are listed in Co. Durham which is a high
percentage of the remaining stock. This compares to 3405 schools which are listed
nationally and which cover all date ranges. A more accurate breakdown of listed schools
according to date is not possible due to poor quality data. A search of Edwardian Schools in
the date range 1902-10 on the Heritage List for England produced no results which is clearly
wrong. There should be at least one. Broadening out the search terms to include education
buildings between 1901 and 1932 still produced no results. It is therefore not possible to use
the national heritage list for England or the local Historic Environment Record to accurately
gauge the extent of survival and date ranges of schools without further work on the
databases.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
49 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Then and Now...
Plate 24. An undated view of the east elevation showing the form of the original railings
Plate 25. The view today shows how little school has altered externally.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
50 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
7.0 Heritage Impact Assessment
Overall the building has already been identified as being in satisfactory condition with only
minor signs of deterioration (Oakleaf Surveying Ltd 2011, 17) as one might expect from a
building constructed over one hundred years ago. The works proposed to the Middle School
are therefore modest. They involve alterations which include some internal wall removals in
nine groups of rooms; six on the ground floor of the original build, one in the dining room
wing and three on the first floor.
Generally the building has been through a number of modifications already. With growing
student numbers and changing educational needs, the building has had to adapt. In 1919
space was reorganised in the science theatre to create an additional classroom without any
structural alterations (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 6.6.1919). In 1937, a wall in the kitchen was
removed to create more space and two serving hatches were proposed between the kitchen
and dining room (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes December 1937). In 1938 a new domestic
science room was built (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes Feb 1938) and in 1939 the toilets were
overhauled (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes). In the 1930s the library had to be moved to a larger
room and the gym hall was moved to the assembly hall. The present dining room was built
as a gym hall, but had to be quickly converted to a dining room when it was realised that it
no longer complied with building regulations for a gym. A new door was inserted into the
domestic science room in 1959 to ease the flow of staff and pupil traffic (E/SW/C 24 Minutes
30.5.1957). The inspector’s report of 1958 outlined proposed temporary modifications to
remedy the lack of P.E. facilities and the deficiencies in accommodation for science. The
proposed short term solution was to convert the music room to a general science lab. In
1959 unspecified structural alterations took place and a new heating system was installed
(E/SW/C 24 Minutes 14.9.1959). Other modifications to have taken place include the
installation of electricity throughout (including the headmistress’s desire for standardised
sockets!), the resiting of radiators and the reflooring of the assembly hall. The proposed new
modifications are in the spirit of previous alterations and like previous alterations, they will be
carried out to reflect the character of the original build.
In each case, providing that the glazed tiles to dado rail height are retained or rebuilt in a
new position, they will continue to unify the design throughout, particulary in public areas
such as corridors. Further the retention or reuse of arched doorways or arches over half
glazed doorways will also help to ensure that there is no loss of significance. Where doors
need to be moved, they should be reused elsewhere in the building (or kept in storage for
future use) and care taken to reuse the original thumb latches, or where they have been lost
to secure replacements in a similar style.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
51 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Figure 11. Proposed alterations on the ground floor
7.1 Alteration A
This is the removal of two partition walls which form two store rooms close one of the
school’s entrances. The east and west walls of both resulting small rooms have the
distinctive brown tiles to dado rail height, suggesting that they are original, but the presence
of the room removes the symmetry of the ground plan suggesting instead that they are a
later addition. The east west wall is certainly a later insertion which further subdivides the
long room into two. It does not have the brown tiles and divides the window splay on the east
wall confirming its later date. The long thin room (without its further subdivision) may
originally have been a cloakroom or toilet. Its position close to the main Assembly Hall
entrance and the side door suggests that the headmistress may have had her office in this
vicinity. If her office was the adjoining room (and there is no evidence that it was), then this
small room may have been the new lavatory and sink installed for her in 1939 (DRO
E/SW/C19 Minutes). Other options include the secretary’s new office and rest room of 1938
(DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes March and April 1938) as in each case there would be some merit
in such key staff being close to the side entrance and the main route into the Assembly Hall.
However this is conjecture without the early plans of the building.
The two walls to be removed are shown on figure 12. The insertion of these walls in the
past, plus the addition of the extension to the north before the 1960s would have had the
effect of limiting light into the adjacent room. This necessitated the insertion of a 12 pane
window in the partition wall to allow some light to filter through from the external wall now in
the store room. The removal of the partition walls will increase the availability of natural light
which is a benefit.
To avoid loss of significance the brown tiles should be retained on the remaining walls. The
only other items of significance in the room is the original mullioned external window on the
north wall and the now divided window on the east wall - these too should be retained,
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
52 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
although the north part of the east window has lost some leading and needs replacing. The
half glazed door matches many of the others in the school and if it is not to be reused,
should be stored for use in any future alterations in the school. The 12 pane window in the
partition is not sufficiently significant to merit retention.
Feature of significance
Impact on significance
Mitigation recommended
Image
Brown tiles to walls Loss of tiles on partition wall
None, but ensure that tiles are retained on remaining walls. Consider retaining any intact tiles for future repair works. Recommend removing white paintwork from tiles in classroom.
External windows To be repaired Beneficial effect
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
53 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Feature of significance
Impact on significance
Mitigation recommended
Image
Partition door To be removed Consider reusing elsewhere or storing for future use
Partition window To be removed None proposed
Original room proportions
To be restored Beneficial effect, none proposed
7.2 Alteration B
This is the proposed removal of a partition wall which
will restore the room to its original proportions. It was
not possible to see if the wall had any features of
significance due to fitted cupboards and general
classroom clutter,17 but there is no evidence of any
detrimental impact. The items of significance in this
classroom are the brown tiles, the arched windows
above doors, the Hopper windows, the external
mullioned windows and the parquet flooring. There is no
evidence that any of these will be affected. The picture
rail is not apparent on the wall to be removed further
suggesting it is a later inserted wall. The external
windows are missing some leadwork and this needs to
be repaired.
17
The classroom was in use during the visit which restricted photography and access
Plate 26. The wall to be removed is on the left
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
54 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
7.3 Alteration C
This is the removal of a small modern partition forming a cupboard in the Assembly Hall. The
insertion is a negative feature as it divides the open space of the hall and its removal will
have a beneficial effect on the significance of the hall by returning it to its original
proportions.
Plate 27. The later cupboard to be removed from the Assembly Hall
Figure 12. Proposed alterations on the ground floor
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
55 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
7.4 Alteration D
This alteration is to the current girls’ toilet and requires the removal of a concrete partition
wall that does not extend all the way across to the north wall. It appears never to have done
so as there is no scarring on the tiled wall opposite, but the school has traditionally hidden
alterations behind replacement tiling. It is on the same orientation as the wall in the adjacent
caretaker’s room which suggests that it is original. There is only one arched entrance door
from the E-W corridor (now blocked) and this would afford access into the west side of the
girls’ toilets. The present half glazed door entrance (pictured below) might be a later
alteration of a window, but if it was always a door, then the concrete wall must be original as
the room then required two doors – one from the E-W corridor and another from the N-S
corridor. Whether it was always a door or was once a window, the half glazed walls and door
into the entrance foyer would not be suitable for toilets. The girls’ toilets therefore appear to
have been remodelled from an earlier suite of room(s) of which the east one had views into
the entrance foyer and the west one was accessed via an arched door in the E-W corridor.
The room(s) have therefore been through a number of changes already and are therefore
less sensitive to further change. The concrete wall to be removed has no architectural
features of interest, nor does it have the distinctive brown tiles associated with the original
building. It is therefore of insufficient significance to merit retention.
Plate 28. The present entrance into the girls’ toilets may be a later addition, inserted into a former window. Such windows would not have been used for toilets. If this door is later, then there was only one entrance via a round
arched doorway on the E-W corridor (just off the photo to the right).
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
56 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Feature of significance Impact on significance Mitigation Image
Blocked arch door None - -
Half glazed (but painted over) door to corridor
None -
Multi pane windows to corridor
None - See above
Brown tiling to walls None - See below
External mullioned windows
None -
7.5 Alteration E
This is the proposed removal of two walls in the boys’ toilets. The south wall appears to be a
later insertion. There was no access into the small south room beyond this inserted wall, but
the window at the south end of the toilets adjacent to this wall has been reduced in width by
the wall suggesting that the dividing wall was added later. There is presumably another half
of this window in the room beyond. (There is no window
shown in the survey).
The other north-south wall separates the space accessed by
two original arched doorways and so appears to be original
and this is to be removed. Although it has no features of
note on the west side (there are scars suggesting that it may
have had showers at one time, hence the lack of brown tiles
which must have been replaced with modern tiles), it does
retain its distinctive brown tiles on the east side. The floor
levels on the west room are higher – they appear to have
been raised as part of a modern re-flooring.
These rooms were unlikely to be toilets in 1910 as the
original toilets may have been outside. The rooms have
therefore been through a number of alterations already and
are therefore less sensitive to further change. Change is
most likely to be acceptable if new walls make use of the
Plate 29 The splay of the window opening has been reduced by the insertion of the wall
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
57 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
distinctive brown faience tiles and dado rails and arched openings are retained or referenced
in new any build.
Plate 30. Wall to be removed from the east side (left) and from the west side (right)
Plate 31. The two original doorways facing the corridor which lead into the rooms separated by the wall
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
58 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Feature of significance
Impact on significance
Mitigation recommended
Image
External window Beneficial Restoration of leadwork
Arched doorways to corridor (one blocked)
None Insert door more inkeeping with the historic character of the building
Partial coverage of brown tiles
Loss of tiles from dividing wall
None
7.6 Alteration F
This is the removal of two walls adjacent to the dining room which is located in the later wing
built between 1936 and 1954. The wing was designed to be a gym, but had to be altered
before completion to be a dining room and kitchen. The dining room was designed with a
stage and this is now missing. It must have been located on the south wall as the north wall
has windows; it is unlikely that the longer walls would have been used.
The walls to be removed are on the south side of the dining room in the school cafe and
adjacent staff cloakroom and storage area and have no features of architectural interest. As
a whole, the dining room and kitchens are relatively plain with the detailing confined to
external window and door detailing. Internal doors are in a 1930s style. Suspended ceilings
have been used which detract from the significance of the building. The walls have no
features of significance and do not merit retention.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
59 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Plate 32. Two walls to be removed adjacent to the dining room. It can be seen that they have no architectural features of interest. They exist within an area of change and are therefore less sensitive to further change.
Features of significance
Impact on significance
Mitigation recommended
Image
External doors with panelling and overlights (excluding modern door handles)
None -
Internal doors in a 1930s style
None -
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
60 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Features of significance
Impact on significance
Mitigation recommended
Image
External windows
None -
Architectural form of elevation (as described earlier in the report and in the listing)
None -
Open space of existing dining room to convey its historic use s a dining room
None -
7.7 First floor alterations
There are three alterations to be made which will result in the loss of internal walls on the
first floor. The area of alterations G and H consisted of a class on either side of the large
classroom which was the library in 199218 and may have been the dining room when he
18
It is shown as a library on proposed plans by DCC to alter the access arrangements into the library dated
1.12.1992 project no. 252/00003. The alterations do not seem to have taken place.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
61 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
school first opened.19 The library has had a number of homes in its history, always needing
to move to larger spaces. It has clearly moved again as the room is currently used for
drama. The new configuration will result in three equally sized classrooms.
7.8 Alteration G
The west wall is to be removed to enlarge the classroom. This will result in the loss of a wall
which is relatively featureless; it has only a skirting board and a radiator which are not
significant enough to merit retention. Brown tiles are only used in the corridors in this part of
the building.
Without early plans it is not clear if the present arrangement of rooms is original, but the
reconfiguration will alter the proportions of the rooms. However in each case, the stub of the
removed wall will remain so that the present arrangement will still be readable.
Features of significance
Impact on significance
Mitigation recommended
Image
External windows None -
19
This is based on the room being larger than others and the recollections of Bella Parker, nee Coates who
recalled the upstairs dining room as being ‘commodious’ in 1910 (Grammar School Golden Jubilee Book 1960)
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
62 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Door to corridor None Door should be reused
Radiator Removed None. A new
heating system was installed in 1959 and so radiators not original, but do add historic character
Skirting board Lost on wall;
otherwise unaffected
Replace with matching skirting on any new wall
Picture rail Lost on wall;
otherwise unaffected
Replace with matching picture rail on any new wall
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
63 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
7.9 Alteration H
This requires the removal of a relatively modern partition and a classroom wall. The partition
is shown on plans dating to 1992 by DCC as existing and is a negative feature. Its removal
will enhance significance. The older wall adjacent appears to be old if not original, however
no access was possible into this room so that it could be viewed from both sides.
Features of significance
Impact on significance
Mitigation recommended
Image (photography restricted as room in use)
External windows None -
Door to corridor None Door should be
reused
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
64 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Skirting board Lost on wall; otherwise unaffected
Replace with matching skirting on any new wall
-
Picture rail Lost on wall; otherwise unaffected
Replace with matching picture rail on new wall
-
7.10 Alteration I
This is the removal of an arched doorway and half glazed arched door in a corridor. These
arched doorways are distinctive to the school and should be retained wherever possible.
This particular door appears to fold in the centre and has an Art Nouveau thumb latch. The
gradual erosion of such features should be resisted, but if
the benefit of its removal outweighs the loss of significance
then they should be reused elsewhere in the school or
stored for parts until they are needed. The removal of the
doorway may also require the loss of some brown tiles;
this would be acceptable if any subsequent scarring was
made good and finished off the match the existing tiled
edges. The door was locked when viewed and so it was
not seen from the other side.
Plate 33. Door and doorway to be removed (alteration I)
8.0 Conclusion
The level of thought and design detail that went into this school marks it out as exceptional
and worthy of its status as a listed building. Despite drawing references from a variety of
historic periods and the adoption of different styles in different parts, it manages to tell the
story of Edwardian life through its architecture. The admiration of the past in its choice of
Tudor and Jacobean styles combines with its growing suspicion of rapidly advancing
technology reflected in its Arts and Crafts assembly hall. Its rejection of the fussiness of the
High Victorian styles for a more simple set of facades that reference classical architecture,
while still finding room for discrete ornamentation such as the chequer board pattern which
fills the arched window niches. Its proud use of school architecture, such as the lanterns and
bellcotes which reference high quality schooling for girls, who were increasingly demanding
a better education. These apparently disparate elements are drawn together by the many
arched lights above doors and windows which reflected the desire for light in schools but
also created a sense of space and airiness, even if the classrooms off the school hall were
still considered stuffy in 1931 and 1949 (Ministry of Education 1949). Similarly the interior
use of brown glazed tiles to dado height not only unified the interiors, but provided a means
to mask alterations and protected the lower walls from trailing school bags and dragging
feet. The interiors are simple but not dull. Ceiling roses and ornate plasterwork were
relegated to the past, but the dado rail and picture rail remain as practical features. Attractive
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
65 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
thumb latches in an Art Nouveau style add interest to the half glazed doors. Externally, the
small stretch of railings outside the Caretaker’s Lodge have a surprisingly contemporary feel,
but reflect the design of the archways in the school corridors with lattice work and the upside
down arches of the balustrade roof tops and so extends the design themes to the street
front.
School buildings are places of change. From the day they are built, they are under pressure
to alter and adapt to shifting philosophies on education and changing populations. From the
outset, the Girls’ County School adapted to these changes with dignity by respecting the
original design themes of the 1910 building. By continuing this tradition, the building has
considerable potential for adaptation and can therefore be the subject of sustainable
development as defined in the National Planning Policy Guidance (2012, para 17). By
continuing the design themes, future internal changes can take place without loss of
significance. Where possible, traditional flooring materials such as parquet or the polished
red stone floors of the entrance lobby, should also be retained and efforts made not to erode
significance gradually through piecemeal alterations that result in the more modest
architectural features such as picture rails and skirting being removed. If alterations are also
accompanied by the reversal of changes which were detrimental (such as the cupboard in
the assembly hall) or are accompanied by sympathetic repairs to windows, then the overall
effect of the alterations can be beneficial.
Externally, there are few constraints. The school was not designed with a principal elevation
as such, nor was it designed to have any particular view that needs to be protected. Its high
quality design does however deserve the space from which to appreciate it. Its original
playing fields appear to have been located east of the school and this has now been
developed. Its gardens went through a period of considerable change and have not
survived, but were close to the school until 1957 when they were moved to the ‘far field’,
presumably one to the east near the tennis court. They were much altered and never
apparently designed with any particular views. Their purpose was to enhance the school
approach and to provide a learning resource for botany and other science subjects.
Innovative landscaping around the school could design new gardens, although even in 1914
it was ‘feared that the children in the neighbourhood would not leave the plants alone’ when
discussing a possible rockery near the Caretaker’s Lodge (DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes
14.12.1914). The playing fields were fenced in 1921 with ‘military fencing with barbed wire’
suggesting a defensive attitude towards the neighbourhood that is still reflected in the
current safety fencing which detracts from the conservation area. The constant need for new
build also resulted in demountables being located in front of the school playground when it
became a comprehensive and a building to the north east of the school makes a brief
appearance on maps from 1962 until 1979 (25inch). The surroundings are therefore much
altered, and so further change is not impossible.
In terms of protecting the setting of the listed buildings, any development of the surrounding
area should seek to retain the green and leafy character of this part of the conservation area,
retain the view of the Caretaker’s Lodge and afford a sufficient view of the Middle School so
that its architectural qualities can be appreciated from its surroundings. This will help to
ensure that any future proposals will be compliant with the NPPF by helping to conserve the
building in a manner appropriate to its significance, so that it can be enjoyed by future
generations.
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
66 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
9.0 Bibliography
Archaeo-Environment Ltd 2012 Statement of Significance for King James I Grammar School for Boys, Bishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland Urban District 1948 Handbook and Guide Communities and Local Government 2012 National Planning Policy Framework Durham County Council 2009 Rapid Desk Based Assessment. King Kames I
Community Arts College, Bishop Auckland. For Building Schools for the Future. English Heritage 2006 Understanding Historic Buildings. A Guide to Good Recording
Practice English Heritage 2008 Conservation Principles, Policies and Guidance English Heritage 2011 Education Buildings. Listing Selection Guide English Heritage 2012 The Setting of Heritage Assets: English Heritage Guidance Gillard, D 2011 Education in England: a brief history. Available from
www.educationengland.org.uk/history [accessed 190412] Hall, L 2005 Period House Fixtures and Fittings 1300-1900 Hardie, C and Hammond, N 2007 History in the Landscape. The archaeology and
architecture of Wear dale. The Weardale Society. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate 1958 Ministry of Education Report, Bishop Auckland Grammar School for Girls His Majesty’s Inspectorate 1949 Ministry of Education Report, Bishop Auckland Grammar School for Girls Hutchinson, T 2005 The History of Bishop Auckland Hutchinson, W 1832 The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, Volume 3 pp435-7 Kerr, J S 2000 The Conservation Plan: a guide to the preparation of Conservation
Plans for places of European cultural significance (National Trust of Australia, 5th ed., Sidney.
Laurie, B 1993 Memories of Bishop Auckland 1905-1916 Laurie, B undated The Changing Face of Bishop Auckland Louw, H 2007 ‘The Development of the Window’ in Windows. History, Repair and
Conservation (Tutton, Hirst and Pearce., eds) Oakleaf Surveying Ltd 2011 King James Academy, Bishop Auckland Physical Condition
Survey Pevsner, N 1990 The Buildings of England. Durham. Pevsner, N 1992 The Buildings of England. Northumberland Richley, M 1872 History and Characteristics of Bishop Auckland Whellan, W 1856 History, topography, and directory of the county palatine of Durham Yorke, T 2007 The Victorian House Explained Yurdan, M 2012 The History of English Grammar Schools. A feature by Marlyn Yurdan for the History Press. available from
http://thehistorypressuk.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/the-history-of-english-grammar-schools-a-feature-by-marilyn-yurdan/ [accessed 190412]
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
67 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Appendix A King James I Academy Chronology
1905 The school’s first headmistress was Mary Holt, who had been appointed in 1905. She ran the school in temporary buildings until the new one was built. These were located at Cockton Hill Methodist Schoolrooms and an adjoining annexe, and for a short period in the Edgar Memorial Hall. The school is called Bishop Auckland Girls’ County School.
http://www.northeastlifemag.co.uk/out- about/places/bishop_auckland_girls_39_ grammar_school_centenary_celebration_1_1638923 Girls’ Grammar School 1960, 3 DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 8.11.1913 Laurie undated, 72
1910 ‘A girls’ secondary school is now (1910) in the course of erection in South Church Road.’ The Girls’ County School opened on South Church Road for 370 girls; 75% fee paying and 25% scholarship girls. It was opened by Mrs Walter Runciman on the 5
th October and a
plaque erected in the vestibule commemorating the event with the school motto Non sibi sed aliis (Not for themselves, but for others).
Kelly’s Directory of Durham 1910, 24 Hutchinson 2005, 88 Listed Building Description IoE 385752
1911 Miss Holt leaves to be married in Vancouver and Miss Clara Ashworth is appointed as the new headmistress
Girls’ Grammar School 1960, 24
1912 The first school magazine “Gleanings” is produced
Girls’ Grammar School 1960, 26
1913 The school gardens were not adequately finished after the building works.
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 8.11.1913
1914 A girls’ secondary school, in South Church Road, was built in 1910, for 270 girls; this school is specially equipped with laboratories, gymnasium and domestic apartments; average attendance, 260; Miss C.C.Ashworth B.A head mistress
Kelly’s Directory of Durham 1914, 25
1914 According to the Board of Education, the military did not intend using the school ‘at present’ for barracks. However the Bishop Auckland and District Civil Defence Corps request the use of the playing fields for drilling on Saturday afternoons. A public prize giving is cancelled because of the circumstances of war. The Science Mistress visited other schools in England to assess how they approached experimental science and household management. A barometer and thermometer were stolen from the school shed at night.
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 12.10.1914, 9.11.1914 and 21.9.1914
1915 The governors remain unhappy with the state of the school grounds (and the poor ventilation in the larder). A report is submitted by Mr Smith of the County Council on the quality of the work by Mr T.A Lawrenson of
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 13.12.1915 DRO E/SW C20 20.9.15
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
68 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Newcastle, who had sub contracted the work. The first ‘Old Girls’’ Reunion is considered The Home Secretary wrote to ask that woman are given suitable training to enable them to take the place of men during the period of war, especially to help with the shortage of ‘men clerks’. However as the Urban District Council was doing nothing to promote the employment of women the school decided to do nothing. The police ask that the school have a distinguishing sign fitted so that if it should be bombed it can be identified. Eventually the school decide not to proceed with this. Miss Ashworth’s salary (headmistress) is raised to £350pa. Sash fastenings repaired to the windows between the classrooms and the hall by a ‘local competent man’. The school is oversubscribed and 40 girls are refused admission due to lack of accommodation, but a Belgian girl is accepted and funded who is a refugee from the war. The school decides to proceed with a public prize giving despite the war and the Womens’ Work Committee arrange to hold a public meeting in the large hall on 27.10.15 if the Town Hall is booked. An explosion in the kitchen results in £5 worth of damage and kitchen walls are distempered and whitened as redecoration. The caretakers’ house is decorated with wallpaper and alterations made to the chimney to prevent smoking. The school management is asked why they are still teaching German and the tart response from Miss Ashworth is reported nationally (see report for her response)
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 20.09.1915 DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 19.4.1915 DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 12.07.1915 DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 11.10.1915 DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 19.4.1915 DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 14.12.1915 Exeter and Plymouth Gazette 26.11.1915 and Newcastle Journal 26.11.1915
1916 The headmistress Miss Ashworth unexpectedly dies. Her brother presents to the school a memento of her – 20 pictures of Great Masters (framed) and a portfolio of the same pictures, unframed, a cyclostyle
20 and
any books from her library that two of the mistresses care to choose. Windows have to be darkened for evening classes. Damp in the larder continues to be a
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 11.09.1916, 13.3.1916
20
An early device for duplicating handwriting, in which a pen with a small toothed wheel pricks holes in a sheet
of waxed paper, which is then used as a stencil
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
69 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
problem. The hinge of the window to class 5 is broken again due to the lack of a stay. A special constable complained that light could be seen from the kitchens and so screens were fitted to obscure the windows.
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 11.12.1916
1917 The Board of Agriculture asked that all available land be cultivated. After much discussion amongst the governors regarding which soil was light enough for girls to work, a plot next to the Caretaker’s house (Chapman) was chosen because of its light soil. The playground at the time had a rough asphalt surface. The winter of 1916-17 resulted in frozen pipes in the girls’ toilets. Dr Alexandra Fisher was welcomed as the new headmistress.
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 14.5.1917 DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 12.2.1917
1918 The school advertises for a teacher of Esperanto. A runaway horse dashed into the railings in front of the caretaker’s lodge and completely smashed the railings on the left of the entrance gate. They were to be repaired. The fireplace in the kitchen needed overhauling
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 22.7.1918 DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 8.7.1918 DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 11.6.1918
1919 A number of older girls were returning to the school to do advanced or commercial work and this had an effect on the available space in the school. Initially, space was reorganised in the science theatre to create an additional classroom without any structural alterations, but in time, new building would be required. The school palings and grounds are damaged (probably refers to accident of previous year). A portrait of the school’s first headmistress Mrs Wood (nee Holt) is hung in the Hall and costs are obtained to get telephones
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 6.6.1919 DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 14.4.1919
1920 The hinge of the window to class 5 is broken again due to the lack of a stay. The entrance gates are damaged by cows. The school had been encouraged to turn parts of the gardens over to vegetables during the war. By 1920 it was considered to be too much work and the produce was no longer required, therefore the vegetable garden was turned over to grass. Tree planting on the playing field is proposed in the form of six specimen trees to be purchased and three removed from the border side bed
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 10.5.1920; 11.10.1920; 09.02.1920; 6.12.1920; 8.1 1.1920
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
70 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
which has become overgrown. The experiment with Esperanto ceases. A concert is held in aid of the war memorial.
1921 Costs are obtained to plant the drive with shrubs and subsequently planted using local labour. The floor of the Assembly Hall needs attention and the playing field is fenced with military fencing with barbed wire.
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 11.7.1921; 6.6.1921; 14.3.1921
1922 Three staff and pupils from Crook Pupil teacher Centre are transferred to the school, but there was no free accommodation so two classrooms were rented in the Central Primitive Methodists at Cockton Hill (where the school was temporarily housed before the 1910 building was completed)
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 24.7.1921
1927 The school became a grammar school and admission was by examination only
(Hutchinson 2009, 27)
1936 Works started on the new wing; it caused some minor disruption, mainly the knocking down of a wall which destroyed the shelter for the Atco machine.
21
DRO DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes October 1936
1937 A wall in the kitchen is removed to create more space. It is proposed to insert two serving hatches between the kitchen and dining room. The caretaker’s house needs redecorating. The school is redecorated inside and out. Hopper windows
22 were installed.
The new wing is still not ready. The boiler chimney appeared never to have been cleaned since the school opened.
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes December 1937 DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes October 1937
1938 The caretaker’s house was overhauled. Work to the new wing of the school was at a standstill with half of the services and decoration still to be done. The secretary’s new office and the rest room were now a long way from the head’s office and she needed a telephone to contact her secretary. A new domestic science room was built.
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes March and April 1938 DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes Feb 1938
1939 Work took place to darken the hall and a new clock was installed in the hall. The school roof leaked into the hall. The toilets were overhauled with new cisterns and a new lavatory and sink installed for the headmistress Dr Fisher retires in August and is replaced by Dr Millicent Agnew
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes Girls’ Grammar School 1960, 4, 10
1941 Blackouts were repaired in the hall and the school fields were vandalised
DRO E/SW/C19 Minutes 9.6.1941
21
Lawnmower? 22
A bottom pivoting casement window that opens by tilting vertically, often used in schools
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71 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
1945 On VE Day, 8th May 1945, the school held a ‘Service of Remembrance’ giving thanks for the end of the war.
E/SW/C 24 Minutes 1945 Culture_Durham
23
1948 The pillar and gate broken down four years ago were an eyesore. The gate was to be widened in the future. The boiler was dangerous – it was not fixed to the floor. The gym was not complete.
E/SW/C22 Minutes 6.5.1948
1949 Electricity was now installed, but the head teacher pleaded for standardised plugs. New subjects tended towards pre-Nursing Science, music and art. The school was inspected. Improvements which had been made since 1931 included: an extension of the playing fields, a housecraft block had been added including a sick room and a bathroom; a larger room has been found for the library, although it still failed to meet the present requirements. The staff cloakroom had been improved and room found for the secretary, but rather too far away from the head. A new gym was started just before ‘the recent war’, but remained incomplete and was now too small to satisfy building regulations for a gym, but nevertheless it was urgently needed as a kitchen/dining room so that the old dining room could be used as a larger library – the current one being too small. The classrooms around the hall were still stuffy, as they were in 1931 when last inspected and need more ventilation and windows. The grounds were pleasant and well kept, but more hard surface playing areas were recommended.
E/SW/C22 Minutes 7.2.1949 Ministry of Education Report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Bishop Auckland Girls’ County School. Co. Durham 1949
1952 The dining room and toilets are still not finished. The school drive is resurfaced and the playgrounds are complete. There are plans to have an additional tennis court beside the unfinished building.
E/SW/C 23 Minutes 4.2.1952; 3.11.52
1954 A new library has increased accommodation. A new dining room is in full use
E/SW/C 23 Minutes 5.4.1954
1956 The school is rewired E/SW/C 24 Minutes 31.1.1957
1957 The school garden is abandoned when Tarmacadam was extended up to the walls of the new dining hall. Another site was found on the far field and it was to be planted with plants suitable
E/SW/C 24 Minutes 1.11.1957; 30.5.1957
23
Recollections of Pat Hall (nee Nicholson) in ‘wartime memories of the NE’ 2005 Article ID A4766538
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
72 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
for science studies. There is a possible incident of carbon monoxide poisoning in the school. A new door is inserted into the corner of the Domestic Science school
1958 A school inspector’s report outlines improvements that have been made to the school since the last inspection. These include the creation of a fine library created out of the former dining room, a new dining hall with stage, a new kitchen, and new offices. The greatest handicap was now the lack of P.E. facilities, deficiencies in accommodation for science – the physics and chemistry labs are too small. The proposed short term solution was to convert the music room to a general science lab. Otherwise the building and grounds are excellently kept. There are increasingly problems with car parking on the school drive. The governors had decided to stop all parking within the school curtilage in September, but were asked to reconsider as this was proving inconvenient. Governors agree to explore the possibility of a new gymnasium with showers and changing rooms, plus the renewal of floors in the labs.
Ministry of Education Report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate Bishop Auckland Grammar School for Girls 1958 E/SW/C 24 Minutes 3.11.1958
1959 Structural alterations are well underway along with the installation of a new heating system. A new side entrance and path is created.
E/SW/C 24 Minutes 14.9.1959
1960 The school celebrates its Golden Jubilee on 5
th May and a booklet is
produced
E/SW/C 24 Minutes 7.11.1960
1961 The school is amalgamated with King James I Grammar School. A new lab is fitted. The new school is generally referred to as Bishop Auckland Grammar School
E/SW/C 24 Minutes 16.3.1961 Various school programmes- Easter Choral Music 1965, Annual Sports 1964
1962 A new head is appointed Mr. D. Weatherley. The two schools are linked by phone. There are proposals to demolish the ‘old building’ and build a multi-storied science block. Miss M. Atherton continues as the deputy head.
E/SW/C 24 Minutes 13.3.1962 Girls’ Grammar School 1960, 10
1974 The school becomes a comprehensive school and opens its doors to a wide range of students
http://www.northeastlifemag.co.uk/out- about/places/bishop_auckland_girls_39_ grammar_school_centenary_celebration_1_1638923
2011 The school is converted into an Academy and becomes King James I Academy
North East Life 25.8.11 available from http://www.north eastlifemag.co.uk/out-about/places/king_james_school_bishop_auckland_ celebrates_academy_status_1_1646618
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
73 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
Appendix B
Prize Essay written by Dorothy Wearmouth looking back at fifty years of the school from
1910 to 1960
Statement of Significance for King James I Academy (Middle School), Bishop Auckland
74 Archaeo-Environment Ltd for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd 2013
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