The school in 2006
Wikimedia Commons
Baldersby St James Primary School is a former school in Baldersby St James, a village in North Yorkshire. It was commissioned by William Dawnay, 7th Viscount Downe, and designed by William Butterfield. It and its attached school house were completed in 1854.[1]
The school continued as a primary school until 2022, when it had only 22 pupils. It was then being run by the Hope Sentamu Learning Trust, which decided that, given that pupil numbers were projected to decline even further, it should be closed.[2] The property was subsequently offered for sale at £550,000, subject to “community uses restrictions”.[3]
The school and its school house were designated Grade II* listed buildings
Structure of particular architectural and/or historic interest deserving of special protection. in 1971.[1] The boundary wall of the school and school house, along with its three sets of gates, are separately listed as Grade II structures.[4]
Architecture
Both the school and house are in stone. The school has a roof of Westmorland slate, and the house has a tile roof. The school has an L-shaped plan consisting of two rooms and a gabled timber-framed porch. In the left gable end of the main hall are two two-light windows, and on the roof are flues in the form of truncated pyramids. The house has a single storey, an attic and five bays. In the centre is a wooden porch with bargeboards. The flanking windows are three-light sashes with mullions, and above are two-light mullioned windows in half-hipped dormers. Inside is the original wooden staircase, with an open wooden screen at its foot.[1]
