Description

TQ 2887 NORTH ROAD, N6
(east side)

800-/40/10012 Highgate School, Old
School Building

GV II

Public School, now its principal hall, with classrooms underneath. 1865-7 by Frederick Pepys
Cockerell for the Reverend Dr. Dyne, headmaster. Red brick with stone dressings and
decorations. Slate roof with stacks on end gable and rear elevation. Symmetrical five-bay first-floor
hall with projecting dias end, now stage, with oriel-reached via external stairs at opposite end, or
via external imperial stairway in centre added as war memorial in 1949. Ground-floor classrooms
not of special architectural interest.
Main facade with central gable and sundial inscribed 'Vera Loqui aut Silere' over three reliefpanels.
Lead parapet inscribed R S 1565. Mullion and transom windows with leaded lights and trefoil
heads under flat arches. A line of shields forms band at first-floor level. Projecting stone oriel
supported on single column projects forward of vaulted undercroft originally open, now
imaginatively infilled by James Cubitt and Partners. Original entrance steps to south reached under
projecting porch with particularly fine foliate carving. North elevation continues first-floor band
of shields, with roseate windows over (some blocked) with stained glass. Rear elevation with
projecting wing at stage end over undercroft, otherwise a five-bay composition with simplified
mullion and transom fenestration dominated by massive central stack flush with elevation and with
decorative brick detailing reflecting the fenestration pattern. Projecting buttresses between
ground-floor windows.
Interior. First-floor hall with exposed timber-truss roof Proscenium and stage formed 1933 with
panelling donated 1934 by EdwardJeudwine (commemorated in central panel). The panelling to
the body of the hall thought to be 1949, contemporary with central entrance.
Highgate School was founded by Sir Roger Cholmely in 1565. This building commemorates its
expansion and reform on the original site by the Reverend Dr Dyne from 1845 onwards.
Sources:
C AEvans and A Pwhite, 'The Story of Highgate School, 1938-1949', c.1950 S W Kitchener,
'Old Highgate, The Story of a London Village', n.d. M Seabourne, 'The English School. Its
Architecture and Organisation, 1370-1870', 1971.

Listing NGR: TQ2835487496

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q27082984

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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