Description

785/0/10141 MASONS HILL
26-FEB-08 8
Former St Mark's School

II
Former school, later offices. Designed in 1910 by the architect CHB Quennell (1872-1935) as a Church of England elementary school for girls and infants.

MATERIALS: Built of red brick in a mixture of Flemish and stretcher bond with some yellow and black brick and tile-on-edge decoration. It has a tiled roof with central, tapering, octagonal lead cupola and three tall, panelled brick chimneystacks. Windows are wooden mullioned and transomed casement windows with leaded lights.

PLAN: Symmetrical single-storey building, double piled in the centre, comprising an infants school to the east and girls' school to the west. The infants' school had a babies room and two other classooms, the girls school' four classrooms. Each school had an assembly hall in the centre of the front range which could be joined by a folding screen. To the rear was a joint head teacher's room, and cloakrooms were housed at either end.

EXTERIOR: The north or entrance front has a central section of five bays over the assembly halls with a higher gabled roof. The central three bays have tripartite windows, the central one obscured by a lower projecting porch with corner buttresses, cambered arch and double doors. The end windows, also tripartite, are situated under projecting hipped roofs. The lower pavilions at each end originally had blank walls with decorated buttresses, but a later window has been inserted into the western pavilion. The gable ends facing east and west have kneelers, a diaper pattern in yellow brickwork and three tier mullioned and transomed windows. On either side are set back windows before canted bays with four casement windows under hips with decorative gablets. A small one storey extension has been inserted on the west side obscuring the west window, after 1943 on map evidence. The east and west side elevations each have a shallow entrance porch with recessed cambered arch with fanlight and half-glazed double doors. The east side additionally has two casement windows, one modified. The rear elevation is of 19 bays. The recessed centre is of five bays with three large three-tier windows breaking through the eaves under hips divided by narrow casements. This is flanked by projecting gables decorated with black brick diaper patterns and moulded brick and tile-on-edge decoration to the kneelers. The large three-tier casement windows have a stepped terracotta lintel. The ends are recessed and each have two large three tier windows breaking through the eaves under hips, divided by a narrow casement and with three wider casements to the ends.

INTERIOR: The central corridors at each end of the building retain half-glazed doors with segmental fanlights and Arts and Crafts style decorative brass handles and hinges. The assembly halls retain their original tall fielded panelling with moulded cornice although the spaces have been altered by the insertion of later partitions. Above the later C20 suspended ceilings the original ogee-braced roof structure survives. The folding partition between the two halls is no longer extant. The former joint head teacher's room retains the original slender wooden fireplace with moulded cornice and cast iron firegrate. Some classrooms retain brown glazed wall tiles.

HISTORY: St Mark's School was built in 1910 by the architect CHB Quennell (1872-1935) as an elementary school for girls and infants. It is one of only two schools designed by this important early C20 architect. The architect lived locally and at this time was a neighbour to EA Hellicar, the architect of the parent church to the school, St Mark's, Westmoreland Road (1897-98). It seems likely that the commission was gained by this connection, although Quennell was primarily a domestic architect. The original drawings survive and the building was the subject of an illustrated article in "The Builder" of 18th March 1927.

Charles Henry Bourne Quennell worked in the offices of Newman and Newman and of JD Sedding and Henry Wilson. He began his architectural practice in 1896 as the designer of middle class housing, primarily in Hampstead, Bickley Park and Northwood. His buildings used an individual blend of Arts and Crafts and Queen Anne styles which developed into a dignified but austere Neo-Georgian style.

The majority of his commissions were suburban houses but also included a number of churches around London, a Byzantine inspired mausoleum (Grade II) in St Mary's Cemetery, Hammersmith, two schools and some country houses including Grade A listed Aultmore, Nethybridge, Scotland. He also designed gardens, interiors and furniture. Hermann Muthesius in "The English House" (1904) described him as 'the master of pen-and-ink drawing', an architect 'for the most part concerned with interior decoration and furniture design'. Like Baillie Scott he designed standardised Arts and Crafts furniture (particularly inglenooks and fireplaces) for JP White of Bedford.

He was a member of the Junior Art Workers Guild where he met his future wife Marjorie Courtney, an artist and designer, whom he married in 1904. He wrote "The Cathedral Church of Norwich" in 1900 and a folio book, "Modern Suburban Houses" in 1906. During the First World War the Quennells started the research for a book on the history of the English to be seen from the perspective of ordinary people, their lives and surroundings, rather than the usual history of political events. The first volume entitled, "A History of Everyday Things in England 1066-1499" was published in 1918. By the time CHB Quennell died in 1935 there were 11 volumes and these are credited with a major influence on the change of direction in history teaching in the mid-C20. Marjorie became the first curator of the Geffrye Museum and introduced the room layout method of display. Currently 23 buildings by CHB Quennell are statutorily listed in England.

The building ceased to be a school in the 1980s and subsequently was in office use.

SOURCES
Original architect's drawings.
The Builder, 18 March 1927, pp.438 and 443
A Stuart Gray, "Edwardian Architecture. A Biographical Dictionary", 1985. Duckworth. p.299.

This building is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a carefully designed 1910 Church of England school by a notable Edwardian architect in Arts and Crafts style with a varied frontage of good quality materials and delightful architectural detailing.
* The plan form is unusual for its date being single-storeyed and double piled in the centre, rather than more usually of several storeys.
* It survives with very little alteration - externally an inserted window and a small extension, both in matching materials. The late C20 suspended ceilings and partitions are reversible.
* It is one of only two schools designed by CHB Quennell, who primarily designed middle class suburban houses.

Reasons for Listing

The former St Mark's School, Masons Hill Bromley is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a carefully designed 1910 Church of England school by a notable Edwardian architect, CHB Quennell, in Arts and Crafts style. It has a varied frontage of good quality materials with delightful architectural detailing.
* The plan form is, unusually for this date, single-storeyed and double piled in the centre rather than the more usual several storeys.
* It survives with very little external alteration: namely in an inserted window and a small extension, both in matching style. The late C20 suspended ceilings and partitions are reversible.
* It is one of only two schools designed by CHB Quennell, who primarily designed middle class suburban houses.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26671639

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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