Icknield Street Board School Headmasters House

Icknield Street School (), near the

Hockley Hockley is a large village and civil parish in Essex in the East of England located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, or, more specifically, between Rayleigh and Rochford. It came to prominence during the coming of the railway in the 189 ...

Flyover, north of the

Jewellery Quarter The Jewellery Quarter is an area of central Birmingham, England, in the north-western area of Birmingham City Centre, with a population of 19,000 in a area. The Jewellery Quarter is Europe's largest concentration of businesses involved in the ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England, is a good example of a Birmingham board school. It is owned by

Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. Birmingham has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been reformed several times. Since 1974 the council has been a metropo ...

. Designed in 1883 by J.H. Chamberlain of

Martin & Chamberlain John Henry Chamberlain, William Martin, and Frederick Martin were architects in Victorian Birmingham, England. Their names are attributed singly or pairs to many red brick and terracotta buildings, particularly 41 of the forty-odd Birmingham b ...

, the main architects for the Birmingham School Board, it has been St Chad's Roman Catholic Annexe and is now an

Ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

, gabled, with steep roofs, free planning and towered to provide ventilation. The tower was typically placed over the staircase to draw air through the school. There were terracotta plaques, glazed tiles, ornamental ironwork, tall windows, and stained glass. The arched roof-supporting ironwork of this school was visible when the roof was missing following a fire. The roof has since been repaired. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The headmaster's house (303 Icknield Street), on the site, is separately Grade II* listed. Both are on the English Heritage

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

, and in December 2021, the pair were included on the

Victorian Society The Victorian Society is a UK charity and amenity society that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. As a statutory consultee, by l ...

's annual "Top Ten Endangered Buildings" list.

Sources

*''John Ruskin and Victorian Architecture'', Michael W Brooks, 1989 * *''A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 7: The City of Birmingham'', 1964 * *

External links

Old photograph of inside of school
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Birmingham Images
* Grade II* listed buildings in Birmingham Defunct schools in Birmingham, West Midlands Educational institutions established in 1885 1885 establishments in England {{WestMidlands-struct-stub