Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB01/18/002

Address :
St Columb's Girls School (Long Tower Girls School) Long Tower Street Londonderry Co. Londonderry BT48 6QQ

Townland:
Londonderry

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
26/02/1979 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
School

Former Use
School

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
36-7NE

IG Ref:
C4308 1637

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Single-storey gable-ended Gothic stone school building of local Barony Glen sandstone with sandstone dressings. Built 1893 to designs by E.J. Toye. L-shaped plan form with a hipped slate roof extension to the North East side constructed in 1989. Principal elevation faces South West onto a triangular graveyard set behind a low stone boundary wall with decorative iron railings above and an octagonal carved stone pillar to either side of an iron entrance gate. Located to the North East side of the grounds of St Columba's Church Long Tower Street (HB01/18/003). Pitched natural slate roof with decorative two-hole crested ridge tiles. Kneelered gables extend above roof line with stone copings, SW & SE gables have a cut-stone chimney stack at apex; NE painted gable end has a metal cross finial at apex; cast-iron rainwater goods with ogee guttering terminating to a circular cast-iron downpipe. Walls are of 'block-and-snecked' local sandstone. Principal elevation faces South West abutted by a small gabled entrance porch with a lean-to slate roof, kneelered gable has a date stone of '1893' above window opening and a carved stone statue at apex, Gothic-arched hood mould to window opening with head-stop to either side; there is a small square headed timber casement window with chamfered reveals to either side of gable on the SW elevation of lean-to porch with the SE and NW elevations of porch containing a shouldered door opening with a vertically sheeted timber door and plain transom light over. SW elevation, gable-end of the main building, left of entrance porch, has paired large plate tracery Gothic-arched windows, each contain two lancet lights and a small quatrefoil stained glass window above and a stone hood mould Gothic-arch over with foliated label stops; below apex of gable-end is a stone-carved roundel with a carved stone head of St. Columba to the centre; SW elevation to the right of small entrance porch has stepped corner quoins, a stone cornice on small stone brackets to eaves and two paired Tudor-arch windows with a rectangular hood mould over and foliated label-stops and a single bay of the same to the left of paired bays. North West elevation is of 'block-and-sneck' sandstone with stepped corner quoins to either end, seven bays wide, each bay contains paired Tudor-arch windows with a rectangular hood mould over and label stops; all windows are timber casements with glazing bars to the lower light and an open-able top light; stone cornice to eaves on small stone support bracket detail; cast-iron rainwater goods including an ogee gutter terminating to two circular painted cast-iron downpipes to either end of elevation. North East gable-end elevation overlooking playground area is of smooth-rendered painted finish on a rendered painted plinth; there are two Gothic-arch lancet windows on painted masonry sills to the right side and a blind rendered roundel above; left side of elevation is abutted by a small hipped roof single storey rendered painted extension with an adjoining large L-shaped rendered painted extension with a slate hipped roof and two-hole crested ridge tiles. Rendered extension has square headed windows on the North West elevation with rectangular hood mould over and label stops; North East elevation is seven bays wide with three Gothic-arch windows evenly spaced to either side of a central blind Gothic-arch bay; SE gable-end elevation has rendered painted finish with square headed paired windows on masonry sills, two to the left side and two on the right side and a blind rendered roundel at apex with timber fascia boards; SE stepped elevation to the left has three square headed windows on masonry sills; adjoining extension to the left has two smaller square headed windows to the right of a square headed door opening containing a pair of panelled timber doors with separate sidelights to either side, entrance is approached by a short flight of concrete steps and a ramp up with a metal handrail; entrance doorway is abutted on the SW corner by a small porch with a hipped slate roof having a large square headed window to the right angle of doorway on adjacent wall, to the left of the large window is a door opening with a painted flush timber door. South East gable-end elevation of main building is of 'block-and-sneck' sandstone with stepped corner quoins to either end with a kneelered gable with stone coping topped by a small rectangular stone chimney stack with a buff clay pot. (Remaining elevation was not visible due to a high boundary hedge enclosing adjacent graveyard directly to the SE. Setting: Located to the North East corner within the grounds of St. Columba's Church, Long Tower Street. Principal elevation faces South West onto a triangular graveyard set behind a low stone boundary wall with decorative iron railings above and an octagonal carved stone pillar to either side of an iron entrance gate. Materials: Roof Natural Slate RWG Cast Iron Walling Barony Glen Sandstone Windows Timber casements Doors Timber

Architects

Toye, E J

Historical Information

The former girls' School at Long Tower, a single-storey Gothic-style school building located within the grounds of St. Columba’s Church at Long Tower, was constructed in 1893. St. Columba’s Church was constructed in 1784-86 and was the first Roman Catholic Church to be constructed in the city following the Reformation. The first schoolhouse at the site (HB01/18/001) was constructed in c. 1825 and was incorporated into the National School System in the mid-19th century. Following the construction of the girls' school in 1893 and the boys' schoolhouse in 1912, the original national school was utilised as a school for infants. The girls' school building was designed by Edward J. Toye (1857-1932), a local architect who established an independent practice in the city in 1885 which the Dictionary of Irish Architects states ‘was a busy one in which work for the Catholic church predominated.’ Toye was responsible for some of Derry’s most important Roman Catholic structures including wings at St. Columb’s College, the extension of St. Eugene’s Convent School (1895), the construction of the spire at St. Eugene’s Cathedral (1900-02) and St. Joseph’s Primary School on Artillery Street (1911). Following the completion of the girl’s schoolhouse in 1893, Toye returned to Long Tower in 1908 to design the extension to St. Columba’s Church which cost £28,000 (DIA). The Annual Revisions valued the girls' schoolhouse at £75 in 1893 and noted that the school was also administered under the National School System. The accompanying Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910) shows that the building has retained its original layout but has been extended to the north-east by a modern L-shaped single-storey extension. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the schoolhouse was increased to £360 and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) this had been raised further to £480. In 1970 the UAHS guide for Derry described the girls' schoolhouse as ‘a single-storey stone structure. A simple building, making an excellent contribution to the Long Tower Church setting’ (UAHS guide, p. 42). The Girls' School at Long Tower was included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977 and was subsequently listed in 1979. The NIEA HB Records note that the modern single-storey extension to the north-east of the school was constructed in c. 1989. The school underwent a renovation in 1996-97 that included the eradication of dry rot and also involved the restoration of its exterior stonework (NIEA HB Records). In 2013 Calley described the extended girls' schoolhouse in the following terms: ‘It is made of two ranges at right angles to each other under steeply pitched slated roofs with decorative ridge-tiles. The gable walls each have paired plate tracery windows. Out of a roundel facing the church at the gable’s apex is a bust of St. Columba keeping an eye on the scene. It is a building that does not draw much attention to itself but makes a good contribution to the grounds of the church’ (Calley, p. 260). During the Second Survey the former girls' school continued to be utilised as part of Long Tower Primary School. References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830) 2. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853) 3. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/19 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910) 4. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/3A-1C – Annual Revisions (1898-1929) 5. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 6. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 7. Ulster Town Directories (1880-1918) 8. First Survey Record – HB01/18/002 (1970) 9. NIEA HB Records – HB01/18/002 Secondary Sources 1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013 – including Londonderry Corporaton Map (1857). 2. Ferguson, W. S; Rowan, A. J; Tracey, J. J., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the city of Derry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970. 3. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003. 4. ‘Londonderry Historic City Conservation Area Booklet’ Department of the Environment, 1977. 5. ‘A Design Guide for the Historic City Conservation Area’ Department of the Environment, 2012. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

V. Authorship X. Local Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

A single-storey Gothic-style school building constructed of local sandstone with sandstone dressings built in 1893 to designs by Edward J. Toye and situated within the grounds of St Columba's Church, Long Tower Street (HB01/18/003). The principal elevation faces South West onto a triangular graveyard set behind a low stone boundary wall with decorative iron railings above. Externally the school building has retained its historic character, style and proportions with stone detailing such as the stone-carved roundel with a carved stone head of St. Columba at the apex of the south west gable. Internally some detailing has been retained including timber trusses, however the interior layout has been partially changed with modern finishes to classrooms. The school is a significant architectural feature of the Long Tower setting and has group value with St Columba's Church (HB01/18/003) and St. Columba’s Boys’ School (HB01/18/004), located on the opposite side of Long Tower Street.

General Comments

Date of Survey

10 June 2014