A Stone School Conversion in Lancashire

For years Geoff and Jacqueline Harris had walked their dog past the abandoned school in their Lancashire village and peered through the iron gate, wondering what the building was like inside. They and their children – Sam and Oliver – lived in a 17th century cottage further along the main street, but had been searching for another property which could accommodate a separate photographic studio for Geoff.   

“My previous studio was broken into and all my equipment was stolen,” he explains. “When it happened again I began to question the need to be there, and we started looking for a house with a suitable outbuilding so that I could work from home.”

Meanwhile, just down the road, the boarded-up village school had been on the market for quite some time but was disregarded by the Harrises — who had made up their minds that it would be too small for their needs. Over the next few months they viewed a number of potential properties without success, during which time the school was sold. “When it came back onto the market 12 months later at the same price we decided that it might be worth taking a look,” says Jacqueline, a writer and story-teller.

The limestone building was originally built back in 1902, with strictly separate playgrounds, classrooms and toilet blocks for the boys and girls. When it was ultimately replaced by a larger village school, the last lessons were held there in 1991, after which time the building fell into disrepair, with squatters lighting bonfires on the parquet flooring — the heat from which had crazed some of the windows. When Geoff and Jacqueline eventually stepped inside they discovered a large, single-storey space divided into two classrooms, cloakrooms, a library and staff room. From the road it had been impossible to see beyond the elevated stone wall and overgrown railings, but once inside the couple soon realised that the school was in fact far larger than they had imagined.

“We immediately entered into a contract race with a builder, and were told that the first one past the post the following day would be successful — which meant that there wasn’t enough time to get a survey or apply for planning permission for a change of use,” Jacqueline recalls. “We had never done any major work to our previous homes so this was a really exciting and daunting prospect, and we were thrilled when our solicitor telephoned to say that we’d been successful and that Archbishop Hutton’s Junior School was now ours.”

Despite local rumours that the school was falling down and had an unstable rear wall, the building actually proved to be structurally sound, with tightly jointed stonework which required no tanking or repointing. The main entrance doors were rotten but the roof structure was in fantastic condition, thanks to a ventilation shaft which had kept the timbers well aired.

When the school was first built the red clay roof tiles caused consternation in the village because of their colour, and these have also been kept. Even the boiler located down in the basement was in good working order, although the radiators could not be salvaged.

“We sketched out a layout for the rooms ourselves, with a large kitchen/dining room in the old staff room area, a sitting room in one of the classrooms and Geoff’s studio in the other — designed as a double-height space to accommodate his lighting and other equipment,” explains Jacqueline. “We needed to introduce a first floor for the four bedrooms and my study, and there is also a further attic space which Oliver reaches by a hatch in his room and uses as a den. The only thing we couldn’t work out was exactly how the staircase would reach these first floor rooms.”

One of the most prominent features of the property is the impressive new double staircase in the hallway, with one flight providing access to the master bedroom and en suite and the other leading up to the remaining first floor rooms.

“The stairs which go up to our bedroom were a major concern because the architect had got the measurements for the hallway wrong,” Geoff recalls. “There just wasn’t enough landing space, so we had to cut through a wall above and introduce structural steelwork to allow enough head height.”

The whole conversion has been undertaken with great sympathy for the original building and, although introducing a first floor has effectively divided the existing windows in two, the new floor structure is concealed from view externally by the original horizontal sandstone transoms. The rotten windows have been replaced with double glazed, timber framed replicas, and the result is an effective compromise which gives the family the bedroom space they need without altering the basic shell of the old school.

“One of the main features upstairs is that the bedrooms and bathroom have been formed around the existing heavy roof timbers and sloping ceilings,” says Jacqueline, “and rather than punching new windows into the stone walls we added rooflights upstairs which give additional light in these rooms.”

The Harris family rented a cottage further along the road during the conversion and undertook a large amount of the physical work themselves in order to keep costs down. They tackled all of the decorating, made curtains, stained floors, cleaned the fireblackened pitch pine timbers and were able to reuse many of the original doors — purchasing additional doors from reclamation yards.

An original fireplace with a stone lintel was discovered in what is now the sitting room, and has been opened up and fitted with a woodburning stove. Stonework has also been exposed in this room, but the rest of the internal walls are plastered and have been finished in a variety of refreshingly bright colours.

“One of the main features upstairs is that the bedrooms and bathroom have been formed around the existing heavy roof timbers and sloping ceilings,” says Jacqueline, “and rather than punching new windows into the stone walls we added rooflights upstairs which give additional light in these rooms.”

The Harris family rented a cottage further along the road during the conversion and undertook a large amount of the physical work themselves in order to keep costs down. They tackled all of the decorating, made curtains, stained floors, cleaned the fireblackened pitch pine timbers and were able to reuse many of the original doors — purchasing additional doors from reclamation yards.

An original fireplace with a stone lintel was discovered in what is now the sitting room, and has been opened up and fitted with a woodburning stove. Stonework has also been exposed in this room, but the rest of the internal walls are plastered and have been finished in a variety of refreshingly bright colours.

Outside, similar attention has been given to retaining many of the original elements. The girls’ playground has been replaced with a lawned garden and the toilet block is being transformed into a summerhouse. To the other side of the house, the boys’ playground is now a driveway and the toilets have been extended to form a stone garage, whilst the original gates were discovered behind the school and have now been reinstated.

Throughout the project villagers would arrive with stories of their own time spent at the school, and all were happy to see the old building being given a new lease of life. “One of the strangest experiences happened when I was showing our nephew around the derelict building just after we first bought it,” says Geoff. “We both heard the sound of children playing and laughing, although there was no one there. It was a very happy sound, and we feel pleased that we have been able to share in the building’s history with so many local people.”

Further reading:

• How to spot the best conversion opportunities
• Planning approval for conversions
• A Converted Church