Building record MDO21797 - Old Schoolhouse, Lower Sea Lane, Charmouth

Former primary school built in 1871 on the site of an earlier church and National School. The building is in a Victorian Tudor Style. It was converted to private houses after the school moved to a new site in 1992.

A church school was founded in Charmouth some time before 1834, probably in Lower Sea Lane. It had become a National School by 1842 and a Board School in 1877. A new school building was constructed in 1871 and a new class room built in 1881 and the school was enlarged in 1891. Two cloakrooms were added and the infants room enlarged in 1904. A playground behind the school buildings was opened in 1926 when land belonging to the church was sold. (1)

The Old Schoolhouse is a good, unspoilt example of Victorian planning, with a two storey house at right-angles and attached to a single storey school room block and with an entrance porch in the angle between the two elements. (2)

The school was made redundant in 1992, when a new school was opened on a different site. It was converted into private houses. It is built of Greensand chert with a decorative fish-scale ceramic tiled roof.

<1> Pavey, R W J, 1969, A few notes on the eastern portion of Charmouth including The Lower Sea Lane and The Higher Sea Lane and some of the people who have lived there (Unpublished document). SDO11330.

<2> West Dorset District Council, 2009, Charmouth, Chideock & Seatown Conservation Area Appraisal (Unpublished document). SDO11331.

Record last edited

Oct 19 2021 6:45PM