Drill Hall, Changing Rooms and Music Rooms, Denstone College, Staffordshire

Denstone College was built between 1868 and 1873 by William Slater and Richard Carpenter. It is a member of the Woodard Group of Anglican schools, named after Nathaniel Woodard, a Church of England priest in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.

Just before the First World War, Isaac Taylor, probably because of his previous work at another Woodard school – St Anne’s College in Abbots Bromley – was invited to design a building to fulfil the roles of a drill hall, sports changing rooms and music practice rooms. It was opened on 28 July 1913 by the Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire. The Drill Hall part of the building was 100 feet long and 50 feet wide and incorporated a spectators’ gallery. According to the school magazine, The Denstonian, it was one of the largest drill halls in the Midlands. The changing rooms were housed in the wings of the Hall, and the Music School, comprising ten sound-proofed practice rooms, stood behind. The outside of the building consisted of rustic Ravenhead bricks with Hollington stone facings, and the roofs were covered with Westmoreland slates. [RF]

Reference    The Staffordshire Sentinel, 30 July 1913
Reference    The Denstonian, March 1913, March 1914 and July 1915
Photo:         Old postcard