Seymour Park Junior and Infants School: Northumberland Road, Old Trafford

SEYMOUR PARK SCHOOL, OLD TRAFFORD - This school is now being erected by the Stretford Education Authority, to satisfy the needs of the rapidly‑growing district of Old Trafford, and will, when completed, be one of the most modern schools in the district. It is designed to accommodate 840 children, in classrooms to hold 50 children each, planned close to the large central hall. There are two departmentsCmixed boys' and girls' and infants'Chaving four entrances, one each for boys and girls and two for infants. A well‑equipped science room is also provided. The floors throughout are maple‑wood blocks laid on concrete, and a tile dado is run round all rooms and corridors. Heating, ventilating, and sanitary arrangements are all on the most modern lines. All the exposed internal joinery - screens, doors, and ornamental roof principals - is in pitch‑pine, varnished. Externally, half‑timber construction is used. Up to the sill level, the elevations are faced with Accrington bricks, and above this level the whole school is treated with half‑timber framing, filled in with plaster-work on brick backing. The roofs are all covered with Ruabon red tiles. A caretaker's house is provided on the site detached from the school. The general contractor is Mr R Carlyle, of Manchester, who has erected the buildings under the direction of Mr Ernest Woodhouse, FRIBA of Manchester. [Building News 5 April 1907 page 487]

OLD TRAFFORD - The third elementary school built by the Stretford Education Committee was opened at Old Trafford on Saturday. It occupies the corner of Northumberland Road and Ayres Road. In design a new departure has been made, the architect, Mr Ernest Woodhouse, of Manchester, having planned the whole building entirely on one floor. The front is in the Old English half‑timbered style, and the sides and rear of the building are finished in Accrington red brick and terra-cotta. The roof is of red tiles. There is a large central hall, reached from four corridors, along which sixteen classroom are placed. Each classroom is for 50 pupils. The total accommodation in the building is for 840 places, but provision has been made for a future extension of sixty places. The total cost of the building and caretaker's house is ,12,122, a further ,610 has been spent upon furnishing, and the site was purchased for £25,000. The cost per head has been £14 10s 0d on the building and 15 shillings on the furnishing account. [Building News 8 March 1907 page 342]

NEW SCHOOL AT STRETFORD - The third elementary school built by the Stretford Education Committee was opened at Old Trafford on Saturday by Mr Philip A Estcourt, chairman of the District Council. The school stands on a site facing Northumberland Road, at the junction with Ayres Road, and is to provide for the needs of that growing district. In design a new departure has been made, and the building is in many respects superior to the two earlier-built schools. The site is extensive, and this enabled the architect, Mr Ernest Woodhouse, of Manchester, to plan the whole building entirely on one floor. The front facing Northumberland Road is in the old English half‑timbered style, and the sides and rear of the building are finished in Accrington red brick and terra-cotta. The roof is of red tiles. Inside the school is commodious and designed artistically. There is a large central hall, reached from four corridors, along which sixteen classroom are placed. Each classroom is for 50 pupils. The total accommodation in the building is for 840 places, but provision has been made for a future extension of sixty places. The total cost of the building and caretaker's house is ,12,122, a further ,610 has been spent upon furnishing, and the site was purchased by the Committee for ,25,000. … Mr J Whiteside said in building the school they had thought of the children. There was ten feet of area for each child. Three hundred infants were provided for. The site was 2.5 acres, of which 1.5 acres was in the playground. The cost of the school per head was £14 10s 0d on the building and 15 shillings on the furnishing account. [Manchester Guardian 5 March 1907 page 4]

Reference    British Architect 13 April 1906 Page x - tenders
Reference    The Building News 9 March 1906 Page 372 (tenders)
Reference    Building News 5 April 1907 page 487 and illustration
Reference    Manchester Guardian 5 March 1907 page 4 - opening
Reference    Building News 8 March 1907 page 342