Central Board School Whitworth Street Manchester

THE NEW CENTRAL SCHOOL: ADOPTION OF PLANS. The Chairman proposed the adoption by the Board of plans for the new Central School in Whitworth Street submitted by Messrs Potts Son and Pickup, architects of Victoria Street, Manchester. These, he said, were the most satisfactory of the competitive plans, and they were in accordance with the instructions issued by the Committee. Anticipated cost – over £20,000.[ Manchester Guardian 1 April 1896 page 3]

The new central school of the Manchester School Board will be completed and opened immediately after the midsummer holidays. The formal opening will not take place until later. … (Closure of first Central Board School in Deansgate following its purchase for the Great Northern Warehouse).

The School Board purchased a site of 3,558 square yards of land in Whitworth Street at the corner of Chorlton Street from the legatees under the will of Sir Joseph Whitworth. The Board afterwards invited plans from a limited number of architects and accepted those of Potts Son and Pickup. The designs were approved by the Education Department and the Board adopted the lowest tender for the erection of the building – that of Messrs Storrs Limited, in the sum of £22,713. The work was begun in August 1896. The school is built of brick with terra cotta facings and accommodation is provided for the following: Boys (in standards) 450; girls (in standards) 250; pupils in organised science school, 500; pupil teachers’ centre 250; total 1,450. In the basement of the building are dining rooms for boys and girls, rooms for teaching cookery and laundry work, a large gymnasium, and a manual instruction room. The ground floor is divided into a central hall for girls in standards, classrooms, cloakrooms, for the children, teachers’ rooms, and pupil teachers’ centre. The rooms on the remaining three floors are as follows: First floor: central hall 80 feet by 40 feet, for use by boys in standards and the pupils of the organised science school; classrooms for boys in standards; head master’s rom and boys’ cloakrooms; room for typewriting in connection with the commercial evening school. Second Floor: Upper part of central hall, classrooms, art rooms, teachers’ rooms, cloakrooms, and caretaker’s house in the tower. Third Floor: chemical laboratories, physical laboratory, lecture theatres, machine drawing room, science master’s room, balance room, library, stores, etc. Open playgrounds are provided. There are separate entrances to the school for boys and girls. The main entrance is in Whitworth Street. The tower on the Chorlton Street side will be an ornamental feature of he building, and care has been taken in connection with all the details of construction, particular attention being paid to sanitary arrangements. The situation of the school has been much improved by the recent purchase by the Corporation of the land between the school and Sackville Street. This plot will be laid out as an open space and will greatly benefit also the Municipal School. [Manchester Guardian 18 July 1900 page 4]

Opened 15 October 1900 by the Duke of Devonshire to replace the board school in Deansgate, demolished to make way for the Great Northern Warehouse. Land - 3558 sq yards purchased at a cost of £24,579.Building designed to accommodate 1450 pupils cost - £22,719. Floor area -51,368 sq ft.

THE NEW CENTRAL BOARD SCHOOL. OPENING CEREMONY TO DAY - The Duke of Devonshire will to-day formally open the new Central Higher Grade Board School, which has been erected Whitworth-street by the Manchester School Board.  The new Central Higher Grade Board School has been erected on land bought from the Whitworth Trustees. Since the School Board bought the site the Corporation has purchased the whole of the remaining land on the Sackville Street side the building with the view of making an open space opposite the Technical School. This open space will be of great advantage to the scholars, as it will furnish them with an additional playground. The new school takes the place of the Central Board School in Deansgate, which had to be pulled down to make room for the Great Northern Goods Station. The railway company paid the School Board £50,000 for the land and buildings, which 11 years ago cost the board £38,000. A new site had then to looked for, and the legatees of the late Sir Joseph Whitworth sold the one in Whitworth-street to the board on most favourable terms. The new building, which has a handsome exterior, consists of a basement, ground floor, and three upper storeys. It is built of brick, with terra cotta facings, and has been arranged according to sketch plans prepared the Board and supplied to the architects, Messrs. Potts, Son, and Hennings, of Manchester and London. An idea of its size may be gained from the statement that will provide accommodation for fewer than 1,450 scholars. This number divided into the following classes: -Boys in standards 450, girls in standards 250, pupils in the school of science 500. other acommodation 250. One satisfactory feature it which the building Deansgate did not possess is the open-air playgrounds. In addition to them the scholars will have direct access to the adjoining open space, of which mention has already been made. The basement of the schools contains dining-rooms for boys and girls, the provision of which was necessary because the majority of the scholars live too far away to return home for the mid-day meal. In this part of the building there are also rooms for teaching cookery and laundry work, a gymnasium, and manual instruction room. On the ground floor there a central hall for girls in standards, classrooms, cloak-rooms, and rooms for the teachers. The principal feature of the room above is a large central hall, feet long by 40 feet wide, for the use of boys in standards and the school of science. It is also intended to employ it for the examinations of teachers conducted the Education Department, and for scholarship examinations. On the same floor there are classrooms for boys in standards, headmaster's room, cloak-rooms, and special rooms for the use in connection with the Board's Central Commercial Evening School. On the second floor are classrooms for teaching drawing, teachers' rooms, cloak-rooms, and the caretaker's residence, while on the top floor are spacious chemical end physical laboratories, two lecture theatres, science master's room, balance room, library, store-rooms, etc. The memorial stone was laid in November 1897. It was not then anticipated that so long a time would be occupied in completing the building, but its progress has been retarded by delays due to a variety of causes, one of which was the plasterers' strike. When the school in Deansgate was pulled down scholars were transferred temporary schools in the. vicinity the new building. In these temporary schools 976 children are now being educated, and in due course they will be removed to the new school. [Manchester Courier - Monday 15 October 1900 page 10]

Reference    Manchester Guardian 1 April 1896 page 3
Reference    Manchester Faces & Places Vol 11
Reference    British Architect 20 July 1900 page 53
Reference    Manchester Guardian 18 July 1900 page 4
Reference    Manchester Courier - Monday 15 October 1900 page 10 - opening