TIME TO MARK SUCCESS AS HISTORIC SCHOOL IS GRANTED LISTED STATUS
City College in a partnership with The Brighton Society is planning to celebrate an extraordinary 125 years of unbroken service in the name of education.
The Connaught School Past, Present and Future Event will take place on 20 March 2010 between 11:00am-3:00-pm. It is time to mark and celebrate the success in getting the building listed.
The event will be framed by an exhibition of photographs showing some of the focus and background work put in by the Brighton Society as part of its successful campaign to achieve listed building grade II status for the Connaught School.
A stall selling books about the history of Brighton published by Brighton Books Publishing and Brighton Town Press, will also form part of the event.
Timetabling of other parts of the day are set out below;
11.30-12.30 Photo Forum—in the company of David Simkin history of photography expert. Bring along photographs of Connaught school and the surrounding area
2.30-3.30 Into Backstreet Hove —a stroll into the neighbourhood of the school guided by local historian Geoff Mead
Some of the arguments put about why the Connaught School should be listed have appeared in articles here in the Brighton Society website over the last few months.
Below we set out a summary of the points made in those stories.
Come and join us on 20 March and help us to mark a very special school report.
- - - - - - -∞ articles summary
The Connaught Board school is a fine example of the versatile Queen Anne brick and sash style of educational building. Evocation of the liberal and progressive ideology which inspired the board schools, the Connaught has many exquisite external details.
The external fabric has hardly been altered since it was built in 1884, and internally the original layout of corridors and classrooms remains intact.
The Brighton Society commissioned an independent survey on the building by Ron Martin MRICS of the Sussex Industrial Archaeological Society. His report confirms that the building is largely sound and intact, both externally and internally.
The Connaught Centre is a valuable example of an educational building designed by Thomas Simpson and is the only educational building by Simpson remaining in Hove, in addition the only remaining board school built for the School Board in Hove.
English Heritage, in their letter confirming the listing wrote:
“The Secretary of State . . . has decided to list the Connaught Centre at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Of special interest as an architecturally distinguished and well-preserved board school.
An early and distinctive use of the Queen Anne style in school design outside London, expressed through features such as the elegant shaped gables and façade detailing;
Retention of internal features of interest.
It is therefore of sufficient special architectural or historic interest to merit listing.”
see also : connaught centre gallery
