Surely a new, permanent use for this fine Grade II* building could be found?
Grade II*-listed, 1873, Lockwood and Mawson
Feversham Street First School was commissioned by the Bradford School Board in 1873, and built in an ornate and unusual interpretation of the Early English Gothic style, at the considerable cost of £24,500 1s 9d. The building has a highly legible long rectangular plan, arranged across a single storey, with the various schoolrooms and facilities all directly accessible from the front. It is also notable for becoming the first mixed Higher Elementary Board School in England, though it ceased functioning in an educational capacity in 1993, and until recently has primarily been used for commercial purposes. Over the past few years it appears to have been closed and abandoned and, strangely, there have been no planning applications for the building within this time. Surely a new and sustainable use for this fine yet vulnerable building – the only Grade II* on this year’s list – could be quite easily found?
Christopher Costelloe, The Victorian Society Director, said: ‘It’s incredible that the Feversham Street First School building has been left ignored for so long, when it has such obvious potential for a fine regeneration’.
Status Update / March 2026
Since appearing on our list in 2017, the school has continued to deteriorate, and there are no formal plans for its future. A local school was taken to visit the building last year as part of an oral histories project, which suggests that it is still actively observed.