In the same week that William Flockton’s The Mount is subject of a planning application comes news of another one of his buildings that could also be restored. It is one that most Sheffield folk will probably not have heard about.
A planning application has been submitted by King Edward VII School for the refurbishment of the ‘Caretaker’s House’ on the upper school site. Once completed, the building would be used for small group work, a therapy, meeting, and isolation space, as well as a transition unit for students with complex needs and additional space for work with SEND students.
Externally the school wishes to bring the building ‘back’ into the secure school site as it currently is outside of the school’s fenced boundary, requiring all users to exit via the pedestrian site gates to gain access. The school also suggests that they are intending to use the external area to the front of the building for a sensory garden or similar, within existing trees.
Although the building is referred to as the caretaker’s house, it has not been used for this function for several decades and is currently being used for storage, small group working and music practice.
The plans by Jump Architects show no changes to the overall appearance of the building beyond the replacement and refurbishment of the existing fabric.
The Grade II listed building is believed to date from about 1838 and designed by Wiliam Flockton, originally built as the caretaker’s house to the main school building, which itself dates from 1837-38 and was built as the Wesleyan Proprietary grammar school.
William Flockton (1804–1864) was the son of Thomas Flockton, a carpenter and builder in Sheffield. He was brought up in his father’s trade and established himself as an architect in 1833. From 1845 to 1849 he operated the business with William Lee and his son Thomas James Flockton as Flockton, Lee and Flockton, continuing in partnership with Thomas James Flockton as Flockton & Son until his death on 24 September 1864.
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