Humberstone Gate School-Front Entrance On Monday 17 June 1878 the Girls' Department of the Wyggeston's Hospital School was opened for the reception of pupils, and on Tuesday afternoon the public ceremony took place. The buildings cost ÂŁ7,162 and were described by George Cowie in his book The History of Wyggeston's Hospital and Schools (1893) as follows:
Girls' School--description The Girls' School, which was built on a plot of land belonging to the trust, situate on the north side of Humberstone Gate, occupies the whole of the ground between Clarence Street and Hill Street, standing back a little distance from the thoroughfare. The building, which is in the Tudor style. and composed of red bricks, with dressings of Ancaster stone, has a frontage of 104 feet towards Humberstone Gate, and covers an area of about 1000 superficial yards, with a playground at the rear. The space in front of the school up to the roadway is laid out ornamentally. The main entrance is from Clarence Street, through an arched gateway, ten feet wide, adjoining the porter's lodge. Above the gateway is a small oriel window, surmounted by the arms and motto of the founder. The building is entered through a large arched doorway, leading directly into the entrance hall, 28 feet by 20 feet. The floor of the hall and corridors is of white and red Mansfield pavement. Cloak rooms and lavatories are placed at the back of the hall, with doors leading to the playground. On the left of the hall is a waiting-room; on the right are the Head Mistress' room; the teachers' room; the music room and class-rooms. The music room is 22 feet by 17 feet, and through it are reached four small compartments, each containing a piano, and having double doors, the inner ones covered with baize to exclude the sound of the instruments. The classrooms here are of the same size as the music room. Outside, at the back, runs a covering of glass, as a protection for the girls in wet weather. Along a corridor to the left of the hall, are a lecture room 25 feet by 18 feet, and more class-rooms. From the back of the entrance hall, in the centre, a broad flight of stone steps leads to the upper floor, on which is the large hall, 64 feet by 30 feet, with an open timber roof and two large bay windows facing the front, and one looking out upon Clarence Street. Adjoining this large hall are three more class-rooms. The building is heated throughout by a hot water system and the apparatus is placed in a stone cellar, under the teachers' room.
12