Urgent repairs to save school library
Urgent repairs are needed to prevent a “catastrophic failure” in a historic school building in Bath. A survey has revealed structural defects above the library at Kingswood School in Lansdown, where sections of plasterwork have fallen away. A dining hall with a similar structure to the library has also been taken out of action and ceilings are being propped up with scaffolding. A planning application for repairs has been submitted to Bath & North East Somerset Council. It says: “The structural assessment has concluded that without proper repair the loadings associated with the continued use of the accommodation over the library could lead to “catastrophic failure” of the library ceiling structure. “The structural works and ceiling repairs are urgently required to prevent further damage to the oldest part of Kingswood School in order to make it safe for continued use by the school. “The works proposed are strengthening repairs within the floor and attics and do not affect or alter the existing access provision within the main school building. “Unless the works are undertaken, the affected rooms are unable to be used or have only restricted access due to the temporary scaffolding.” The independent school moved from Kingswood to its 218-acre site in Landsdown in the 1850s. According to a history of the school compiled by former headmaster GM Best, it was originally founded by John Wesley in Kingswood, in South Gloucestershire, in 1748 as a Methodist school. By the 1840s the school had outgrown its site, and relocated in 1852 to the outskirts of Bath on land belonging to the former Beckford estate. The planning application says the repairs will minimise any further harm arising from the unnecessary loss of historic fabric, or introduction of unsightly structural interventions. Kingswood School is co-educational and educates around 950 children aged three to 18.