DescriptionFounded in 1811 by the second Lord Kenyon (date on building). It was the first purpose-built 'monitorial' school in Wales, named after the school in Madras, India, where Andrew Bell, a friend of Lord Kenyon, pioneered the monitorial system of education. The 1873 and 1900 Ordnance Surveys show the building divided into 2 units but without the present porch, which was a later addition. The roof structure is late 19th century, and therefore it is not certain whether the building originally had a thatch roof. The broad window openings also appear to be late 19th century. The school was extended at the rear in 1905, again in 1966-7 by Sir Percy Thomas & Sons, architects of Cardiff, and in 1999.
It is a cottage orne style, single-storey school of roughcast walls painted cream, wih wide small-pane windows and steep hipped thatch roof on wide boarded eaves. The symmetrical front has a central lower half-hipped porch. This has a 2-light small-pane window to the front, above which is a stone tablet with raised letters: 'Madras School founded by George 2nd Lord Kenyon 1811'. Replacement boarded doors are in the porch side walls.
The interior is now divided into 2 rooms, but was probably originally a single room. Each side has 2 late 19th century king-post trusses with raking struts, bolted rather than pegged, and boxed on the L-hand side. The underside of the roof is boarded.
Source:- Cadw listed buildings ( NJR 02/10/2007)