Townhill Community Primary School is a large, redbrick building serving the community of Townhill, on the western side of Swansea. Designed by Borough Architect, Ernest Morgan, the schools at Townhill and Mayhill (NPRN 544587) were based on open-air principles that became popular in the first decades of the twentieth century. As a means to combat the prevalaence of tuberculosis, schools based on open-air principles aimed to improved the health and well-being of pupils, thereby improving their educational attainments. The school at Townhill was planned in rectangular form around three internal quadrangles, allowing for the opening of glazed folding doors and plenty of windows to allow light and fresh air into classrooms. Perched at an altitude above the city, the site at Townhill (and Mayhill) offered cleaner air and less pollution to its pupils. Townhill School was built for 420 boys, 420 girls, and 452 infants at a cost of £53,355, and the design for the school was featured in Sir Felix Clay's Modern School Buildings (1929) suggesting it was recognised as an influential design for its day. Inscription above the main entrance shows '1924'. uPVC glazing was installed on the colonnaded quadrangles in the 1980s. According to a 2019 Estyn report, 'there are 526 pupils on roll aged from three to eleven. The school has 17 classes, including two nursery classes with 60 part-time pupils in each. There are two specialist teaching facilities (STFs) on site.'

Sources: Estyn report on Townhill Community Primary School, published in February 2019; Google street view; Richard Porch, Ernest Morgan Architect of Swansea (The Gower Society, 2018), pp.62-64; '£50,000 School for Swansea', Western Mail, 4 June 1924, p.9

M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 14th August 2019. Updated by M. Powel, RCAHMW. November 2022.