Tosson Terrace, Adult Education & Community Centres

These Victorian buildings which are now utilised by the community of Heaton as an adult education centre and a community centre were originally built as a school. There are several buildings on the site, all of red brick and of various designs. The buildings are plainly decorated, often with small details such as sandstone keystones and roof capping. On the south elevation of the single storey buildings at the south of the site, the windows are capped by arches of upended bricks, a feature repeated on the north façade of the tall buildings at the north of the area. Tyne & Wear Archives, Ref/No E.NC32

“North Heaton Council School was formally opened on 3 March 1904 with Infants, Junior and Senior Mixed Departments. The school was located on Tosson Terrace. In 1927 the school was reorganised. The Infants merged with the Juniors to form a single department and moved into the old Junior Department building, while their previous premises were taken over for use as a Technical School. As a result the School consisted of a Junior Mixed and Infants Department and a Senior Mixed Department. In 1932 the Senior Department was reorganised as a Senior Girls' Department, with the boys transferring to Chillingham Road Boys School.

Following the 1944 Education Act the Senior Girls Department was redesignated as North Heaton Secondary Modern School for Girls and then as North Heaton County Secondary School for Girls. The Junior and Infants Department closed in 1952 and its pupils were transferred to the new Ravenswood County Primary School. The Girls' School closed in 1967 and the building was taken over by Manor Park School. The majority of the pupils transferred to Benfield Comprehensive School.”

General observations

OS maps (see attached) indicate that the linked single and two storey buildings in the north west corner of the site post-date the main late-Victorian style school buildings, appearing at some point in the interwar period. This is reflected architecturally in features such as the flat segmental window arches with sandstone keystones. In contrast, the windows of the late-Victorian style buildings carry mostly round segmental brick arches and sandstone lintels when located under the eaves. LOCAL LIST