Building record MDR11432 - Bemrose School, Uttoxeter Road, Derby

Bemrose School, on Uttoxeter New Road, is a large and well-proportioned former grammar school of brick with stone dressings and two towers with copper-sheathed ogiform cupolas and generous use of glass in the fenestration. The building is set in landscaped grounds with original boundary walls and gates etc. It was designed by Alexander MacPherson of Derby (1847-1935), as his last commission before retirement. It is now disfigured by a particularly poorly designed extension set in the north-west re-entrant between the wings of the original school on that side. Ryknield Street Roman road is believed to have run straight up the school drive, under the buildings and across the playing fields to Rowditch, to line up with Constable Lane and Owler's Lane. (1) Bemrose Community School comprises a large group of simple, tall, brick-built school buildings with a large amount of glazing to the facades and simple slate covered hipped roofs. It is punctuated by two towers with ogiform copper domes and has original boundary walls and cast iron gates. There is a modern infill section between the north-west wings of the original school. The building was designed in the 1920s by the important local architect Alexander MacPherson of Derby, for Alderman Sir Henry Bemrose, as Bemrose Grammar School. This was in response to a desire of the County Borough Council to increase the grammar school places for boys in Derby beyond what was then available at Derby School. It is said to have been the architect’s last commission before retirement, and designed by him at the request of Bemrose to be read as the Greek letter ‘Pi’ from the air.