Listed Building: West Banks Avenue, Wick High School (LB51803)

Description D and J R McMillan, 1909 (with later additions and alterations by Sinclair MacDonald and Son, 1935-37 (see Notes). Symmetrical, 2-storey, 6-bay, rectangular-plan, multi-gabled school with Tudor and Scottish Domestic detailing. Crowstepped gables with arrowhead coping stones. Coursed squared sandstone rubble with raised pale sandstone ashlar dressings. Rusticated base course. Long L-plan addition to right (NW) using similar treatment. Later additions to rear.PRINCIPAL (NE) ELEVATION: set back from road with broad flight of steps to front. Single-storey double gable to centre with pair of Venetian windows flanked by pupil entrances and 2-storey, gable-end wings at outer bays with ball finials at corner angles. Castellated, octagonal towers within re-entrant angles and further double crowstepped gable to central drill hall, flanked by taller gables with bracketed stacks.INTERIOR: Simple drill hall to centre with cantilevered balcony on three sides. Curved moulded timber panelling to main spaces and stairs, rising to dado height. Moulded cast-iron banisters with timber hand rails to stairs and balconies. Predominantly timber sash and case windows. Grey slate. Sandstone ashlar gable head and some ridge stacks. Cast-iron rain water goods. Notes Wick High School is a distinctive and well-detailed example of its building type with an unusual mix of Tudor and Scottish Domestic elements making a significant and positive contribution to both the streetscape and the wider townscape. Extended in a similar style to the NW in 1935, the robust form and massing of the original 1909 block predominantly retains its original character with prominent octagonal towers and a wealth of crowstepped gables. The flat-roofed pupil entrances to the principal elevation are later additions and were formerly canted windows. Separate Boys and Girls entrances were located at the side elevations although only the SE entrance now survives following the addition of the extension to NW. There is a range of 1960s modular classroom blocks to the rear. Inverness born Duncan McMillan was apprenticed to the eminent highland architect Alexander Ross from 1855 until 1861. McMillan's son, John Ross was articled to his father in 1885. The practice were prolific covering a broad range of building types including civic and eclesiastic and in the later stages of their career, specialised in housing estates. Their church buildings include the Beechgrove and Ferryhill Free Churches in Aberdeen (see separate listings). References 3rd Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1923). RCAHMS, Drawings - Foundation, Floor and Roof Plans, Sections and Elevations of Existing Building, D and R J MacMillan (12/1908) Ref: SM 1930/127/5; Sinclair MacDonald and Son, Ref: SM 1930/127/1-24). John Gifford, Buildings of Scotland - Highlands and Islands (1992) p142. Elizabeth Beaton, Caithness, An Illustrated Architectural Guide (1996) p36.