Hambledon Nursery School will be a warmer place this winter, thanks to new windows in its two classrooms.
The nursery, formerly the village primary school, dates back to Victorian times and is a listed building. Its original wooden-framed windows were in an advance state of decay but the school had to replace like-for-like to comply with planning regulations – a costly business.
Thanks to a £4,000 grant from the Hall Hunter Foundation – a trust set up by the owners of nearby Tuesley Fruit Farm – and a dip into the nursery school’s reserves, the money has been found to pay for the work, which was carried out over the summer holiday.
Nicola Collett, head teacher, said: “We are delighted with the Hall Hunter grant and very grateful. It enabled us to give the go-ahead for the work and we now have new windows on the southern elevation of the classrooms which were the ones in most urgent need of replacement.”
“They are structured to the original design with wooden frames but are double-glazed. I am actually looking forward to winter this year because the staff and children will be nice and warm and nestled in the classrooms with no drafts to contend with.”
She added: “I suppose the saddest part of the project was actually watching the old windows come out. But remarkably the Hopper style openers and some of the frames have been donated to The Brooking National Architectural Museum in Cranleigh, because they were of significant architectural interest.”
“The next phase will be along the Eastern side of the building restoring and replacing the old original stone bay window. The final phase will be to replace the old Crittall windows in the flat roof extension.”