LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING The roughly 6.5 hectare site lies three km north of the centre of Preston adjacent to the west side of the main northern approach to Preston, Garstang Road, in the suburb of Fulwood. It occupies largely level ground, with a slight fall from east to west. The north side is bounded by a school and Regent Park Road. To the west it is bounded by the gardens of houses in Black Bull Lane, and to the south by the gardens of houses in King's Drive. The east side of the site is bounded by Garstang Road, the boundary now marked by a privet hedge and formerly by iron railings. The other boundaries are largely marked by C20 fences with mature trees/areas of woodland along their insides. The setting is suburban, with the late-C19 former Little Sisters of the Poor Convent standing in its own grounds on the east side of Garstang Road. The eastern edge of the site overlooks the Residence and its grounds.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES The site is approached from the east off Garstang Road via a gateway (listed Grade II) set back off the road at the south-east corner of the site. The carriage entrance is flanked by banded stone piers about 3m high supporting iron railings. These piers are in turn flanked by further piers in similar style marking two pedestrian entrances, these in their turn flanked by low, convex stone walls leading back out to the pavement and terminated by further piers in similar style. The walls support late-C20 replacement iron railings, the originals removed when the entrance was widened, and the structures moved and rebuilt slightly to the west. On the west side, immediately inside the gates stands a single-storey lodge (listed Grade II), dated 1887 on the gable, with a weighbridge outside in the drive. The lodge is built in Vernacular Revival style, of red brick with stone dressings. Immediately west of the lodge the drive divides to north-west and south-west, forming a circuit around the buildings.
To the north-west the drive leads to a turning circle outside the former schoolmaster's house occupying the south end of the principal building which also contains the former schoolrooms and chapel. From the turning circle the drive continues north, along the east side of the principal building, with spurs leading west to the entrances to the girls' and boys' entrances respectively. The drive curves west around the north side of the chapel, continuing west in serpentine fashion, overlooked by the entrance fronts of a row of four villas to the north and overlooking the green to the south. Some 100m west of the chapel the drive curves south between the east side of the single-storey former laundry block and the west side of the green. The drive turns east 130m south-west of the chapel, to continue along the south side of the estate, overlooked by the entrance fronts of a second row of four villas. From here it returns north-east to complete the circuit north-west of the lodge.
Spurs off the main circuit drive give access to the northern, service sides of both rows of villas, as well as the rear, west side of the principal building. These spurs link together to form a further circuit for service purposes which intersects with the main drive west of the green, with short drives leading off to give individual access to the north, rear side of each villa and the west side of the principal building. A further spur leads west off the south-west corner of the main circuit drive, giving access to Pond House, the former orphanage infirmary, standing isolated 180m south-west of the chapel.
The drive system was laid out by Rowbotham in 1888 and survives as depicted on the OS 2,500 map of 1893.
PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS The former orphanage buildings form a group around the central green. The largest, principal building forms the easternmost of this group and contains, from south to north, the schoolmaster's house, school, and chapel (listed Grade II). It is built of red brick with stone dressings in Gothic style. The entrance to the schoolmaster's house lies at the south-east corner, sheltered by a stained-glass porch. The linked schoolroom extends north from this, entered externally from the east via separate entrances for girls, at the south end, and boys, at the north end. Set in the lawn between these two entrances is the War Memorial of about 1924 (listed Grade II), with a 2m high granite pedestal supporting a white stone statue of a very youthful soldier, to commemorate the 'old boys' of the Orphanage who died in the First World War. At the north-east corner of the school a tall bell tower with a spire stands over the boys' entrance, this tower and spire being visible from much of the site and its surroundings. To the north of this is the chapel, aligned west to east and entered from the boys' entrance in the tower, and from the north end of the schoolroom.
To the north of the green stands a row of four detached, two-storey, brick-built villa residences (listed Grade II), Glen Rosa, Oak House, Ashleigh, and Beech House, built for the male orphans. The villas are to several different patterns, of red brick with stone dressings, in Vernacular Revival style. They overlook and are entered from the circuit drive to the south running along the north edge of the green, with service entrances on the north sides. Glen Rosa, the westernmost of these villas, retains a stone-flagged path leading up to the front door, and is also considered to have served as a schoolteacher’s residence rather than housing orphans. To the south of the green stands a further row of four villas (listed Grade II), Chestnuts, Poplar, Holly House, and Laurels. These were built for the female orphans, in similar style to those for the males, but with the service fronts overlooking the green to the north. One of these, probably the westernmost example is said to have housed several infants. Some 20m south-west of the principal building stands the brick-built Clayton Hall, the former gymnasium, built about 1914 and converted to offices in the early C21. To the west of the green stand two original single-storey buildings flanking the main drive, that to the west being the former laundry. The former stable block stands 120m north-west of the chapel at the north-east edge of the playing fields.
GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS The gardens and pleasure grounds are laid out informally and comprise several discrete areas which merge into each other: the eastern lawns overlooked by the front of the principal building and dividing it from Garstang Road; the individual garden areas around the villas; the green; and the western part of the site, interpreted as a recreation area, and mostly used as playing fields since the mid-C20. A feature of the site is the ground modelling with raised beds planted with mature trees and shrubs; together these provide relief in an otherwise largely level site, both masking and directing views across the site.
The eastern lawns are bounded to the south and west by the drive, and beyond this are overlooked by the lodge and the principal building respectively. The eastern boundary of the lawns, fronting Garstang Road, is marked by a privet hedge and a line of mature trees. The southern section of the lawns, lying opposite the school entrances, occupies a dip which is bounded to the north and east by irregularly shaped raised beds containing mature trees and shrubs. The northern section of the lawns extends to the north-east corner as an open lawn surrounded by mature trees, entered via a grass path off the circuit drive at the north-east corner of the chapel. The level nature of this area suggests it was possibly the former site of a tennis court; today a children’s playpark has been inserted. To the west of the principal building its serpentine service drive sinks slightly in the middle, overlooking the green to the west, and is flanked by informal plantings of mature trees and shrubs.
Each detached villa has its own area of garden lawn on the south, entrance side, through which runs a path to the front door. The approach paths were originally flanked by raised shrub beds. To the south of the female villas there is an access drive, and beyond this the southern boundary is set at the top of a gentle grassed slope with tree planting. The north sides of the female villas are also ornamented with soft landscaping, between which run the service drives and paths to the villas. North of the male villas there is a large area of hard surfacing parking.
The central green occupies the heart of the site, and forms a central space around which the villas are all framed. It provides an attractive focal point to the site, and embodies the 'village' feel which was central to the philosophy behind this style of orphanage. It also provided a play space for children and may have been the location for more formal sports with spectators. It is reached directly from the villas to north and south and is overlooked by the chapel spire. The former gymnasium, Clayton Hall, stands at the south-east corner, and to its north there is a second inserted children’s play park, and to the west stands a small, decorative wooden seating shelter. At the west end of the green stands a single-storey cottage, converted to an office.
The western part of the orphanage site comprises a large, rectangular, grassed area about 180m by 180m, considered primarily to be a recreation ground. The transition between this and the orphanage buildings is marked by the groundworks associated with the site's landscaping, which are planted with mature trees and shrubs (many of which appear to be self-seeded descendants of the original planting). The northern end is more open and there is clear access between the orphanage buildings and the western part of the site. The open, grassed area is bounded on the north and south sides by mature trees and strips of woodland, sinuous to the south boundary where there are the remains of a former orchard, and the west boundary is marked by intermittent tree planting. At the south-east corner lies an irregularly shaped pond, and at the north-east corner is an area of hardstanding formerly associated with a late-C20 cricket pavilion.