A FORMER primary school building will be converted into two family homes.

The historic buildings previously used by Lord Deramore's Primary School, in Heslington, could be turned into two "high value" four-bedroom houses.

The primary school, based on School Lane, moved into a £2.56 million new building in 2017 which was built in the grounds of the old site.

Developers say converting the Grade II-listed former schoolhouse is the best way to ensure the long-term future of the building and that the homes are expected to reach a high price.

The planning application says one of the homes will feature include an existing spiral staircase and the houses will share the existing driveway. A heritage report prepared as part of the planning application says: “The 1856 portion of the building is a significant example of an early purpose built school, developed through local patronage.

"The significance of the site as a place for children’s education is therefore extremely long established, and its place in the village is emphasised by the renaming of “Back Lane” to “School Lane” in the late twentieth century.

“As the village has grown, the school expanded through a series of linked extensions."

It adds that the building is a good example of Victorian Gothic architecture but was unsuitable for use as part of the new school. The later twentieth century extensions attached to the building have been demolished. The new school building, which lies to the north of the old building, was designed to accommodate 210 pupils, aged 4-11 and was developed as part of the Government’s Priority School Building Programme (PSBP). James Rourke replaced Sheena Powley as head teacher, who retired when the new school opened.