A grade II listed former Huddersfield school that’s now in a pitiful state is classed as one of the most endangered Victorian buildings in the country amid fears it will simply fall down.
Oakes Junior School on Wellington Street at Oakes has been left derelict and is today revealed by The Victorian Society as in the Top 10 Endangered Buildings List 2026.
It was built in 1873 and opened as Oakes Board School, one of many nationwide which marked the start of state education for the masses following the 1870 Education Act making school mandatory for everyone between the ages of five and 13 to learn the three Rs – reading, writing and arithmetic.
It finally closed as a school – Oakes Junior School – in 1974 when it was replaced by Lindley Junior School.
After a time as residential use it became Wellington Court Residential Care Home for some years until it closed and the building has decayed since then.
The Victorian Society states: “The building has been decaying for many years with spasmodic attempts by its owners to place and replace covers over windows and door spaces and across holes in walls and roofing as these appear and enlarge.
“The two other buildings on the site, by comparison, are in use including Oakes School Lodge which is maintained and occupied.
“Oakes School can and should find re-use. Kirklees Council needs to take enforcement action now.
“The owner should sell this re-usable building rather than continue a course of action that will lead to the building eventually falling down or having to be demolished.’’
The Victorian Society says the school really stands out as many other aspects of Victorian architecture and heritage in Lindley have been preserved or enhanced.
Wellington Mills has been converted to business units, flats and cafe while the main Acre Mills building is now an extension of the nearby Huddersfield Royal Infirmary with new housing built in the spaces in and around its former weaving sheds.
Oakes Baptist Church remains well used, including opening on Heritage Open Days.
Victorian Society president Griff Rhys Jones said: “Actions speak louder than words.
“It is incredible that even in areas surrounded by good examples of preservation where well maintained Victorian buildings add to the charm and success of an area, some forms of prevarication lead to decay, neglect and steady decline.
“The council must not allow this useful, listed and important building to be further abandoned. It is time for the owners to get active or get off.”
Victorian Society director James Hughes said: “Oakes School is a clear example of a building that could and should have a viable future. Its continued decline is not inevitable, but the result of inaction.
“With strong local demand and successful examples of reuse nearby there is no reason why this building cannot once again contribute to the life of the community.”
Last year a derelict Huddersfield cemetery chapel – known as twin chapels and steeple – in sprawling Edgerton Cemetery was named in the Victorian Society’s Top Ten Endangered Buildings List 2025.
In February this year huge fences were put around the chapel and 600 graves to prevent people going anywhere near it and Kirklees Council has confirmed this is due to safety concerns regarding the condition of the twin chapels and steeple. Read more about that HERE.
Specialist investigations are carried out to assess the condition of the twin chapels and steeple.
To see all 10 endangered buildings on The Victorian Society website go to https://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/endangered-buildings
Photograph credits:
Oakes Board School Photo: Smith Carter Huddersfield Exposed website
Oakes Junior School in 2026. Photo by: Geoff Hughes.
Aerial photos by: CAV Aerial
Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.
