Former Infant School at Watson's Yard, off West Street. The school was founded in 1784 when money was left for its construction and maintenance in the will of Richard Watson, a wealthy local tanner. Construction of the school building was undertaken between 1785 and 1790, with an advert for a mistress to teach reading, spinning, knitting and sewing here being placed in the Stamford Mercury in October 1790. The mistress would have lived in the attic above the school room until a teacher's house was built to the north-east of the school. The school room was improved and enlarged as the number of students increased, and extensions were added in the early to mid 19th century and in 1895. Watson's Infant School was taken over by Lindsey County Council in 1903, and the school was closed in 1918 after serving Horncastle's poorest children for 138 years. The building reopened as a private preparatory school during the Second World War, and remained in use as such through the 1940s and 1950s. The building was sold to the Horncastle & District Photographic Society in 1963. They undertook a number of projects to modernise the building, including removing the stage and wall panelling, painting, renewing the roof and removing the dormer windows, and dismantling and capping the chimneys. The Photographic Society used the building until October 2019, when it was passed to the Horncastle History & Heritage Society. A statement of significance was produced by the HHHS in January 2020, to inform the building's conservation and future management. More information regarding the social history of the school is included in that report. Watson's Infant School is a single storey, single room building with an attic and a high, steeply pitched and hipped pantile roof. It was built of small, handmade bricks laid in English bond. There are 2 large windows in both the north and south elevations. The original entrance to the school was located in the south-west corner of the south elevation, but this was moved to the north-east corner of the north elevation sometime after 1900, with the former entrance being blocked with bricks. Inside, there is a painted fireplace on the eastern wall and an 18th or early 19th century door with blacksmith made hinges in the western wall, which leads to the western extension. The first extension was built off the western elevation in the early to mid 19th century. This extension is also a single storey, single room structure with a shallower pitched pantile roof. It was built of brick laid in an inconsistent bond, and is now in use as a kitchen. The second extension was built off the eastern elevation in 1895. It is also a single storey, single room extension with a hipped pantile roof. It is built out of brick laid in English Garden Wall bond, and stands 7 courses taller than the main school building. This room is now being used to house the Horncastle archives. The attic is located above the main school room, and is accessed through a small loft hatch. Originally, there would have been stairs from the classroom to the attic, and these likely entered the attic space in the north-west corner. Evidence of the attic's use as a habitable space is shown by the surviving lath and plaster walls and ceiling, and the Georgian cast iron hourglass hob grate on the brick fireplace. The central sections of flooring were removed in 1895 to open the classroom to the roofspace to improve lighting and ventilation. This area is now covered with modern suspended ceiling tiles, which create the attic space. {1}