Skip over main navigation
  • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
Verbal Arts Centre
Contact us
Menu
  • About us
    • Mission and vision
    • History
    • Meet the team
      • Our staff
      • Our board
      • Our funders
    • Programmes
      • Verbal Wellbeing
      • Storyteller Recovery
      • Life Story
      • Story Exchange
    • Research
      • Research at Verbal
      • Research Partnerships
      • Research Reports
    • Publishing
  • Who we help
    • WHO WE HELP
    • Children
    • Young people aged 16+
    • Older People
    • Adult Mental Health
    • Shared Communities
    • Criminal Justice
  • Get involved
    • Volunteer
    • Jobs
  • Corporate Services
    • Venue hire
  • Latest
    • Updates
  • Art works
  • Admin
    • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
  • History
  1. About us
  2. History

History

Formerly the First Derry National School, Verbal's home is an iconic, listed building on a corner site of the Walls of Derry/Londonderry. 

Adjacent to the Double Bastion near Bishop Gate, it is located at an interface with the Fountain on one side and the Bogside on the other. 

Early years

The First Derry National School was built to a design by W E Pinkerton and opened in 1894.

The building is in the popular Queen Anne revival style. High roofs, Dutch gables, tall chimney stacks, and mullioned windows are set in an asymmetrical red-brick composition.  

Verbal Arts Centre before

The main entrance is from Stable Lane which once skirted the walled garden of the former Bishop’s Palace.

In 1995, three local primary schools merged, including First Derry, and relocated to the Fountain. 

The building was bought by the Verbal Arts Centre, which was established in 1992 as an educational charity to promote literature in all its forms.

Restoration

The original building was restored and extended in 2000 by the award winning Hall Black Douglas Architects. Their approach was to quietly transform the existing Victorian building into a unique space for work life and wellbeing, using a narrative thread of dark to light, rising through the levels of the building.

The current reception hall was originally the school's partially covered playground. 

At first floor level the two former classrooms survive almost intact and are separated by the original, fully operational sliding doors. 

Art Works

Commissioned works by leading artists in Ireland provide a visual counterpoint to each floor.

Please click here for a gallery of our art works

 

 

 

 

Published: 30th August, 2017

Updated: 7th December, 2022

Author:

Share this page
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Latest

  • Hotdesking

    Hotdesking

    Spaces available to hire on a one-off or long-term basis.

  • Research Reports

    Research Reports

  • Sinead Moriarty

    Creative & Content Manager

  • Research Partnerships

    Research Partnerships

    Verbal has collaborated with educational institutions to produce backup research material showing the positive impact they have on those who participate in them.

Most read

  • Contact us

    Contact details for Verbal

  • Criminal Justice

    Criminal Justice

  • Mission and vision

    Mission and vision

    Find out what Verbal does

  • Andrea Doran

    Digital Managing Director

  • James Kerr

    Chief Executive

  • Venue hire

    Venue hire

    Book one of our spaces for your events and activitiesBook space

  • History

    History

    A short history of the Verbal building

  • Sinead McLaughlin

    Office Manager

  • Gregory McCartney

    Editor of The Honest Ulsterman

  • Rory McCarron

    Audio Visual Project Officer

  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Contact us
  • Find us
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
    • Sitemap
    • Accessibility
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Privacy Policy

Verbal
Stable Lane and Mall Wall
Bishop Street Within
Derry~Londonderry, BT48 6PU

Tel:  028 7126 6946
Email:  [email protected]

Registered Charity No. NIC101482