The Latin school is one of the medieval brick buildings of Istad and one of the oldest school buildings in the country. The brick was an expensive building material and was used during the construction of the school, mainly in churches and monasteries, but sometimes for public buildings such as town halls and schools. The Latin school thus testifies to one of the highest quality examples of the Middle Ages with luxurious materials, and its location next to the Church of St. Mary in the centre of our town marks the special status of the building during the medieval Istad.
An antique impact assessment was carried out so that the changes we wanted could be made. Our goal has always been to restore the building with respect for what it once was.
The Latin school was probably built around 1500 and was used as a school until 1841. The school halls were on the ground floor and upstairs was the principal's residence. In 1841 the school moved to the Gosselman Husetah in Hamngatan, 41. Instead there was a place for a hardware store "Landgren & Co Jernhandel".
In the early 1970s, the building was restored and converted into office space, where Volksam occupies a place. The warehouse building opposite the entrance to St. Mary's Church is demolished.
Pastorate Eastad signs an agreement in 2013 to acquire the building as soon as all permits for the restoration have been completed. Permission is required from the County Administrative Council to turn the office environment into meeting rooms. The county administration requires that an antique impact assessment be conducted. After long and numerous processes, the pastor receives an approved building permit and the building will be handed over in 2017. The changes to the building will finally begin in 2018.
REASONS FOR EXPLAINING THE BUILDING'S MEMORY
In the County Council's Skåne Cultural Environment Program, you can read about the exceptional cultural and historical values of the Latin School associated with it:
One of the few surviving medieval school houses.
The building is a well-preserved and representative example of a profiled brick house from medieval Scania.
Valuable and characteristic details are the stepped gables with blinds and the patterned masonry.
