Campaigners have failed in a bid to get an historic former infant school registered as a listed building, ahead of its planned demolition.

Members of the Kingston Society found out on Friday that their application to English Heritage to list the Penny Gallery in Richmond Road as a building of historic interest was unsuccessful.

The building is set to be knocked down to make way for an extension to Kingston College’s School of Art and Design, which owns the site.

In an email to the Kingston Society's George Rome Innes, Gosia McCabe, designation co-ordinator for English Heritage, said: "I am sorry to inform you that the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has decided not to add Penny Road [sic], Richmond Road, Kingston to the list at this time."

The report by English Heritage into the request said the building had been too altered from its original appearance to merit listing.

The history of the Penny Gallery dates back to 1817, when the now defunct Kingston Association decided to build a public school for the borough's poorest children.

It got its name from the fact sponsors paid teachers a penny a week.

The infant school was opened on September 1, 1828 by the Duchess of Clarence.  It is this building the Kingston Society, backed by the Friends of Kingston Museum, is eager to preserve.

However, English Heritage said structural changes, including an extension to the west elevation in 1907, meant it could not be protected.

The report said: "The Penny School Gallery is of considerable local interest, possibly being one of the last remaining structures associated with the Kingston Association, but is too altered to be of sufficient interest in a national context to merit listing."

The Kingston Society has 28 days to appeal the decision.

Kingston College's application will be heard by the council's development control committee on Tuesday, April 30.

Read June Sampson's feature on the Penny Gallery and its historic significance.