Franciscan Convent And Chapel

The Franciscan Convent and Chapel is a convent building that includes a chapel, constructed between around 1870 and 1930 in three phases. It is built from rock-faced sandstone with freestone dressings and features slate roofs, showcasing a debased Gothic style. The building has an L-plan, with the main range oriented east-west parallel to the street, built in two phases, and a receding wing added at the west end.

The structure is mostly two storeys high, with cellars and attics, and is divided into three sections. The east range has a window arrangement of 1:3:1, which includes the chapel located on the first floor. This section features a crosswing at the west end and a porch at the angle between them. The ground floor has three segmental-headed sashed windows, while the chapel above has three pairs of lancet windows and an apsidal east end with plate-traceried windows. A tall doorway leads to the porch, and the upper floors of the wing have coupled sashed windows set within a giant two-centred arch.

The second section is a longer range added to the first, with a similar plan and a window arrangement of 5:2. It features four-pane sashed windows on both floors, with the first-floor windows being segmental-headed, and has a mansard roof with three dormers. The third section is a 20th-century crosswing with a gabled end, which includes casement windows with small-paned overlights.

Inside, the chapel features a gallery at the west end and an open roof. The convent forms a group with the Roman Catholic Church of St Mary to the west and St Mary's Presbytery on Todmorden Road, part of which is integrated with this building.