Cross and Passion Convent

The Cross and Passion Convent is a detached marine villa, originally built around 1840, and subsequently used as a school, now a nursing home. It is located on East Beach in Lytham St Annes. The building is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond, with sandstone dressings, and a Cumbrian slate roof.

The building has an irregular rectangular plan, consisting of a main range parallel to East Beach, a full-width back extension under a two-span roof, and 20th-century additions to the back extension. It is two storeys high, with cellars beneath. The front facade presents a symmetrical three-bay arrangement to East Beach, featuring a stone plinth, a first-floor band, and a pitched roof with projected boarded eaves and verges. The ground floor has a stone canted bay window in the centre, with a panelled parapet creating a balcony above. Large three-light French windows are positioned to the left and right, each with a flat-arched head. A circa 1900 full-width wooden verandah now protects the ground floor, wrapping around the central bay window.

The first floor has sash windows with broad margin panes and sliding louvred shutters, each sheltered by shallow pedimented and dentilled canopies. Gable and ridge chimneys are present, the ridge chimney offset to the left of centre. A conservatory is attached to the right-hand end, covering part of the three-window gable wall. A doorway is found in the third bay of the gable wall, with a stone architrave and shallow dentilled pediment. Above this doorway, a centrally positioned window features a stone architrave and dentilled cornice. The left gable wall has scored render and a canted oriel window at first floor.

The east side of the back extension includes three pairs of sashed windows, some of which have been altered or rebuilt. A 20th-century extension is centrally located on the ground floor.

The interior of the building features an open-well staircase and plaster ceilings in the front rooms. The building is an example of a noteworthy mid-19th century seaside development of villas and boarding houses.