St Peters Convent, The Main Ranges Around The Courtyard

The St Peter’s Convent comprises a group of buildings constructed between 1862 and 1871, with a later addition in 1883, designed by Henry Woodyer. The complex is arranged around a courtyard, with a prominent tower at the southwest corner. The main ranges are built of red brick with yellow sandstone ashlar dressings, with the east range constructed entirely of stone, and have Welsh slate roofs.

The south range, dated 1864 and 1871, is 14 bays wide, arranged in an ordered but asymmetrical fashion. Large, reducing buttresses divide the facade, with an arched doorway centrally positioned. Pointed-arch windows are throughout; ground-floor and staircase windows are mullioned and transomed, featuring 2 and 3 lights. A projecting bay window with 5 over 5 sashes is located in bay 5. First-floor windows are primarily of 2 lights, with two 3-light windows within the two gabled right bays. A brick band separates the floors, rendered to resemble stone. Dormer windows are topped with arched lights and steeply pitched hipped roofs. The building features broad lateral brick stacks with relief brick crosses and ornamental cornices, alongside ornamental ridge stacks.

The west range is gabled and displays a stone plaque with the date 1864 carved in relief. The design is similar to the front of the building, albeit simpler, with dormers featuring an inverted V shape. The east range, dated 1883, has a recessed porch flanked by buttresses, with a plaque displaying the date in raised lettering. Ground-floor windows are predominantly 3 and 4 lights, with transomed arrangements to the left. Small, round-arched windows punctuate the first floor, and four small gabled dormers top the roof. The north range is single-storey and considered in keeping with the overall design.

The courtyard tower includes a frieze of slender lancet windows at high level between ashlar bands. Corbels, pierced by small lights, support small corner buttresses, and a corbel table supports a large, copper, splay-footed spire. Peripheral lean-to corridors surround the courtyard, aside from the west range. The convent represents an interesting and largely unaltered collection of buildings, significantly visible within the town.