Presbytery, Bartestree Convent

Presbytery, Bartestree Convent

This presbytery dates to 1863 and was designed by Edward Welby Pugin for the adjacent Bartestree Convent. It has been extended in the late 19th century and around 2002. The building stands 40 metres east of the convent.

The presbytery is constructed of red brick with limestone detailing and a roof of red clay tiles. It is an L-shaped building aligned east-west, with the original 1863 Pugin building occupying three bays to the west, and two one-bay extensions added to the east. The structure is two and two-and-a-half storeys tall, divided by a projecting limestone string-course between the ground and first floors.

The principal façade faces north and features a centrally located entrance in the easternmost bay of the original building. This entrance consists of a pointed arched doorway with quatrefoil lights above. A triangular oriel sits above the entrance at first-floor level. The south-facing garden elevation contains a projecting square bay to the west with a two-light window at first-floor level and a cinqfoil light above. A second doorway in the garden front sits opposite the main entrance, recessed from the external elevation within a square-headed arch supported by slender columns. Two small rectangular openings flank this garden entrance, containing the only original windows in the building; all other windows have been replaced with modern uPVC versions. The garden elevation features bargeboards decorated with pierced quatrefoils.

Inside, the north entrance leads into a central hallway containing a staircase to the first floor. The staircase has slender balustrades and trefoil decoration. A corridor with applied timber ceiling extends westward, accessing three principal rooms. Those rooms to the south, lit by garden-front windows, retain their original pierced cornices and timber window shutters. Only the dining room to the east preserves its original fireplace with foliate decoration. On the first floor, the ceilings retain their original applied timber framing, which is chamfered and incorporates iron bolts decorated with a quatrefoil design.

The Convent of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge was established in 1863 on land that included the chapel of the medieval Old Longworth manor house, built around 1390. After the Reformation the chapel fell into disuse and the manor buildings became part of a farm. By the 17th century the chapel served for cider-making, and the site remained agricultural until the mid-19th century when Robert Biddulph Phillips, the then owner, converted to Catholicism. Phillips restored the chapel in 1851 and founded the convent in 1863, apparently for his daughter. Upon his death in 1864, Phillips was buried in the chapel at Longworth; his will expressed the desire to move the chapel closer to the convent, which was accomplished in 1869-70. The reconstructed church, designed by Pugin, was a Victorian interpretation of medieval architecture rather than an exact replica. The first buildings on the convent site were designed by Pugin, with further additions in 1881, 1889, and 1895 designed by Chick. The presbytery was built in this first phase under Pugin's direction. Given its ornate internal and external decoration, it is possible the building was originally intended as a residence for Phillips's daughter, although it is marked as a presbytery on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1888.

The convent was listed Grade II and the church of St James Grade II* in 1985. The convent and presbytery closed in 1992 and subsequently fell into disrepair. The entire complex underwent residential conversion from 2002 onwards.