Hospital Of St John

ALTON C.P. CASTLE HILL ROAD (North side) SK 0642-0742 13/4 Hospital of St. John (Formerly 3/1/67 listed as "The Hospital and School") GV II*

Hospital, now convent and school. 1840 to circa 1847. By Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin. Ashlar with edged herringbone tooling; shaped tile roofs with plain tile bands and crested ridge tiles; ashlar ridge stacks with octagonal shafts and crenellated caps. 3 attached ranges grouped around a roughly square courtyard, entrance (east) range aligned north-south facing west, north and south ranges aligned east-west, projecting to the west, warden's house attached to the west end of the north range linking it with the Chapel, now the R.C. Church of St. John the Baptist (q.v.). Entrance range: central 2 storey gabled porch with diagonal buttresses, the right hand side of the range has 2 storeys and an attic with storey bands, the left hand side has one storey and attic and single-storey lean-to gallery; 7 bays marked by buttresses, square- headed ground-floor windows with one to three cinquefoil-headed lights, first floor and attic windows to the right are mullioned and of 2 lights, cambered attic windows to left with 2 cinquefoil headed lights, all attic windows within gabled dormers; central pointed door and oriel window above. Left hand range: one storey, 3-bay range with 3-light windows and buttresses at the bay divisions, terminated to the left by the 3-storey tower of the warden's house; the tower has 2 storey buttresses to left and right flanking a central 4-centred doorway. The Chapel, now the R.C. Church of St. John the Baptist (q.v.) is set back to the left. Right hand range: main block of 2 storeys and attic and 6 bays with a slightly lower 2-storey bay attached to the left and a 2-storey gabled tower attached to the right, surmounted by a bellcote with pyramidal steeple; the bay divisions are marked by buttresses, the ground floor windows of the main block are of 3 ogee-headed lights with short supermullions rising to a flat arch, the 2-light first-floor windows are of a similar character but have cambered arches, hipped attic dormers. The Hospital of St. John is part of an important complex of buildings designed by Pugin for the 16th Earl of Shrewsbury. B.O.E. pp. 59-60; C.L. November 24, 1960, pp. 1226-1229.

Listing NGR: SK0738642428