St Joseph's Monastery and St Joseph's Church is a Grade II listed building in the East Hertfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 18 October 1949. Monastery, church. 9 related planning applications.

St Joseph's Monastery and St Joseph's Church

WRENN ID
tilted-nave-dock
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
East Hertfordshire
Constituency
Hertford and Stortford MP: Josh Dean (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
18 October 1949
Type
Monastery, church
Address
St Joseph's Monastery and St Joseph's Church, Windhill, Bishop's Stortford
OS grid reference
TL 485 213
Coordinates
51.87063, 0.15661
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: sale history · EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

St Joseph's Monastery and St Joseph's Church comprise a complex of buildings dating from the early and late 17th century, the 18th century, and the early 20th century. The buildings are constructed of painted and red brick, stone, and have red tile roofs.

The eastern building, originally Windhill House, features a late 17th-century facade applied to an earlier 17th-century timber frame, with 18th-century replacement sash windows. A Dutch-style square hipped roof is a distinctive feature. The north front has four ground floor and three first floor sash windows. The east elevation is five bays wide and divided by deep, plain pilasters, with sash windows and modern dormers. The garden elevation was rebuilt in the early 20th century and includes a two-storey canted window bay. Inside, a fine Jacobean oak well staircase features open work panelling and a balustrade. Plastered beams with running patterns are also present.

A two-storey, 18th-century building sits at the centre of the complex. It has sash windows and a canted window bay on the west side, with an arched door leading to the church. The church, to the west, was built in 1906 by Doran Webb and is in an Italian Renaissance style. The street facade is of stone with red brick curved aisle walls on rough stone plinths. Paired Ionic pilasters flank the central block, which has an open pediment and a first-floor crucifix relief. A pedimented doorway is centrally positioned on the ground floor. The interior features a groin-vaulted nave, a semi-domed apsidal end, and semi-domed aisle chapels divided by segmental doors. Pilasters run along the walls. Decorative stucco cherubs and mottoes are found in the aisle arch spandrels. A four-column tabernacle stands over the altar. The apsidal-ended Lady Chapel has rich painted and mosaic decorations.

Local climate

St Joseph's Monastery and St Joseph's Church sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 91% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 86% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 55% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
  • Sale history — 9 transactions since 1996
  • Related listed building consents — 9 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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