Priory At The Former Convent Of The Holy Child Jesus

757/0/10084 ST MARGARET'S ROAD 14-AUG-06 St Leonards-on-Sea Priory at the former Convent of the Ho ly Child Jesus

GV II Presbytery. Built in 1856, architect William Wilkinson Wardell, to house priests serving the Convent of the Holy Child Jesus. Gothic Revival style. Built of red brick in Flemish bond with polychrome brick relieving arches and diaper motifs,stone window dressings, tiled roof and four end brick chimneystacks. PLAN: An asymmetrical detached house of two storeys with a projecting bay to the south east and north west.

EXTERIOR: The south side was the entrance front from outside the convent grounds but the entrance has since been blocked. There is one large gable to the left, a smaller gable to the right and three windows, the central first floor window two-light, the others replaced with early C20 metal-framed casements in the original surrounds. The ground floor has a slightly projecting window under a crenellated head with trefoil mullioned and transomed window. To the right is a later C19 lean-to brick extension, not shown on the 1873 Ordnance Survey map. The west side has a small gable, external brick chimneystack and splayed ground floor bay. The north side has two projecting chimneystacks, a three tier staircase window and a lean-to extension to the north west with doorcase. The east side has two projecting gables and three mullioned and transomed windows in stone dressings.

INTERIOR: The staircase hall has half-glazed double doors, wooden arch, dado panelling, doorcases with eared architraves and dogleg staircase with chamfered and gabled newel posts, stick balusters and plank panelling at the upper level with trefoil cutouts. A large drawing room to the west has a Gothic style fireplace and panelled window seats.

HISTORY: The nuns from the teaching order of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus moved to the St Leonard's site in 1848 and originally the convent chaplains were accommodated in the west end of the convent. "The Priory" was built as a purpose-built presbytery in 1856 to allow the space in the convent to be re-assigned for classrooms and dormitories. It has not been used for its original purpose since 1974 when the order moved the school to Mayfield.

STATEMENT OF IMPORTANCE: A substantially intact presbytery in Gothic Revival style by a distinguished Catholic architect, which retains good quality internal fittings and is part of a group of listed buildings on a former convent site.