Holmhurst St Mary's School

Holmhurst St Mary’s School is a substantial house dating from the late 18th or early 19th century, originally known as Little Ridge. It was renamed Holmhurst by Augustus J C Hare, who lived there from 1860 until his death, and is frequently mentioned in his autobiography, "Memories of My Life".

The original core of the house is constructed of ashlar with a hipped slate roof and a rectangular plan. It has two storeys and three windows, with flush keyblocks and ground-floor Fench windows and first-floor casements, all with glazing bars. A wide band runs at the level of the first-floor cill.

A larger wing was added around 1840, and further altered and extended in 1898 by A J C Hare. This wing exhibits ashlar construction, a gable-ended slate roof, and casement windows with a band at floor level. The 1898 additions include a stone canted bay and a large, two-storey gabled bay with moulded coping. This bay features a large first-floor window with five Tudor-headed lights, and a panel above bearing the initials “A. J. C. H.” A moulded string course runs along the elevation, and a pedimented sundial, inscribed with the initials “AJCH” and the date 1897, stands to the right. A chimney stack with octagonal shafts is also present.

To the east, a stone terrace leads to a flight of shaped steps at the centre, topped by a pair of obelisks. To the right of the terrace is a stone four-centred archway with a very large, pierced ogee-shaped finial. The entrance front, facing north-west, also dates to 1898 and includes canted bays, a stone porch with a four-centred arch and niches containing carved figures, a double-gabled end with a stone oriel, and two large octagonal chimneys rising from the wall.

Interior features include fragments of 16th-century panelling and carved wall posts within the hall, likely originating from an earlier building on the site or imported. 20th-century additions have been made to the west.