Chapel attached to St Mary's Convent

Chapel attached to St Mary's Convent

This chapel was built between 1887 and 1889 to the designs of J L Pearson. It was lengthened beyond the screen to the west in 1900, probably by F L Pearson, when vestries, a Priest's Room, Song Room and Library were added. The east end was rebuilt by Sir John Ninian Comper in 1923, and Comper also designed the east window stained glass. The stalls are by J L Pearson and Harry Hems, with angels above them carved by Josef Mayr of Oberammergau, Bavaria. The screen dates from 1913 and is by F L Pearson; the rood (crucifix) is of the same date and was carved by Hems. The tabernacle, dating from 1918, is by F L Pearson. Mother Maribel carved the stone statue of Our Lady.

The building is constructed of coursed and dressed limestone with ashlar dressings and a tiled roof. The plan comprises a central nave with side aisles and rooms attached to the north.

The exterior is inspired by French Gothic with simple Geometrical tracery. The east end, designed by Comper, features corner buttresses and three stepped lancet windows, with pilasters rising on either side of the central window and a multifoil roundel above. A spirelet rises from the ridge at approximately the point where the nave meets the chancel. The buttressed south elevation has two or three light lancet windows with hoodmoulds and quatrefoil tracery, along with a transept to the west lit by two, two-lancet windows. The west end is dominated by a tall spire and a large geometrical window of five lights. The north elevation includes additions with gabled roofs and lancet windows of two, three and four lights, with plate-tracery beneath pointed-arch hoodmoulds.

The interior is a lofty, well-proportioned space with a stone rib-vaulted roof and red and black quarry tiles laid to the narthex and nave floor. A finely-carved wooden screen between the west narthex and the nave is by F L Pearson, with a stepped flying cornice surmounted by a rood by Hems, flanked by figures of St John and the Virgin Mary. The nave stalls have carved backs with cusped arches and angels above. The sanctuary is approached by marble steps and has mosaic and marble patterned floor covering. The east end, remodelled by Comper in 1923, features a carved baldacchino with four columns, flanked by two side vaults with carved statuary of saints. The sanctuary displays rich carving including two decorated-style stone sedilia and an aumbry on the south side, with carved angels and saints above. The north side contains carved chancel stalls. A richly-carved stone tabernacle by F L Pearson stands to the rear. The stained glass of the east window depicts Christ in Glory, The Crucifixion and Madonna and Child at the centre; to the left, the Miracle of Cana, Mary and Joseph with Jesus and The Annunciation; to the right, the Crowning of Our Lady, the Risen Christ meeting Mary and the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. Other stained glass in the north and south walls commemorates sisters who died in the 1890s. The stained glass windows in the choir are dedicated to external sisters and Miss Elizabeth Bennet. A brass memorial to John William Butler is also present. Two first floor chapels at the west end are accessed from the narthex. On the north side, a corridor leads to the ancillary rooms, plainly fitted with quarry tile floors and carved architraves to the doors.