Saint Margarets Convent

Saint Margaret’s Convent is a complex of buildings largely designed by G E Street, with later alterations by A E Street, dating from 1865. The main buildings form a quadrangle with a cloister and chapel to the north. Constructed primarily in ashlar stone and featuring mullioned windows, the architecture is Gothic style, characterised by asymmetrical gabled and dormered elevations and a red tiled roof. The cloister, originally open, has been recently glazed and is distinctive in its Early English style.

The chapel, built between 1879 and 1885, is considered by Street to be among his finest works, notable for its pleasing proportions. Internally, it features an aisled nave, chancel, and an eastern Lady Chapel. The high nave is defined by long, slender windows while the chancel has 1-light windows, all beneath a long, even tiled roof. A slim, high tower rises with a saddleback roof. The interior is described as somewhat severe but dignified, highlighted by massive, detached black Irish marble columns in the chancel, and featuring an original reredos. The Lady Chapel, or retro chapel, is vaulted in three bays of Early English style and includes a small, vaulted eastern apse with plain glazed lancets.

The Guest House, situated to the southeast of the tower, has a timber-framed upper section added in 1889 by A E Street, based on his father’s original plans.