Worth Abbey

Worth Abbey is a Roman Catholic school, constructed primarily in the late 19th century in a Tudor style. The east front of the north-west wing, originally the stables, bears the date 1865. The main north wing was built between 1869 and 1872 by George Smith, one of the final works of Anthony Salvin. It is constructed of ashlar, with a modern tiled roof. The north wing has three storeys and nine windows. A non-central tower, an extra storey high, rises above a projecting porch, which features octagonal buttresses at the angles surmounted by figures of griffins. A single-window bay projects at the north end, topped with a gable containing a cartouche. To the south of the tower, the ground and first floors project, incorporating windows with trefoil-headed lights on the ground floor and an arcaded loggia at the north end of the first floor. A service wing to the north holds eight windows and eight gables. Rainwater heads are dated 1921, and the two northernmost window bays were likely added at that time.

The south-west wing was added in 1883 and displays that date and the initials "R.W.". It is two storeys high, with six windows on its north front, an irregular chimney breast, a low circular tower, and a ground-floor portion at the east end. The south front has ten windows, a parapet, and a gable at the east end, with two projections – one splayed, one rectangular.

The hall at the west end is single-storeyed and projects with a large bay and three tiers of lights in its windows. Inside, it features panelling and a large, tiered, Elizabethan-style chimney-piece. An L-shaped addition to the north-east, designed by Sir Aston Webb in 1897, is two storeys and has an attic with three dormers. It features five windows, two bays of two tiers of five lights with trefoil heads, and a projection at the east end flanked by octagonal buttresses with copper ogee-domes and a gablet. The rear of this wing is faced with imitation timbering, and contains a stucco frieze by Walter Crane depicting the history of transport. A single-storeyed section originally an orangery or conservatory, sits further east, with seven round-headed windows flanked by half-columns and a parapet. Modern additions have been made behind the south-east wing.