Kellaways House

Kellaways House is a house, formerly a Moravian girls’ school, dated 1785. It is built of ashlar with a stone slate roof, coped gables, and end stacks. The building is three storeys, with a wide three-window front. It has sash windows, arranged in groups of three on each side, with a 16-pane sash over a six-panel door recessed within a raised, moulded surround topped with a hood on brackets. The ground and first floors have 12-pane sashes, while the second floor has 9-pane sashes. Running bands and an eaves band are present. Attached to the east is a two-storey range with a 20-pane sash on the first floor, a band, and a six-panel door on the ground floor, which is set in a raised, moulded surround with a hood on brackets and is flanked by 12-pane sashes. The west end wall is of ashlar with three raised bands, the upper band interrupted by a large round-arched window with a keystone and the date 1785. There are two round windows in the gable above. The rear wall is red brick with ashlar bands and window surrounds. The attic has a centre sash with 16 panes, the first floor has a large centre stair light with 24 panes, and the ground floor has pairs of 12-pane sashes either side of an added projecting porch. The building was constructed for “single sisters” of the Moravian settlement established at East Tytherton from 1743. A foundation stone was laid on 19 May 1785, and the building was opened on 11 October 1786. It was converted to use as a boarding school in 1877. In 1828, the Reverend W.L. Bowles described it as a house for ladies employed in fine needlework.