Convent Of St Clotilde

The Convent of St. Clotilde, originally Lechlade Manor, is a large country house that has been converted into part of a convent school. It was built between 1872 and 1873 by architect J.L. Pearson and is designed in the Jacobean style. The building features coursed and dressed stone or ashlar on a plinth, a tile roof, and scattered stone stacks with linked ashlar flues.

The structure is a large, squarish block with three storeys, or two storeys with an attic. The main façade faces south and includes three Dutch gables, with the two end gables projecting forward in a curved outline. These gables have canted two-storey bays featuring six-light mullion and transom windows, with two transoms on the ground floor. The central smaller bay is recessed and has a more pointed outline, along with a two-storey bowed bay that also contains mullion and transom windows. Each gable has mullion windows, and there is a sill band at the ground floor with two string courses above, one between each floor. The upper sections of the windows are all decorated with leading. The same style of fenestration is present on all façades. The rainwater heads are dated 1873 and bear the initials GM.

The main entrance is located on the north side and features a projecting square porch tower that rises three storeys. The tower is adorned with a coat of arms and strapwork at the top. Access to the porch is via seven stone steps, which are flanked by decorative small base piers and an arcaded balustrade leading to the open arcaded ground floor of the porch, supported by pilasters and a keystone. The first-floor bay has an arcaded apron that matches the style of the balustrade on the steps.

The interior of the ground floor remains largely intact, showcasing a panelled library, original stone fireplaces—mostly plain but including several fine Jacobean-style plaster ceilings, particularly in the drawing room, which is now divided into two rooms—and a fine wooden staircase with carved banisters. The upstairs rooms have mostly been subdivided. The main house remains intact, accompanied by a two-storey servants' wing to the northwest. There are many new buildings within the complex that do not hold special interest.