Former St Margaret'S Convent School

Former St Margaret's Convent School, Petersfield Road, Midhurst

This is a house dating from the 1830s, which was converted to a convent in the late 19th century. It has been extended and modified over time, most notably by a bridge connection to a 1960s school building at the rear; this link and the school building are not of special interest and are not included in the listing.

The oldest part of the building, dating from the early 19th century, is a three-window-bay house built of local stone with a rendered façade and red brick dressings to the rear windows. It has a hipped slate roof. In the early 20th century, the house was extended by one window bay to the right-hand side of the front elevation, added in brick. The rendering was renewed at this time, and both sections were given new slate roofs, though the rear of the building retains tiled roofing which may represent the original material. The shallow hipped pitch of the roof is characteristic of the early 19th century and suggests that the original roof timbers may survive.

A projecting gabled porch was added in the second half of the 19th century (it appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map but not on the tithe map). At the same time, a timber bargeboard perforated with quatrefoil patterns was added to the façade's gable pediment. The oldest part of the house retains its original hornless timber sash windows. On the ground floor these have twelve-over-twelve panes set under a moulded architrave with consoles, while the first floor windows have six-over-six panes with original glass surviving in places. The early 20th century extension has original horned timber sashes, and two original hornless sashes survive to the rear.

Internally, the original room arrangement is legible. The most significant feature is the principal staircase in the central entrance hall, an open-well stair in mahogany with stick balusters and a moulded handrail terminating in a curtail. Two original china cupboards with glass doors flank the landing window at the top of the stairs. Original shutters survive to the sash windows on both floors, along with reeded architraves to the ground floor principal room doors, skirting boards, and panelled doors. The principal room to the right of the hall has an original cornice and a large opening to a smaller rear room, which features a decorative timber surround and two square timber columns in antis. The two principal rooms to the left of the hall are separated by double doors in a reeded surround with paterae, preserving the original arrangement. Three marble fireplaces survive in the ground floor reception rooms, each with reeded surrounds with paterae and cast-iron grates. A servants' staircase is located to the rear of the house, with a small room adjoining it on the ground floor containing original cupboards. Timber lockers in the servants' passageway date to the building's conversion to a convent in the early 20th century, as do four lockers in what was a first floor dormitory. The early 20th century extension to the east contains an original cast-iron fireplace, doors, and a staircase.

The villa appears on the 1841 tithe map. Extensions to the rear, now demolished, were added in the second half of the 19th century. By the end of the 19th century the house was occupied by the Sisters of Mercy, a Roman Catholic order of nuns who arrived in Midhurst in 1888, and it was adapted for use as a convent. In the 1960s, a first floor bridge linked the house to the convent school buildings that had developed in the outbuildings to the rear. A new chapel was built for the convent and school in the 1980s, connected to the old house by a ground floor link.