St Michael's Cheshire Home (formerly St Michael's Free Home for Consumptives)

St Michael's Cheshire Home is a former tuberculosis hospital founded by Mrs Matilda Blanche Gibbs and designed by William Butterfield in the Gothic Revival style. The original U-shaped range dates from 1878, with Butterfield adding an extension in 1882. Further additions were made during the 20th century. The building now operates as a convalescence home. Several later elements are excluded from the listing: the 20th-century single-storey wings to the east and north-west, a late 20th-century single-storey community room built within the courtyard, a late 20th-century detached sheltered housing unit to the north-east, and a late 20th-century bungalow near the entrance lodge (the lodge itself is listed Grade II).

The building is constructed of local rubble stone quarried in the Mendips with Bath stone dressings, all beneath a tile roof with stepped, stone-clad stacks. The plan consists of the 1878 U-shaped range to the north with an attached raised walkway, and the 1882 wing to the south.

The 1882 entrance wing to the south rises three storeys across six bays. The entrance sits within an off-centre projecting gable bay, featuring a two-leaf timber door with decorative hinges set within an arched hoodmould. This entrance bay is flanked by clasped buttresses with a drip mould above. The two upper floors contain paired tracery windows with central quatrefoils. Two bays lie to the left of the entrance and three to the right, with both single and paired light windows and dormers on the third storey. The southern gable end has a two-storey canted bay window. The rear elevation shows asymmetrical fenestration in the same style as the rest of the wing.

The original 1878 U-shaped range to the north is two storeys and faces west. The front elevation consists of a recessed range with two central bays projecting forward, topped by a gable and stone cross, flanked on either side by two further bays. All windows are triple lancets with trefoil heads; the ground-floor windows and those in the central bays are set into recessed arches. Two ground-floor windows have been removed and their arches opened to form entrances to the courtyard, which has been infilled by a late 20th-century structure with a corrugated roof (not included in the listing). Projecting gable-end wings stand at either side of the range. The left wing is two storeys with a canted bay. The right wing is three storeys and has been extended with a hipped tower added to the gable end. At the base of the tower is a covered walkway with an adjacent set of external stone steps. These wings contain paired, trefoil-headed lancet windows.

A 1980s wing (not included in the listing) is attached to the north-west corner of this range. Beyond lies the original north elevation. The first three bays have sash windows with dormers above. A first-floor door opens onto a raised concrete walkway with metal rails supported by brick piers, leading to the woodland to the north. To the left stands a two-storey canted bay with trefoil-headed lancets. At the centre of the east elevation is the gable end of the chapel, incorporating a stained-glass triple lancet east window with a central cinquefoil. The left and right returns both contain double lancet chancel windows with central quatrefoils. Beneath sits a single-storey flat-roofed sacristy with a four-light central window, a plank door on the north return and a double lancet window on the south. At the south-east corner of this elevation stands an early 20th-century pavilion addition with first and second floor glazed balconies (current glazing is late 20th century). An attached 1977 wing extends to the east, linking to a former 1930s detached outbuilding (not included in the listing). Cast-iron rain goods and ventilation grates survive. The majority of the roofs are pitched with stone ridge stacks.

The principal staircase stands at the junction of the 1878 and 1882 wings. The current dog-leg stair has been built over the original bifurcated stone staircase, which largely survives beneath, enclosed behind doors on either side of the half-flight. The arrangement of rooms in the 1882 wing remains largely unaltered, with former communal rooms on the ground floor and bedrooms on the two floors above.

The chapel forms the architectural centrepiece of the 1878 range. The two-leaf chapel door is decorated with elaborate scroll hinges. Within, flanking the entrance are two sets of fixed decorative timber pews. Above the door is a stone relief depicting the Three Marys at the Crucifixion, with below a dedication from Mrs Gibbs in memory of her husband. On either side of the nave are two storeys of shuttered openings (now blocked behind) within recessed arches, which enabled patients in adjacent wards to view services from their beds. An organ with painted pipes stands in the centre of the left-hand wall, opposite a side entrance. The chancel end is raised and clad on either side by decorative timber panelling. At the east end stands a painted timber and stone altar with carved timber canopy. Doors flank the chancel; the left leads through to the sacristy and the right to a single-room Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament with painted floor and ceiling. The chapel has a scissor-braced roof. The nave roof structure is exposed whilst the chancel is sealed over with decorative gilded bosses and timber panels painted in a celestial motif. The two are divided by a central cusped truss supported by stone corbels. The floor is monochrome tiles, although an earlier decorative timber floor is understood to survive beneath.

The chapel entrance sits opposite a statue depicting St Michael's Defeat of Satan. The main corridors running along the west side of the 1878 range have multi-chrome tile floors and painted cusped trusses that survive above the suspended ceiling. On either side of the chapel are two storeys of former wards. In the south-east corner stands the early 20th-century three-storey glazed balcony pavilion with parquet flooring throughout.

Original panelled doors survive within the two 19th-century ranges; some have been replaced with late 20th-century fire doors (declared not of special interest pursuant to section 1(5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990). Above the former bedroom doors are dedications to religious figures, sites and virtues, either as painted or raised lettering. A large number of fire surrounds survive in various styles and materials. The most elaborate are found in the former wards on either side of the chapel: cast-iron grates with tile inserts within carved marble surrounds topped by a pediment with a trefoil pinnacle and an incised central rose detail. Other fireplaces include chamfered timber surrounds, with and without marble inserts, in the former bedrooms, and more modest surrounds in the former sisters' rooms. The infrastructure of the 19th-century ventilation system also survives, including timber panelled ventilation units with decorative metal taps. Some taps have been given particular attention and designed as a hand clasping a rod. A decorative brass gas flame bracket survives on the first floor in the 1878 range.

The lower ground floor on the south side contains the service rooms, including kitchen, parlour and stores with corresponding window and door vents. Many of their former functions are painted on the door frames above. A stone winder staircase leads down to the basement level and the former coal shoots.

Within the 19th-century ranges there have been minor later subdivisions. A 20th-century lift shaft (declared not of special interest pursuant to section 1(5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990) stands in the 1878 range.

This list entry was subject to a minor amendment on 10 May 2016.