St John's Priory

St. John's Priory, also known as Florida House, is a detached house built in 1877 for J S Donne, a member of the Flax Mills family, and designed by Charles Bell. The building is constructed from Doulting and Bath stone ashlar and features a plain clay tile roof with coped gables and ornamental ashlar chimney stacks. It has two storeys and an attic, with a three-bay south elevation that includes a plinth and polychrome stonework. The sash windows have glazing bars and a semi-circular arch design.

The first bay features a single-storey projecting square bay window with a flat roof, open balustrade, and corner ball finials, consisting of 1+3+1 lights. Above, there are three windows grouped in a decorative false gable on a real gable, which has a segmented arched pediment at the top, adorned with a ball finial. The second bay has an open porch recess with heavy doors in a semi-circular arch supported by non-classical columns, beneath a dentilled string and carved spandrils. Above this, there is a plain single window, followed by a tower that includes a rectangular window at attic level and a belvedere with three semi-circular arched windows on each face, topped with a lead-covered bell-hip roof featuring a wrought-iron finial and weathervane. The third bay has single windows, with the lower window under a string hood and the upper window under a carved semi-circular arch, leading to a false gable with a semi-circular pediment and ball finial.

The west elevation consists of five bays that match the south elevation. The first bay features an angled bay window on both levels under a lean-to hipped roof against an ornamental coped gable, with 1+2+1 windows. The second bay has a single upper window and is blank below, while bays three and five each have segmental pedimented false gables above. The fourth bay has a projecting chimney stack extending from the first level. There are later extensions to the north and east that are not of special interest. Although the interior has not been seen, a mantlepiece and recess by Reid and Co is illustrated in The Builder from 19th May 1888. The building is now the Priory of the Sisters of Jesus Crucified.