Description

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BARTESTREE
Presbytery, Bartestree Convent

04-MAR-10

II
The Presbytery for the adjacent Bartestree Convent dating to 1863 with later extensions of the late C19 and circa 2002. Designed by Edward Welby Pugin.

MATERIALS: The Presbytery is constructed of red brick with limestone detailing. The building is roofed in red clay tiles.

PLAN: The Presbytery is an 'L'-shaped building which is aligned east-west. The Pugin designed building, dating to 1863 occupies the three-bays to the west with two, one-bay extensions to the east.

EXTERIOR: The Presbytery is located 40m east of Bartestree Convent. The building is two and two-and-a-half storeys with a projecting limestone string-course dividing the ground and first-floors. The principal façade is to the north and contains a centrally located entrance situated within the easternmost bay of the 1863 building, and consists of a pointed arched doorway with quatrefoil lights above. On first-floor level, above the entrance, is triangular oriel. The garden front (south elevation) contains a projecting square bay to the west with two-lights window in the first-floor with a cinqfoil light above. The doorway within the garden front is located opposite the main entrance within the easternmost bay of the 1863 building. The doorway is recessed from the external elevation where a square headed arch is located supported by slender columns. Flanking the garden entrance are two small rectangular openings which contain the only original windows in the building as all other windows have been replaced by modern uPVC versions. The garden elevation contains bargeboards decorated with pierced quatrefoils.

INTERIOR: From the principal (north) elevation the entrance leads into central hallway containing a staircase to the first floor. The staircase has slender balustrades and trefoil decoration. To the west a corridor with applied timber ceiling accesses the three principal rooms. To the south, lit by windows in the garden front, the rooms retain their original pierced cornice and timber shutters for the windows. Of these rooms only the dining room, to the east, retains its original fireplace with foliate decoration. Within the first-floor the ceilings also retain their original applied timber framing which are chamfered and contain iron bolts decorated with a quatrefoil design.

HISTORY: The Convent of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge at Bartestree was established in 1863 and designed by Edward Welby Pugin (1834 - 1875). The site of the convent contains the chapel of the Old Longworth manor house which was built c. 1390. The medieval chapel fell out of use after the Reformation and the old manor house buildings became part of a farm. By the C17 the chapel was used for cider-making and the buildings remained in agricultural use until the mid-C19 when the then owner, Robert Biddulph Phillips, converted to Catholicism. The owner restored the chapel in 1851 and founded the Convent of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge at Bartestree in 1863 for his daughter. Phillips died in 1864 and was buried in his chapel at Longworth, but his will expressed a determination to move the chapel closer to the convent. This was achieved in 1869-70. The reconstructed church was not an exact copy of the original but a Victorian interpretation of a medieval building by EW Pugin. The convent was founded in 1863. The first buildings on the site were designed by EW Pugin with later additions of 1881, 1889 and 1895 designed by Chick. The Presbytery was contemporary with the first phase of development and was designed by Pugin. It is possible that given the ornate scheme of decoration internally and externally the building was originally intended as a residence for Robert Biddulph Phillips' daughter, although it is marked as a Presbytery on the first edition (1888) Ordnance Survey map.

The convent was listed at Grade II and the church of St James at Grade II* in 1985. The convent and Presbytery closed in 1992 and became derelict. The whole complex was subject to a residential conversion from 2002 onwards.

Reasons for Listing

The Presbytery at Bartestree Convent, designed in 1863 by Edward Welby Pugin, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: as a good example of a domestic building built by the renowned C19 architect EW Pugin.
* Design interest: for its coherent scheme of design and high quality craftsmanship.
* Group value: as a notable part of the Grade II and Grade II* listed Bartestree Convent.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q95000004

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)