Description

TL 2885-2985 RAMSEY
12/23
1.5.51 Ramsey Abbey School
(Formerly listed as
Ramsey Abbey)

I

Formerly a country house built on the site of the Benedictine Monastery. Now a
comprehensive school. The surviving 6 bays of the C13 Lady Chapel form the basement
of a house built in circa 1600 with a central hall and cross-passage to the west. In
1804-6 Sir John Soane (1753-1837) extended and modernised the house for the Fellowes
family by adding a large tower block to the west and a symmetrical north facade.

Edward Blore (1787-1879) refurbished the interior and added the parapets and new south
entrance porch with other Elizabethan Revival details to the facades in 1839. The
service wing to the west was added shortly after.

Built of ashlar with modern plain tiled roofs with medieval walls and buttresses and
Barnack stone.

North Entrance Facade by Soane. Original circa 1600 building extended to west by
matching 4-storeyed tower and linked between with new facade of 3 storeys and
central round ended entrance lobby. Flanking towers have angle buttresses of
3 stages, wooden mullion and transom windows reducing in height at each floor with
cornices and incised line decoration to plain architraves. Six window ranges at first
and second floor of diamond leaded lights with stained glass at heads in 2 centred
arches and lightly chamfered reveals with incised line details at lable position.
Porch with 2 similar windows has a half-glazed double door in a 2 centred moulded arch
with an apex mask.

South Garden Facade of 4 storeys includes the basement. Attributed to Blore with
original Lady Chapel walls, and buttresses with tabled offsets and shop chamfered
angles. Asymmetric plan, unified by pierced parapets similar to garden terrace wall.
Skyline broken by small corner turrets, finials, and tall shafted stacks. Tower block
to west with staged angle buttresses has a 4-storeyed bay window. Two storey porch
approached by balustraded steps continued to form a first floor terrace on either side
of the main entrance. Half-glazed double oak panelled door shaped to round-headed
arch of Ketton stone, architrave with key block and spandrels. To east, 4-storeyed,
gabled, bay window. Windows all with ovolo mullions and transomes, some with labels.

Service Range to West dressed limestone, plain tile roof. Three storeys. West gable
with parapet and finial. Corbetted projection at first floor with small parapet gable
and finial. Ground floor and first floor ovolo moulded wooden mullioned and transomed
windows with small hung sash windows. Second floor hung sash windows have splayed
stone mullions and architraves. Two internal ridge stacks with 4 shafts and common
ashlar entablatures

Interior : C13 Lady Chapel has an internal wall arcade of moulded trefoiled arches
partly damaged and destroyed by later alterations. All the buttresses are visible at
this level. The north facing hall window of the Elizabethan house recently uncovered
at first floor level. The Soane arcades of the corridors to the north have plain,
round-headed arches defined with fine incised lines. The main staircase, library,
dining-room buffet recess, and their plastered ceilings are by Blore.

Listing NGR: TL2918585041

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Abbey College, Ramsey at Wikipedia
• Abbey College, Ramsey official website
• Wikidata Q4663983

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

• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)