Description

ST6332
5/68

CASTLE CARY CP
GREENWAY ROAD (East side)

St. John's Priory (Florida House)

GV
II

Detached house. 1877. Built for J S Donne, of the Flax Mills family, designed by
Charles Bell. Doulting and Bath stone ashlar; plain clay tile roof between coped gables,
ashlar chimney stacks with ornamental caps. Two storeys with attic, 3 bay south elevation.
Plinth, polychrome stonework; sash windows, glazing bars having semi-circular arch
design; bay 1 has single-storey projecting square bay window with flat roof, open
balustrade and corner ball finials; of 1+3+1 lights; above 3 windows grouped in
decorative false gable planted on real gable, which has segmented arched pediment at
crown, with ball finial: bay 2 has open porch recess with heavy doors in semi-circular
arch carried on non- classical columns under dentilled string, carved spandrils; plain
single window above, then rises a tower with rectangular window at attic floor level
and above a belvedere with 3 semi-circular arched windows each face, set under
lead-covered bell-hip roof with wrot-iron finial and weathervane; bay 3 has single
windows, lower under string hood, upper under carved semi-circular arch and then false
gable with semi- circular pediment and ball finial. West elevation of 5 bays to match;
angled bay window both levels bay 1 under lean-to hipped roof against ornamental coped
gable, of 1+2+1 windows; single window upper bay 2, blank below, and to both levels bays
3 and 5, each with segmental pedimented false gable over; to bay 4 a projecting chimney
stack from first level up. Later extensions to north and east not of special interest.
Interior not seen, but a mantlepiece and recess, by Reid and Co, illustrated in The
Builder 19th May 1888.
Very much a show-house, it is now the Priory of the Sisters of Jesus Crucified.
(McGarvie M, Castle Cary: Avalon Industries, 1980).

Listing NGR: ST6392932554

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26307894

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

• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)