Description

SO 8201-8301 WOODCHESTER CONVENT LANE
(east side)
18/215
Convent of Poor Clares

II

Formerly Franciscan Convent, now Convent of Poor Clares. Early-
mid C17 house at core with c1850 enlargement; convent buildings
1861-69 by Charles Hansom; c1870 guest house by Canon Scoles.
Coursed rubble limestone with ashlar dressings; ashlar chimneys
and chapel vents; stone slate to chapel, plain concrete tile roofs
otherwise. Chapel at south east end on upper floor above library
and work rooms; main 3-storey convent block linking with 2-storey
and attic house; guest house at north west end. Chapel: boldly
buttressed walls on south east end and north east side, paired
lancets to ground floor, 3-light pointed arched windows with
trefoil tracery to chapel above. Rose window to south east gable
end. Ante-chapel on south west side with attached stair hall has
Hansom's characteristic spherical triangular window in gable.
Large sacristy block runs to left with catslide to main chapel
roof. Small gabled projections at north west end to side walls
indicating position of choir gallery. Ridge-mounted fleche;
chimney-like gable and ridge-mounted stone vents with slits and
coped top. Main convent block: long block with central gabled
side projections and 6 other side gables. Mixed mullioned and
transomed and 2-light mullioned fenestration on south west side;
more elaborate on north east with triple lancets to ground floor,
paired 2-light mullioned casements to upper, and small attic lights
in gables. Central porch on north east side has 2 pointed arches
to ground floor. Timber clock turret at north west end of range
with shaped louvres and pyramidal top. House: extensively
altered in C19; 2 gables to south west side with scattered 2-light
mullioned fenestration and indications of many altered openings
with relieving arches. c1850 addition of one gable on north east
side with canted 2-storey bay window and C19 pointed headed
mullioned and transomed fenestration. Guest house: 2-storey
porch with pointed arch; mullioned and transomed fenestration.
Interior of chapel: 5-bay panelled vaulted roof with arched
trusses on corbels. Broad pointed sanctuary arch with triple
attached columns and carved foliage capitals. Sanctuary has 1888
decoration by William Park of Preston. Finely carved reredos by
R.J. Boulton has Saints in hooded niches and tabernacle. Attached
marble columns to altar front with Nativity scene in relief. Two-
bay arcade to ante-chapel having timber gallery. Stained glass by
Warrington and Company. Formerly attached orphanage wing on south
west side now demolished. The whole range appears especially
impressive when viewed from opposite side of valley.
(W.J. Sheils, 'Woodchester' in V.C.H. Glos. xi, 1976, pp. 294-304;
and D. Verey, Gloucestershire; The Cotswolds, 1979.)

Listing NGR: SO8389701396

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Convent Of Poor Clares at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q26466814

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

• 
  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)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)