Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 10/10/2012

ST 65 SE
5/202

STRATTON-ON-THE-FOSSE
FOSSE WAY
(west side)

Monastery of St Gregory
The Great, Downside
Abbey with Petre
Cloister

(Formerly listed as Monastery, West Cloister, Petre Cloister
to south and Refectory forming a contiguous group, Downside Abbey
and School)

GV
II*

Monastery and attached cloister ranges. 1873. The south end not completed until
1899. By A M Dunn and E J Hansom. Bath stone ashlar with red tile roofs.
Rectangular double depth block with forward projecting wing where it adjoins
church and taller square tower at south end of range. Collegiate High Victorian
Gothic style. Main west front of three storeys and attics, the top two being a
later addition, also to the tower which is a full four storeys. 7 bay front made
up of projecting wing with gable and gable to return, two gabled bays, entrance
bay formed by half projecting octagonal tower with conical roof, two more gabled
bays and the tower, the bays separated by buttresses with offsets. The windows
are mainly of two narrow lights with trefoil heads and divided by a stone
mullion. The ground floor windows also have transom and hoodmould, transoms also
to the windows of the entrance tower and the top floor of the main tower. Central
bay to base of tower. Gables with stone verges and apex crosses. Battlements to
both tower parapets.
South front of tower is three bays with stair to right. East front has ground
floor treated as cloister, ten bays divided by buttresses, four gables and tower
above, with taller stair tower. Petre Cloister is single storey running from the
monastery to the school. Five light Perpendicular windows divided by buttresses.
Interior has plaster panels between ribs. Stained glass with coats of arms of
families connected with the community. Plainer cloister returns north to church
on east side but overbuilt by C20 buildings which are the guest wing of the
Abbey. Interior of monastery not inspected.
History: Built for a community of Benedictine monks founded at St Gregory's
monastery at Douai in Flanders in 1607, house re-established in England in 1795,
present estate purchased 1813.

Listing NGR: ST6546650789

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Downside Abbey at Wikipedia
• Downside Abbey official website
• Wikidata Q1253335

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

• 
  For the Record
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)