Summary

Presbytery to Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Ghost, 1895, designed by Father (later Canon) AJC Scoles.

Description

Presbytery to Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Ghost, 1895, designed by Father (later Canon) AJC Scoles.

MATERIALS: constructed of red brick with Hamstone dressings under a red clay double-Roman tiled roof with stone-coped gable ends and brick axial and gable-end stacks.

PLAN: it is rectangular on plan with a projecting central bay.

EXTERIOR: the house which is built in the Gothic style, faces S onto Higher Kingston and has two storeys and an attic. The front elevation is of three bays with a continuous cill stringcourse. The central gabled bay breaks forwards and has a large five-light stone mullioned and transomed ground-floor window with cusped lights and hoodmould. To the first floor are two two-light Gothic windows with plate tracery and two-centred arches with hoodmoulds, and a cusped lancet in the gable above. The return walls of the central bay each has a flat-headed, transomed single window at first floor. The flanking bays are set back. The right-hand one has a pointed-arched entrance with recessed doorway with marginal lights and a flat-arched mullioned and transomed window of two lights under a continuous hoodmould to the ground floor and a matching first-floor window. The left-hand bay has a pair of French doors under a segmental head, and a two-light stone mullioned and transomed first-floor window. The rear (N) elevation is plainer and also has a central, projecting gabled bay. The windows are mostly four-pane, timber sashes, except for a dormer to the roof and a modern casement under a concrete lintel to the ground floor left.

INTERIOR: partially inspected (2015). Although relatively plain, some of the rooms have carved fireplaces, several displaying Canon Scoles’ initials and coat of arms, and stone corbels support the ceiling beams.

History

During the last decades of the C19, Mass was held in a chantry chapel which was rented by the Catholic community. In 1891 Father (later Canon) Alexander Scoles became the first resident priest at Yeovil and subsequently purchased land for a Roman Catholic church and a presbytery. Scoles was noted as an architect and planner, and he designed both buildings. The presbytery and sacristy were built first, completed in 1895, and the sacristy served as a temporary chapel until the church (Grade II-listed) was completed in 1899.

Reasons for Listing

The presbytery to the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Ghost, built in 1895, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: it has a notable and well-detailed exterior that appears largely unaltered and complements the styling of the Church of the Holy Ghost;
* Group value: it forms a contemporary group with the church, also listed at Grade II, with which it shares a strong visual, physical and historic relationship.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26666501

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.

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