The Cloisters
The Cloisters, Barrington Road, Hertfordshire, SG6 3TH
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1102019
- Date first listed:
- 07-Sept-1979
- List Entry Name:
- The Cloisters
- Statutory Address:
- The Cloisters, Barrington Road, Hertfordshire, SG6 3TH
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2004-05-23
- Reference:
- IOE01/09309/19
- Rights:
- © Mr Ted Ellis. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1102019
- Date first listed:
- 07-Sept-1979
- List Entry Name:
- The Cloisters
- Statutory Address 1:
- The Cloisters, Barrington Road, Hertfordshire, SG6 3TH
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- The Cloisters, Barrington Road, Hertfordshire, SG6 3TH
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Hertfordshire
- District:
- North Hertfordshire (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TL 22043 31427
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 26 February 2024 to amend the name and address and reformat the text to current standards
TL 23 SW
1/23
BARRINGTON ROAD
The Cloisters
(Formerly listed as North Hertfordshire Masonic Lodge (The Cloisters))
II*
1906-7 by W H Cowlishaw. Built for Miss Annie Lawrence as a residential School of Psychology. Later converted for use as a preparatory school, then a concert hall. By 1948 it had become a masonic lodge. Romantic composition with an octagonal, high tower and two open turrets with spiral staircases rising above the cloister garth, an open semi-circular court, which was later roofed with a rotunda when used as a concert hall. Other features originally included cubicles for dressing purposes linked to an open swimming bath. Tiled roofs. Grey brick with diaper work patterns and Purbeck stone dressings. The rich, symbolic carved work (doves and bats for example) was mostly uncompleted before the building project in its original form came to a halt in 1907.
Interior of painted brick with mass concrete vaulting. Windows of two-light mullioned casement with leaded lights, and arranged as enormous mullioned key windows around the central court. Entrance in north-west corner approached by flights of steps leading to arched portico. The cloister garth has an arcade with columns of Swedish green marble and a central fountain in Art Nouveau style around the central support of the tower.
Modern additions to the rear.
Listing NGR: TL2204331427
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 161838
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 01-Jul-2026 at 10:01:42.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.