St John's Seminary

Details

TQ 04NW WONERSH C.P. GUILDFORD ROAD

1/364 St. John's Seminary

II

Seminary. Founded 1891 and built in 1895 by F. A. Walters in Dutch/Jacobean style. Red brick with gauged and ribbed brick dressings, some stone frontis- pieces and coping on chapel, slate roofs. Large rectangular main block with projecting lower wings to sides enclosing courtyard, chapel to left at right angles to wing, service wing and extensions set back to right. 3 storeys and attics over basement on main range, two storeys over basements on wings. Tall, stone banded,front stacks on main range, one to left and two to right, also decorated with moulded string courses. Further stacks on court sides of wings in re-entrant angles with main range. Main block - Eleven bays articulated by pilaster piers under small gable/pediment offsets at first floor height. Narrower linking bays to ends connect to wings. Ten pedimented dormers in roof with further row of flat roofed dormers behind. Stone banding flanking central three bays. Deep moulded string course over basement, cornices over ground and first floors with dentilled decoration on main eaves. Segmental head glazing bar sash fenestration, the lower half of the window now plate glass, keystoned gauged brick heads above. Ground floor windows in arched recessed panels with impost mouldings and gauged brick "sunburst" pattern to heads. Lancet windows in basement. Central three bays of range under shaped gable with flanking scalloped parapets. Pulvinated frieze over second floor and segmental pediment over central window on second floor. Tripartite central window to first floor under swan's neck pediment. Flat portico of rubbed brick to ground floor approached up a flight of stone steps with banded newel posts and square pyramidal scroll flanked finials. Jacobean style half-fluted Ionic pilasters on pedestals support pulvinated frieze and flank moulded brick arched entrance to porch. Stone frontispiece to rear of porch with similar pedestal pilasters flanking panelled double doors under oval fanlight. Wings projecting are of simpler design with rusticated quoins on piers articulating facades, finials above on angle piers. 4 gabled bays to each wing with larger bay to re-entrant angle. String courses over ground floor and sash fenestration. Ends of wings have banded stone decoration to arched upper panels enclosing roundel window. Irregular fenestration below. Chapel to left - connected by lower linking range with thermal window over three, single-light,cambered head windows. Gable end entrance with porch across ground floor under shaped pediments and spherical finials. Eight bays on chapel with plinth and sill mouldings. Banded, scroll topped buttresses alternating with round arched, gauged brick head leaded windows, triple blind arcade on gable end. Dutch gable to end with spike and sphere finials. Copper spirelet over domed lantern on roof ridge to left with open sides.

PEVSNER: BUILDINGS OF ENGLAND, SURREY (1971) p.537.

Listing NGR: TQ0246545073

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

440114

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Nairn, I Rev. by Cherry, The Buildings of England: Surrey, (1971), 537

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.