Gateway and flanking walls to St Mary's Convent

Summary

Gateway and flanking walls to St Mary's Convent by G E Street.

Reasons for Designation

The gateway and flanking walls to St Mary's Convent from Challow Road, probably 1855/6 by G E Street, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* Consistent with the rest of Street's convent buildings, the gateway and walls are constructed in good quality materials with craftsmanship;

Historic interest:
* The earliest principal entrance into St Mary’s Convent, an important religious house designed by G E Street with later buildings by W Butterfield and J L Pearson, which comprises a record of the progress of the Gothic Revival by some of its most original and assiduous designers over a period of 70 years;

Group value:
* With the listed convent buildings by Street and Butterfield, and White Lodge by Baillie-Scott, separately listed at Grade II, and Pearson's chapel, listed at Grade II*.

History

The Community of St Mary the Virgin (CSMV) was founded in 1848 by William John Butler, then Vicar of Wantage but later Dean of Lincoln, following the spiritual revival in the Church of England known as the Oxford Movement. CSMV was one of the first Anglican Religious Communities to be founded in England since the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII.

From the beginning there was an emphasis on simplicity of life, the first Rules being drawn up in 1854. These were revised in 1863 but the fully printed Rule and Consititution did not appear until 1896, from which time the sisters took explicit vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as they continue to do to this day. The Community grew over the years and was active in both social missions in the UK and overseas.

The original Convent building by G E Street was built in 1855-6, with the Chapel of St Mary Magdelene also by Street constructed in 1858-61. The Convent was extended by the addition of a long wing to the east in 1860; the refectory was added in 1866, extended 1871-2 and altered in 1900. Butterfield added a Noviciate to the north of the Street’s buildings in 1878 and the construction of a larger chapel by J L Pearson began in 1887, lengthened in 1900, the east end of which was reconfigured by Sir Ninian Comper in 1923.

The gateway is contemporary with the main Convent building and is thought to have been designed by Street. GE Street (1824-1881) active in the Ecclesiological Society, specialised in new church buildings and renovations, noted for their finely-crafted details many of which are listed at a high grade. He also designed the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, London (1866-82, National Heritage List for England 1264258, Grade I).

Details

Gateway and flanking walls to St Mary's Convent from Challow Road, probably 1855/6 by G E Street.

MATERIALS: roughly dressed and ashlar limestone blocks.

EXTERIOR: the pointed-arch ashlar entrance way is buttressed to the front and rear with stone modillions above. It is surmounted by a gable with kneelers and has ashlar crucifixes inset into the apex on both sides. It has a segmental, two-leaf iron gate and iron guardrails with pierced quatrefoils and spikes flanking the gateway. Attached to the entrance are stepped flanking walls with ashlar coping.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

251146

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Bradley, S, Tyack, G, The Buildings of England: Berkshire, (2010), 589-591

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