The Old Convent of St Teresa

Cadw's description

Location

Situated just N of the Church of the Holy Rood and St Teilo, opposite the town walls.

History

Former convent, now house, 1894-6, by F A Walters. Originally intended as a monastery of St Gilbert built in association with the adjoining Roman Catholic church also designed by Walters. The plan was to revive the Gilbertine order but this failed and the building was in secular occupation, called The Priory, until 1932 when it was opened as a convent and girls' school run by the Sisters of Mercy. The school remained until 1979 when transferred to the former County Primary School, Greenhill Road.

Exterior

Former convent, painted roughcast with painted ashlar dressings and slate roofs. Two storeys and basement, late Gothic style with large mullioned windows in chamfered rusticated frames, (mullion-and-transom to ground floor with moulded ogee heads to top lights) and small-paned timber glazing. Four bays with entrance to left, then projecting large gabled bay with coped gable, and projecting narrower bay to extreme right with embattled parapet and recessed steep hipped roof with apex finial. String courses at both sill levels and above ground floor. Entrance is up 5 steps between low coped walls to moulded segmental pointed doorway with rusticated surround carried up to string course from which depend to long sides of a hoodmould framing 3-light overdoor of 2 moulded segmental-pointed lights and blank shield panel between. First floor has 2-light window with 8-8-pane sashes. Projecting large bay has plinth with 4 square basement lights, big 5-light ground floor window and 3-light to first floor, similar to others, but with blind ogee tracery above in gable, ornately cusped, with hoodmould. Third bay has steps down to basement door with 2-light window right, bi 5-light window to ground floor and 3-light and single light to first floor. Projecting bay to right has basement windows in side wall, onto area, plinth, similar ground and first floor windows, 3-light to front, 2-light to left side, but instead of first floor sill course the upper windows have blind rectangular panels beneath with ogee tracery extending down to lower string course. Additional string course at main eaves level, under battlements. Small red brick right end stack.
Left end has C20 window to attic, 2-light window to first floor left, cross-window to ground floor and 2-light to basement. Hipped-roofed projection on rear wall. Limestone gatepier attached at SE corner with gabled cap matches those of adjoining church.

Reason for designation

Included as a late Victorian Gothic building of character, of group value with the adjacent Roman Catholic church.