Chronological Gazetteer of the works of E.W. Pugin

By GJ Hyland – 11 March 2010          This article is undergoing continual refinement, and is updated periodically.
CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES
Nine different religious orders are represented in the 12 realised conventual buildings designed by EW Pugin, 7 of which are convents (only that at Fethard still functions as such), the remainder being monasteries, all but one of which (see Gorton) are currently functioning. This number excludes so-called 'convents' for the Irish Christian Brothers, which are really Community Houses, and, as such, are entered in Section D.

A significant English unenclosed convent was that designed by EW Pugin for the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity & Refuge, at Bartestree, Herefords. It no longer functions as such, however, having been abandoned in 1992, and has since been converted into apartments (R. O'Donnell, True Principles, vol. ii (i), p.19, 2000).

Quite different in style are his designs of the friaries for the Franciscan Recollects at Gorton, Manchester and in Killarney, Ireland.
Picture
Figs. 49a, b • Bartestree Convent: (Private Collection).
Picture
Fig. 50 • Belmont Abbey, Belmont, showing typical EW Pugin dormers. (Edmund Hayward, Belmont Abbey)
Picture
Figs. 51a, b • Franciscan Friaries by EW Pugin: a) St Francis', Gorton (Courtesy, Tony Hurley of The Monastery of St Francis & Gorton Trust); b) The Most Holy Trinity, Killarney, Ireland (Private Collection)
REALISED DESIGNS
  • 1854: Marlow, Bucks. - St Peter's Convent (Sisters of Charity of St Paul the Apostle): built through the munificence of CR Scott-Murray; execution of AWN Pugin's design for a convent adjacent to St Peter's Church. The nuns left in 1885, after which the property became the house of the master of the adjacent school; since the 1970s, the house has been divided into two flats. On his Danesfield Estate, Scott-Murray founded also a convent dedicated to St Charles, which, between 1865 & 1885, was served by the Sisters of Charity of St Paul, the Apostle; whether EW Pugin was involved is unknown.
  • 1857-60: Clehonger, Herefords. - Belmont Priory (later Benedictine Abbey): first occupied in Nov 1859, when still unfinished; built on land given by FR Wegg-Prosser, MP, FRAS - see St Michael and All Angels and Ss Peter and Paul, also R O'Donnell, True Principles, vol I (ix), 1999.
  • 1860: Wolverhampton, W. Midlands - St Mary & St John's Convent (Sisters of Mercy): in St John's Square; building (including the chapel) still exists, but is no longer a convent. 
  • 1860-61(28 May): Ramsgate, Kent - St Augustine's Abbey (Benedictines): the Benedictine Order took possession in 1856; until 1896, the Foundation was a Priory. An easterly 3-storey extension to the designs of PP Pugin was commenced in 1901, and the separate library building (Bergh Memorial Library) by CHC Purcell dates from 1926. It was announced in 2009 that the Benedictines intend to vacate the property and its future is at present uncertain. 
  • 1861: (with GC Ashlin): Dublin, Ireland - St John's Priory (OSA - Augustinians): in John St; not built until 1877-80, under the superintendence of Ashlin (to whom it is usually erroneously solely attributed); it was vacated in 1939 when a new priory was built in Thomas St. 
  • 1862-63: Bartestree, Herefords. - Our Lady of Charity and Refuge (Sisters of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge): founded by Robert Biddulph Phillips of Longworth. Only the first stage of EW Pugin's projected scheme was built (Figs.49), with later additions by Pugin & Pugin (1886) and by W Chick. The Chapel of St Anne (1866-67) is not by EW Pugin, but is by B Bucknall. Entire site was abandoned in 1992, and the buildings have now been converted into apartments. 
  • 1862-64: Hoxton Square, London - Augustinian Priory (Augustinians, OSA): attached to St Monica's Hoxton - see also St Monica's School, Hoxton; priory not completed until after 1870.
  • 1863-67: W. Gorton, Greater Manchester - Franciscan Friary (OFM Recollects): attached to the church of St Francis, Gorton. The first wing opened 4 Oct 1863, the library being used as a temporary church (as at Kilburn); the second, W. wing, 1864, when the Community moved in and the final wing, 1867. The W. facade was demolished in the 1970s, and the friary vacated in 1989; only the E. and S. wings remain, and are currently being restored for secular community social use.
  • 1865-75 (with GC Ashlin): Killarney, Co Kerry, Ireland - Franciscan Friary of the Most Holy Trinity (OFM Recollects): attached to the church of the Most Holy Trinity, Killarney. The W. wing of Friary was occupied in 1866, the S. wing 1870 (originally surmounted by a flèche, prior to the building of the church tower, 1878-79), and the N. wing 1871-75, during which period a third storey was added to the original two-storey W. wing.
  • 1866-67: Stourbridge, Worcs. - Convent (Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) nuns/Sister of Mercy/Sisters of Charity of St Paul the Apostle): attached to Our Lady and All Saints church, Stourbridge. The Sisters of Mercy took over from The Institute of the BVM nuns on 23 January 1869, and remained until 1871, The Sisters of Charity of St Paul the Apostle replacing them in 1872; they remained until c.1990, when the property was sold for conversion into apartments.
  • 1867-68: Ford, Liverpool, Merseyside - Good Shepherd Convent (Good Shepherd nuns): site adjacent to the Ford Cemetery, Liverpool, Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre; extensions of 1882 by J O'Byrne. New chapel dedicated to The Sacred Heart by Pugin & Pugin, 1886-87, in which Religious, Penitents & Public had sight of the altar, but not of each other. Entire complex demolished c.1972/3.
  • 1868: Nechells, Birmingham, W. Midlands - St Joseph's Convent (Sisters of Charity of St Paul the Apostle): on the same site as St Joseph's church, Nechells; closed 1954, when the nuns removed to St Chad's convent but continued to teach in St Joseph's School, Nechells until 1959.
  • 1869-71: Fethard, Co. Tipperary, Ireland - Convent (Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary): only the main wing was built at this time; EW Pugin's scheme was completed in 1885 by the addition of the remaining wings, including chapel, under the architect WG Doolin of Dublin.
           UNCORROBORATED
  • 1859-60/64: Ravenhurst, Birmingham, W. Midlands - St Anne's Convent (Sisters of Mercy): later additions (1878-80), including chapel, sacristy, almonry & refectory, have been attributed to TR Donnelly (loc. cit St Marie's, Rugby and St Joseph's, Malvern, Worcs), but, according to S Welsh, are possibly a realization (particularly in the case of the chapel) of earlier sketches by EW Pugin. The entire site was destroyed by bombing in WWII. 
  • 1859 (with J Murray) - 1862(completed by EW Pugin?): Bantry, Co. Cork, Ireland - Our Lady's Convent (Sisters of Mercy): excluding chapel (see Mercy Convent, Bantry), which is by SF Hynes, 1877-78.

UNREALISED DESIGNS
  • 1858: Peckham, London - Friary (OFM Cap): attached to Our Lady of Sorrows church, Peckham. Built (1884) to the design of J O'Byrne.
  • c.1861: Edinburgh, Scotland - Convent of St Margaret (Ursulines of Jesus nuns): only the W. side of the projected quadrangle of buildings was built.
  • 1862-63: Bartestree, Herefords. - Our Lady of Charity & Refuge (Sisters of Our Lady of Charity & Refuge): the remainder of the original projected scheme.
  • 1863-64: Hales Place, Canterbury, Kent - Carmelite Convent & Farm: built through the munificence of Mary Barbara Felicity Hales; convent foundations completed and walls built to 1st floor level, but then abandoned until 1876 when Dunn & Hansom proposed utilising them for part of an abbey dedicated to St Benedict, which, however, was never built.
  • 1869-1871: Callow End, Worcs. - Stanbrook Abbey (Benedictine nuns): plans drawn up for a large abbey arranged around a quadrangle, of which only the church was built; abbey buildings re-designed and partially built later by Pugin, Ashlin & Pugin (1878, E. wing), and Pugin & Pugin (1895-97, N. wing).

COMMISSIONS/WORKS NOTIFIED IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURAL JOURNALS AND ELSEWHERE, WHICH WERE POSSIBLY ERRONEOUSLY ATTRIBUTED, NEVER EXECUTED, OR FOR WHICH NO EVIDENCE OF EXECUTION HAS YET BEEN FOUND
  • 1858: Bayswater, London - St Mary's Convent (Poor Clares): the Poor Clares never had a convent of this dedication in Bayswater, although in 1858 EW Pugin was commissioned to go to Bruges to study the design of their Order's Mother House there with a view to building a similar one in Bayswater. The Bayswater convent, as built, dedicated to the Sacred Heart, and opened in July 1860, was to the design of H Clutton. 
  • nd: Glasweran (sic) - actually Glasnevin (Co Dublin, Ireland): there is no Catholic church here that matches the dates of EW Pugin.