Visited with @clebby & @Salmon.
History:
I'll be honest; I don't know too much about 'Italianate style' buildings and stuff the other two seem to know a lot about, however the fact that parts of the school were so impressive made me forget at times that I was in an old school and not a mansion - even though, technically, it once was.
Anyway, onto the photos. Starting with the slightly boring and pretty standard classrooms:
A bit further on down the corridor was by far the best classroom onsite, reminding me of how much I dreaded science and how frequently bad I was at it. The stuff that was still inside the store room really surprised me as I didn't expect to see a range of acids and other chemicals when we set off for Worcester a few hours beforehand.
After spending a fair bit of time in the science room, it was time to stroll down the corridor and head for the older parts of the building. Was this different to the sixth form at my old secondary school? Just a bit.
I'm slightly disappointed I didn't get many more photos of that bit, I found it difficult to capture at the time.
Continued in the comments below...
History:
This place was yet another incredible site that I had the opportunity of exploring after Clebby & Salmon invited me along on a Sunday morning. There was just so much stuff to look at, somewhat surprising me seeing as I thought the school wasn't that big after I saw a few externals whilst on a quick search shortly before I visited.St. Mary's School in Worcester was an independent day school that comprised of three divisions - Early years (3 months to 4 years), the Preparatory school (4 to 11 years) and the Senior school (11 to 18 years). The school welcomed all children up until the age of five before solely accepting girls from 5-18 years.
Battenhall Mount - the building in which the school was situated - dates back to the Victorian era and was built during the 1860s. It was taken over by Sir Percy Allsopp who eventually extended the building, modelling the site after the Italianate style popularised by Prince Albert. After Allsopp's family went bankrupt and the house was sold off, Battenhall Mount was used as a home/hospital during WW1.
In between the two World Wars, the house was put on sale. The Sisters of St. Marie Madeleine Postel from St. Joseph's Convent School in Reading bought the property in 1934 and converted the site into a school.
Following a surprising announcement that the school was incapable of continuing due to the recession, St. Mary's Convent School ceased operations at the end of the 2014 summer term.
I'll be honest; I don't know too much about 'Italianate style' buildings and stuff the other two seem to know a lot about, however the fact that parts of the school were so impressive made me forget at times that I was in an old school and not a mansion - even though, technically, it once was.
Anyway, onto the photos. Starting with the slightly boring and pretty standard classrooms:
A bit further on down the corridor was by far the best classroom onsite, reminding me of how much I dreaded science and how frequently bad I was at it. The stuff that was still inside the store room really surprised me as I didn't expect to see a range of acids and other chemicals when we set off for Worcester a few hours beforehand.
After spending a fair bit of time in the science room, it was time to stroll down the corridor and head for the older parts of the building. Was this different to the sixth form at my old secondary school? Just a bit.
I'm slightly disappointed I didn't get many more photos of that bit, I found it difficult to capture at the time.
Continued in the comments below...
