Stapehill Abbey

Restoration of Stapehill Abbey, a remarkable legacy of our history.
Location: Wimborne Road, Wimborne
Status: Built
Use: Residential
Client: Ankers & Rawlings Developments Ltd
Stapehill Abbey (formerly known as Holy Cross Abbey) is located on the outskirts of Ferndown at Stapehill within the manor of Hampreston. Stapehill Abbey is a remarkable legacy of our history. The formation and occupation of the site by the Cistercian order of the Holy Cross was the first Cistercian settlement on this isle, after the Reformation.

The story of Stapehill could easily be a Hollywood film and is a story embroiled in the French revolution, capture, escape and intrigue!

The holy order was established by Madame de Chabannes in Paris. Many of their order where the daughters of aristocracy. It was the time of the French Revolution and with their order stormed, their chattels and valuables where seized, and the order imprisoned in the Bastille. Nearly beheaded by Robespierre and, after escape, the order travelled through Europe whilst being pusued and persecuted. After a special gift of a place to call home, they finally settled at Stapehill in 1802.

At the time, it was little more than a single farmstead and disease and famine ravaged her community. Lobbying for support and with the royal patronage of King Louis XVIII of France and later Queen Victoria ( who even visited). The order set about creating a truly remarkable place that slowly grew over 200 years. Whilst much of the Abbey was built slowly to an exacting design and with the employ of famous architects of their time (including Pugin), a great deal was built by the nuns themselves or adapted by them, as the community grew. Indeed, on one of our very first site inspections, we found masses of building books and magazines, piled into old boxes and going back to 1850!

This ad hoc place built over many generations of the nuns themselves, applying buildings over other buildings had created many unusual constructions and a process of detection and investigation by us which later yielded surprising results.

The upkeep of the complete holding, relative to the diminishing and relatively small population of nuns meant that by the late 1980’s the order was forced to sell the abbey and its complete holding, moving to a new home in Wales.

For a while it was a visitor attraction, buts its decay and upkeep forced this to close and for many years Stapehill Abbey sat behind chained gates.

The owners looked for a solution and after much research, contacted Scott Worsfold Associates with a clear need: can you help us!

We commenced surveys and created designs for its conversion. Conversion alone would not balance the books and with a clear deficit in the millions, SWA developed a design for enabling development and the creation of Stapehill Village, a major complex of over 30 new homes sat within the extensive grounds.

Approaching the then East Dorset District Council, the planning office were sceptical. This would be a first. Seeing our designs and after over a year in the planning system, our designs were taken to a committee, with a full recommendation to approve and who gave a unanimous decision. At the same committee, the chair gave special praise to our work and the design before them, it was exceptional and an exemplar of best practice.

Subsequently, Stapehill Abbey was taken to market and bought by Ankers & Rawlings, SWA were retained and working together, Stapehill was repaired, rebuilt, and conserved. The conversion beautifully crafted and the village now built, it sits now as an exemplar and SWA are regularly asked to give tours to conservation officers as a model of best practice.

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Scott Worsfold Associates

info@sw-arch.com
01202 580902
The Studio, 22 Ringwood Road, 
Ferndown, Dorset, BH22 9AN
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