Dee House is in Little John Street, Chester, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The house is built on the southern part of the site of Chester Amphitheatre.

History

Dee House was built in about 1730 as a town house for John Comberbach, a former mayor of Chester. Extensions were made in the 1740s to the south and southwest, giving the house an L-shaped plan. It continued in use as a private residence until about 1850, when it was sold to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

. In 1854 it passed to the

Faithful Companions of Jesus The Faithful Companions of Jesus Sisters (FCJ Sisters, French: ''Fidèles compagnes de Jésus'') is a Christian religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church directly subject to the Pope. It was founded in Amiens in France in 1820 by Marie ...

, a religious institute of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, who used it as a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

school. They added a wing to the east, which incorporated in its ground floor a chapel designed by

Edmund Kirby Edmund Kirby (8 April 1838 – 24 April 1920) was an English architect. He was born in Liverpool, and educated at Oscott College in Birmingham. He was articled to E. W. Pugin in London, then became an assistant to John Douglas in Che ...

. The chapel is in Gothic Revival style, in contrast to the rest of the building in

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

style. A west wing in Neo-Georgian style was added in about 1900. In 1925 the building was taken over by the

Ursulines The Ursulines, also known as the Order of Saint Ursula (post-nominals: OSU), is an enclosed religious order of consecrated women that branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula, in 1572. Like the Angelines, they ...

, another religious institute. In 1929 they added another block to the south of the building, and during the process the remains of a

Roman amphitheatre Roman amphitheatres are theatres – large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised seating – built by the ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, '' venationes'' (animal slayings) and executions. About 230 Ro ...

were found beneath it. In the early 1970s the convent closed and the building was used as offices by British Telecom. They vacated the building in the early 1990s and it has been empty since.

Architecture

The building is constructed in brick with stone dressings, and has slate roofs. Its plan consists of a central block and two wings. The central block is in Georgian style, the west wing is Neo-Georgian, and the east wing, which incorporates the chapel, is Gothic Revival. The windows in the central block and the west wing are

sashes Sashes Island is an island in the River Thames in England at Cookham Lock near Cookham, Berkshire. It is now open farmland, but has Roman and Anglo-Saxon connections. The island is located between Hedsor Water and the present navigation cha ...

, and those in east wing are lancets. The slates on the roof of the east wing are in grey and purple bands. On the apex of the roof of this wing is a cross finial.

References

{{Reflist Houses in Chester Grade II listed buildings in Chester Grade II listed houses Georgian Revival architecture in the United Kingdom Gothic Revival architecture in Cheshire Georgian architecture in Cheshire Houses completed in 1730

History

Architecture

See also

References