More information : Bishop's House, formerly known as Lenton Priory, was built circa 1805 by William Stretton (1755-1828) on the site of the medieval Cluniac Priory. Stretton was a Nottingham builder, architect, funerary sculptor, surveyor, developer and antiquary. Amongst other buildings he designed and built the former Lenton Hall (now Hugh Stewart Hall) at the University, also in Gothick style, and he built Colwick Hall to Carr of York's designs. Stretton was also surveyor/ builder to the Dukes of Newcastle and worked on Nottingham Castle during the late 18th/ early 19th century. He built Bishop's House as a pair of houses, one for himself which he lived in until he died, and the other possibly for his family. The 1884 Ordnance Survey (OS) map shows the pair before they were extended, still surrounded by extensive gardens and with unequal rear wings, that to the right slightly larger. In the late 19th century the house became a nunnery and school run by the Sisters of Nazareth who made the pair of houses into one by uniting the staircase halls for a single staircase. They added a long wing to the west side, shown on the 1901 OS map, and a rear extension and connecting chapel on the east side in the 20th century. It was then known as Nazareth House. These later extensions and the rear half of the main house have, since 2004, been removed and the site developed for housing. The rear half has been replaced with a three-storey extension containing six flats, and the remaining front half of the original house has been converted into four flats. The two Gothic front doors have been replaced (although the doorcases remain), the blind windows in the first-floor outer bays have been opened up, and all the sash windows have been replaced with modern replicas. Very little of the internal joinery and decoration has survived. The fireplaces and staircases have been taken out; the majority of the plaster mouldings on the ceiling and walls have been removed; and the doors and window panelling are modern. Some of the ceilings have been lowered, and the original reception rooms and principal bedrooms have been subdivided by partition walls.
Bishop's House is a former pair of Gothick-style houses of two storeys and a semi-basement. It is constructed of stone ashlar with shallow, hipped roofs clad in slates, surmounted by two ridge stacks of red brick and stone, partly rendered. The symmetrical façade is divided into six bays, and is crowned with a castellated parapet. The central element of four bays has modern sash windows with Tudor-style head moulds; those on the ground floor extending to form a string course. The two outer bays are slightly set back to allow for a flight of steps with railings which lead up to elaborate Gothick doorcases embellished with fine mouldings, shafts, panel decoration and brattishing to the tops. The two-leaf, glazed doors are modern. Above these the original blind windows have been opened up, and that on the right hand side has a small window inserted to the left. The sides of the building have a two-window range, similar to the front; and from here extends the modern three-storey block of flats, with a ground floor of red brick and rendered upper floors. Internally, the floor plan has been altered to accommodate four flats, and most of the joinery and decoration has been removed with the exception of the panelled, round-arched openings on the ground floor. Part of the plaster cornice is visible from an opening in one of the false ceilings on the first floor, and a small section of the floorboards survive. The roof structure is almost intact.
The architectural interest of Bishop's House has been severely compromised by its recent conversion into flats and it no longer meets the criteria for listing.
SOURCES
Elain Harwood, Nottingham, Pevsner Architectural Guides (2008)
Bishop's House, a former pair of Gothick-style houses built c.1805 by William Stretton, is not recommended for listing for the following principal reasons:
* Alterations: the considerable architectural interest of the house has been seriously compromised by recent alterations to its plan form and removal of the majority of its fine quality interior detailing.
* Survival: the recent conversion has resulted in a significant loss of original fabric to the extent that less than half of the early 19th century building now remains. (1)
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