Building MPM1861 - St Andrew's House, Fawcett Road

Former St Andrew's House Diocesan Deaconess Home/Diocesan Theological College for Women (Anglican). Built 1889-1891. The building opened in 1891 as the 'Winchester Diocesan Deaconess House' (St Andrew's House). The home moved to Eastern Parade in 1952 and the building was sold for use as a nursing home in 1962. It is now part of the Priory School site. A chapel (now disused) is attached to the south side of the building.

Former St Andrew's House Diocesan Deaconess Home/Diocesan Theological College for Women (Anglican). The foundation stone was laid in 1889 and the building opened in 1891 as the 'Winchester Diocesan Deaconess House' (St Andrew's House) under the leadership of Mother Emma. A chapel (now disused) is attached to the south side of the building. [1, 2]

St Andrew's was essentially a theological college for women, training them for church work as Deaconesses and lay workers at home and abroad. The community of Deaconesses ran a home for mothers and babies and a home of comfort for the dying, located at 17 Victoria Grove. [1]

The western end of the building was badly damaged by fire during the Second World War, and this is marked as a ruin on the 1952 Ordnance Survey map [3]. The home re-opened in 1945 in much restricted quarters and was moved to 5 Eastern Parade, Southsea, in 1952. [1] The building is now part of the Priory School site, the western half having been re-built.

The building is in red brick (Flemish Bond) with gothic arched vertical timber sliding sash windows. There are gables to the front and rear and the roof is clad with Welsh slates. The chapel has stained glass windows, mainly in the gable ends, and gothic arched external doors. A covered way leads from the Fawcett Road entrance to the main front door of the chapel [2].

<1> Portsmouth Museum and Record Service, Records of St Andrew's House, Portsmouth 1883-1981 (Unpublished document). SPM490.

<2> Portsmouth City Council, 2009, Priory School, Fawcett Road, South: Draft Planning Brief/PCC (Unpublished document). SPM489.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1952, Ordnance Survey Map 1952 (Map). SPM67.