Buy all that’s holy
Remarkable old convent is perfect for conversion into flats
AS FILM sets go, they do not come much more dramatic than this. Occupying an eight-acre plot and built of local red sandstone, Corbelly Hill Convent is visible for miles around. Built for the Nuns of the Perpetual Adoration in 1881, the imposing building in Dumfries was taken over by movie-makers for the 2002 film The Magdalene Sisters.
Scots actor and writer Peter Mullan used its transepts and cloisters for his compelling story, inspired by real events, of young ‘fallen’ women incarcerated in Catholic workhouses in Ireland.
In reality, the first nuns at Corbelly Hill came from Arras in France, the stronghold of the enclosed Catholic order founded in Paris in 1653.
Once its ecclesiastical life ended, the buildings became a girls’ school, museum, the property of an Irish investor, and even served for a while as the town’s Sheriff Court.
Corbelly Hill Convent is now being marketed as a ‘tremendous opportunity’ by estate agent Savills.
The potential is limitless but someone with economic imagination must first work out a plan for a B-listed property occupying 44,823 square feet in a town miles from any major city.
The convent sits in Maxwelltown, Dumfries, surrounded by residential property. Imposing gothic masterpieces have been converted to flats in other parts of Scotland, most notably the wondrous Donaldson’s School in Edinburgh.
But the capital city enjoys the most expensive real estate in the country and the developers forked out millions to turn the Victorian institution into somewhere people wanted to live.
Richard Thompson, development director at Savills’ Edinburgh office, is convinced by the convent’s possibilities. He said: ‘This is a tremendous opportunity to acquire an impressive building with a rich history. Corbelly Hill Convent has the potential for a residential-led, mixed-use development, hotel and leisure, or even a wedding venue, subject to the necessary consent.’
The property is broadly arranged in a U-shape over a basement, with a ground floor and three upper floors. Video on Youtube shows an interior in remarkably good condition, considering it has been subject to vandalism.
Yes, paint peels from walls and arches but the stained glass is as stunning as when it was installed by Westminster architects Pugin and Pugin in the 19th Century.
This practice probably deserves a movie of its own. Think of any Catholic red sandstone church in Scotland and this southern-based firm is almost certain to have been behind it.
This includes the beautiful Alisted Sacred Heart Church in the Bridgeton area of east Glasgow, where Pugin and Pugin designed the presbytery in the Baroque Revival style in 1909, while one of its founders was credited with internal work at the Houses of Parliament and a certain clock tower that houses Big Ben.
Perhaps key to the convent’s future is the land which surrounds it, including a three-acre paddock.
One drawback, however, is that Dumfries and Galloway Council has included part of the site in its ‘protected open spaces’ category.
Whatever happens, someone has to find a new use for this marvellous building. It would be sacrilege not to.