º£½ÇÊÓƵ

A Quaker clothier, a mayor and an order of Roman Catholic nuns have all called this remarkable property in Battenhall Avenue, Worcester, home.

Now it is awaiting the next owner to make their mark.

Originally called Battenhall Mount, it was built around 1865-9 for .

His profession would have given him a keen eye for what was in vogue and this was true when it came to the design of the house, which was done in the Italian style popularised by Prince Albert.

Some 20 years later, local architect John Henry Williams enlarged it for the Mayor of Worcester, the Hon. Alfred Percy Allsopp, though he made sure the work was done in keeping with the original building.

A grand entrance drive and gate house were added, the gardens landscaped and a magnificent music hall and adjoining marble hall created.

The reception room, mostly Georgian in design, and the dark wood-panelled Jacobean-style dining room (used as a staff room in later years) reveal the sumptuousness of the accommodation. The crowning glory of the building was the family chapel which was based on the plan of an Italian Renaissance Church.

In 1933 it was purchased – after some reservations about its ornate decor – for the Sisters of St Marie Madeleine Postel, a Roman Catholic teaching order, which turned it into a convent school.