IT’S not every day that the chance turns up to buy a school on the fringe of a World Heritage City. Especially one that was once a grand family home set in 11 acres of parkland, meadow, garden and hillside grounds.
The building that houses Cranwells, a special school a couple of miles from Bath that was previously known as Summerfield Special School, is being sold and the school is moving to a purpose-built site three miles away. After 35 years of children tearing up and down the imposing staircase and along the grand corridors, the new owner will need to spend a huge sum to bring the building up to scratch.
The present planning consent is for a school only, so any new owner will need to seek permission if he or she wants to restore the Grade II listed house and its estate to their former glory, to create a company head office or a country hotel, or even to try to develop some or all of the site.
Cranwells, which was built in 1852, bears a striking resemblance to Widcombe Manor, the 17th-century mansion on the other side of the city. That should be no surprise because Widcombe’s well-known frontage was added in 1840 by James Wilson, who also built Cranwells. The house was built for Jerom Murch, a Unitarian minister who came to Bath in 1833 from Honiton in Devon. He built up a vibrant congregation at Trim Street Chapel in the city centre. A clergyman’s £100-a-year stipend — even then — would not stretch to such a grand scheme as Cranwells but fortunately his wife, Anne Meadows Taylor, was an heiress from Diss, Norfolk, and her money enabled Murch to employ four servants as well as to build the large house.
Cranwell was subsequently owned by a Welsh colliery owner, the Pitman family (of shorthand fame) and a local tobacconist; in 1961 it became a school of art and then in 1972 Summerfield Special School moved in.
Advertisement
Behind the shell of the grand house there are all the school trappings: fire doors, whiteboards and child-height lavatories; fireplaces that have been boarded up and cornices that have been patched; walls that have been erected and numerous fire alarms fitted.
Cranwells is on the edge of Weston, once a village but now a popular commuter suburb to the west of Bath. The house is approached by a long, winding uphill driveway through the grounds. Behind the main house are buildings that were a coach house, stables and outhouses. Today a rather forlorn gymnasium and a couple of classrooms sit waiting to be put out of their misery, awaiting a new owner with the vision to rekindle the splendour of Cranwells.
TIM BULLAMORE
The house is for sale for a guide price of £5 million. Offers should be made by December 19 to Cluttons: 01225 469511