History adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_House.
Dee House was built in about 1730 as a town house for John Comberbach, a former mayor of Chester.
It continued in use as a private residence until about 1850, when it was sold to the Church of England.
In 1854 it passed to the Faithful Companions of Jesus, a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church, who used it as a convent school.
They added a wing to the east which incorporated in its ground floor a chapel designed by Edmund Kirby (a Liverpool architect who specialised in churches).
The chapel is in Gothic Revival style, in contrast to the central portion of the building in Georgian style.
A west wing in Neo-Georgian style was added in about 1900 (the right hand part with four windows).
In 1925 the building was taken over by the Ursulines, another religious institute.
In the early 1970s the convent closed and the building was used as offices by British Telecom. They vacated the building in the early 1990s and it has been empty since.
This is one of the most obvious bits of dereliction in Chester, overlooking the Roman amphitheatre.
Although it doesn’t seem too bad from the outside, once inside, parts of the older sections turned out to be in dreadful shape, with bulging crooked walls and ceilings held up by internal scaffolding.
Nevertheless, although the place has had many uses over the years, there are still quite a few original features left.
These are detailed at great length in a Historic England report from 2005/6, which I wish I had found before I went in.
Pictures go from the ground floor up - there is a partial basement, but not much of interest down there.
Entrance hall fanlight and oddly serpentine main hall stairs.
A drawing room - there is apparently some old painted-on imitation panelling in here although I didn’t notice it at the time.
Two areas of dereliction.
One of the modernised ground floor office rooms in another extension to the right of the main building.
Views of the chapel from a doorway in a partition which has been built across the middle.
What the chapel originally looked like.
Up to the first floor and some of the scaffolding.
More office-type rooms.
A first floor bedroom - much of the woodwork, if not the wallpaper, is original.
Other wallpapers from various locations.
The room above the chapel, originally a classroom, but used as an office by BT.
Some bedrooms on the top floor.
The third floor of the chapel extension, which was originally a dormitory.
The building is owned by the council and there is a long-running debate over whether it should be de-listed and demolished or renovated.
Dee House was built in about 1730 as a town house for John Comberbach, a former mayor of Chester.
It continued in use as a private residence until about 1850, when it was sold to the Church of England.
In 1854 it passed to the Faithful Companions of Jesus, a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church, who used it as a convent school.
They added a wing to the east which incorporated in its ground floor a chapel designed by Edmund Kirby (a Liverpool architect who specialised in churches).
The chapel is in Gothic Revival style, in contrast to the central portion of the building in Georgian style.
A west wing in Neo-Georgian style was added in about 1900 (the right hand part with four windows).
In 1925 the building was taken over by the Ursulines, another religious institute.
In the early 1970s the convent closed and the building was used as offices by British Telecom. They vacated the building in the early 1990s and it has been empty since.
This is one of the most obvious bits of dereliction in Chester, overlooking the Roman amphitheatre.
Although it doesn’t seem too bad from the outside, once inside, parts of the older sections turned out to be in dreadful shape, with bulging crooked walls and ceilings held up by internal scaffolding.
Nevertheless, although the place has had many uses over the years, there are still quite a few original features left.
These are detailed at great length in a Historic England report from 2005/6, which I wish I had found before I went in.
Pictures go from the ground floor up - there is a partial basement, but not much of interest down there.
Entrance hall fanlight and oddly serpentine main hall stairs.
A drawing room - there is apparently some old painted-on imitation panelling in here although I didn’t notice it at the time.
Two areas of dereliction.
One of the modernised ground floor office rooms in another extension to the right of the main building.
Views of the chapel from a doorway in a partition which has been built across the middle.
What the chapel originally looked like.
Up to the first floor and some of the scaffolding.
More office-type rooms.
A first floor bedroom - much of the woodwork, if not the wallpaper, is original.
Other wallpapers from various locations.
The room above the chapel, originally a classroom, but used as an office by BT.
Some bedrooms on the top floor.
The third floor of the chapel extension, which was originally a dormitory.
The building is owned by the council and there is a long-running debate over whether it should be de-listed and demolished or renovated.
