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Summary

St Mary's Catholic School, Buckfast is centrally located in the village of Buckfast and was built in 1893. St. Mary's Convent was added in the earlier part of the 20th century.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX76NW/210

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• SCHOOL (Built, XIX to XX - 1893 AD to 2000 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

'School' indicated on the Ordnance Survey (1904-1906) historic mapping. Not marked on the First Edition (1880s) historic mapping.

Ordnance Survey, 1930 - 1939, Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV336668.

St. Mary's Convent shown to the west of the School. Comparison with the 1904-1906 map shows this to have been added in the earlier part of the 20th century.

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

Site of the original school digitised against the modern mapping. The school is now adjoined by St Mary's Convent to the south-west.

Unknown, 2011, St. Mary's Catholic Primary School, Buckfast (Website). SDV347104.

St. Mary's Catholic Primary School is said to be in an unusual and unique position. 'Centrally situated' in the village of Buckfast, the Catholic school is the property of Buckfast Abbey. The original building was erected in 1893 and is located approximately 500 metres from the Abbey.

Steinmetzer, M., 2014, Archaeological monitoring and recording at St Mary’s Primary School, Buckfast (Report - Watching Brief). SDV356355.

No deposits, features or dating evidence indicative of archaeological activity was found. The lack of pottery and other finds from the site, despite examination of spoil heaps, further indicates that the site is archaeologically sterile.

Brown, S., July 2013, St. Mary's Primary School, Buckfast, Devon. Archaeological Watching Brief 2012-2013 (Report - Watching Brief). SDV358143.

The school dates from 1893 and the adjacent convent building to 1911. The convent had an extension added in the 1960's.

Gent, T. + Manning, P., Nov 2011, Archaeological Assessment of St. Mary's School and St. Mary's Convent, Buckfast, Devon (Report - Assessment). SDV351589.

St. Mary's School is situated close to the south gate of the present Buckfast Abbey in an area that has been identified as the outer court or precinct of the medieval abbey. This would have contained agricultural and industrial buildings as well as open areas of pasture and meadow. Excavations to the north of the school suggest that this area was undeveloped agricultural land. The site has been identitied as a parcel of land called The Strowle referred to in a lease of 1803 as having been converted to an orchard for many years. It is recorded as an orchard (plot 1227) on the 1843 Tithe Map.
The Roman Catholic school was built on the eastern part of the site in 1893 and is shown on the 1905 Ordnance Survey map as an L-shaped building with small adjoining structures to the north and west and two small structures to the south alongside the western boundary. The main building appears unchanged on the 1955 Ordnance Survey map, although one of of the small adjoining structures has gone and there are new structures against the north wall and St. Mary's Convent is also now shown to the west, together with small structures against the east (dividing wall) and north walls.
The north, south and west boundary walls to the convent grounds are of single phase construction which on the basis of map evidence took place between 1843 and 1887. The eastern wall is recent. A photo of circa 1930 shows a gateway in the north-east corner and no remains of its blocked remains are evident.
A small area of rubble stone build underlying the northern section of the boundary wall may represent the remains of an earlier structure although it could be no more than a wide section of footings.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6185 - Archaeological Assessment of St. Mary's School and St. Mary's Convent, Buckfast (Ref: Project No. 1029)
• EDV6422 - Archaeological monitoring and recording at St Mary’s Primary School, Buckfast, (Ref: OA1152)
• EDV6726 - Archaeological Watching Brief at St. Mary's Primary School, Buckfast

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