Skip to content

Nuns put home up for sale with £3m price tag

Hunters Estate Agents A brick-built building from the 1800s. It has white-crossed window frames and has a tree in an island-setting in the middle.Hunters Estate Agents
The Carmel of the Holy Spirit in Sheffield has been home to some of the nuns for more than 60 years

A monastery which has been home to an order of nuns for more than a century has been put up for sale with an asking price of £3m.

The Carmel of the Holy Spirit, near Sheffield, has dozens of bedrooms and sprawls over more than 21,500 sq ft (2,000 sq m).

The decision to sell came as the nine remaining nuns were faced with maintaining the 28-bedroom Victorian property which costs £30,000 a year to heat.

The nuns who live there hope the site could be sold to another religious organisation but the estate agent in charge of the sale said it could also be turned into a leisure venue such as a hotel or holiday camp.

Hunters Estate Agents The building is set in 18 acres of green land. Bushes and trees are either side and there is a path leading to the back. In the distance behind is open land.Hunters Estate Agents
The building was gifted to the nuns by the Duke of Norfolk in 1910

The building, known locally as Kirk Edge Convent, sits in 18 acres and is located outside of Sheffield near to the village of Bradfield, close to the Peak District National Park.

The agent in charge of selling the building, Stephen Goff, said it was in a “highly desirable location”.

He said he expected it to sell for a figure close to the £3m mark.

"There isn't another one to go and buy and it's got such a spread of potential.

"What stands out for me is the sheer size and beauty of the stonework and original house; such beautiful stone detail, it's really something."

Hunters Estate Agents Inside one of the rooms. It has cream walls and brown wooden beams across a white ceiling. In the middle of the room is a stand with a microphone and what looks like an altar at the front with individual prayer stools down the side. At the back of the room are two large wooden doors with a cross on the top.Hunters Estate Agents
The estate agent selling said it needed a lot of modernising

The building, constructed in the 1800s, was originally planned as an orphanage but later became an industrial school for girls.

It was given to the religious order in 1910 by the Duke of Norfolk, whose sister was a Carmelite nun.

The sisters have lived there ever since and because the Carmelites are a closed order - meaning the nuns are strictly separated from the outside world to live a contemplative life of prayer - not much has been modernised.

"It's quite basic but there is a lot of it," Mr Goff said.

"The Carmelites' main drive is for another religious organisation to want it for fair value - that's their wish and I am in communication with a few."

However, he said he had also received interest from developers and a leisure organisation.

"We're just gathering interest and finance ability at the moment though before people come to have a look round."

Hunters Estate Agents A corridor in a monastery with three benches. There is original brick stonework on the right-hand side and newer brickwork to the left. There are three lots of arched windows and black beams across the ceiling.Hunters Estate Agents
The original stonework is one of the standout features, Mr Goff said

The Association of British Carmels said the remaining nuns would be relocated to one of its other Carmels in the UK.

The order's president said it was a "difficult time for the sisters, who are busy preparing to leave".

Mr Goff said he hoped they would be settled in more modern buildings.

"It's emotional but they understand why it's happening - it's due to their age and the small number who live there.

"They do all the cooking and cleaning so with only a few of them left, it's a lot of work."

Any proceeds from the sale would be invested in the order's other properties.

Hunters Estate Agents Rows of wooden benches sit either side of a chapel with an aisle down the middle. At the end is a large wooden door underneath three large-pained glass window framesHunters Estate Agents
The remaining nuns will be relocated to another Carmel

Mr Goff said he had met the nine remaining nuns a number of times.

"They're all lovely with a witty sense of humour so meetings with them are great," he said.

"They're open to explaining about the Carmelites so it's an education for me too."

He said each of the nuns had been given digital and hard copies of professional photos of the monastery.

"It was their home after all," he added.

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.

More on this story