The Convent of St Laurence

The Anglican order of the Sisters of St Laurence was founded in Norwich in 1874. In 1876, Edward Hillyard came from St Laurence’s Church in Norwich to be the vicar of Christ Church in Belper. Within a year, the sisters also moved to Belper, and the convent built 1882-85 at a cost of £12,000. The land was purchased from the Strutt family.

The building included a chapel containing several stained-glass windows and an organ in the west end. The sisters were engaged in nursing and parochial visiting. In the 1990s more time was given to retreat work after government legislation brought an end to residential care for the sick and elderly, known to the sisters as ‘the treasures’.

In 2001 the sisters moved to a new purpose-built convent in Southwell, Nottinghamshire. The convent building was converted into flats, and houses built in the extensive grounds, in 2004.