Historic nunnery to be turned into charity hotel

A 153-year-old building in Oldham once home to nuns could given a new lease of life as a charity-owned hotel.

Werneth Grange, off Manchester Road, used to house the Sisters of Mercy convent and a private school. 

Coptic Christian charity St Mark Universal Care, which has owned the Grade II-listed building since 2019, is giving the place a revamp. 

New plans submitted to Oldham council would see the first and second floors transformed into hotel accommodation. The rooms will only be available for group bookings, according to Ashley Williams, CEO of the charity. 

He said he expects other charities, youth groups and businesses to rent rooms for retreats and conferences. Fees will go towards running the charity, said Williams. 

Walls splitting the upstairs into ‘pokey’ convent chambers will be knocked down to restore the original room divisions as they were when built for local cotton tycoon Joseph Lees in 1871. 

An outside extension known as the ‘infirmary’ used to house the elderly religious Sisters and will now become the charity’s offices. The application also seeks permission for some of these rooms to be used for ‘medical’ and ‘healthcare’ purposes. 

The charity, which supplies medical equipment to countries in the Middle East, is planning to rent some of the spaces to private medical consultants. Part of the outbuildings will also be renovated into a dwelling house. 

The plans come alongside renovations already completed on the gothic structure. The charity has restored the library and dining rooms on the ground floor, which are now being used for a weekly youth group and conferences. 

Williams told the LDRS that parts of the complex will remain open to the public. A cafe pod is currently being relocated to the Grange’s front lawn and there is a ‘secret playground’ tucked into the back of the garden that families are free to use. 

The CEO also plans to open a public gallery and keep visitation hours so curious locals can see the building from the inside. 

This may come as a relief to locals to the area, who bandied together in 2018 as the ‘Save the Grange’ group after the six remaining nuns of the home decided to move away and sell the building. Nearby residents were concerned the site would be developed into luxury flats or fall into disrepair. 

The historic Grange is just a mile from Oldham Town Centre with easy access to the M60 and public transport. To accommodate for increased parking at the hotel, the developers have also applied to extend the Grange’s car park.