Convent Arson
KENT BARKER
The future of the former Convent of Holy Child Jesus in St Leonards is in serious doubt following a fire which destroyed a large area of buildings.
The blaze is being treated as arson and Police said they had arrested two boys aged 13 and 14 on suspicion of deliberately starting the fire.
A total of eight fire appliances fought the flames after calls to the emergency services around 5.00 pm on Wednesday 9 July. Firefighters, who had come from as far away as Eastbourne and Heathfield, remained on the scene overnight to continue monitoring and damping down hotspots.
Roads in the area were closed and residents advised to shut doors and windows because of billowing smoke. The fire service said they were seeking specialist advice from the UK Health Security Agency due to ash on cars and buildings following the fire.
The Convent of Holy Child Jesus has been in the centre of a longstanding row over responsibility for securing the empty site and preventing vandalism. Less than a month before the fire, Hastings Borough council threatened to take enforcement action against the owners of the buildings. The move followed numerous incidents of trespass and vandalism. One video posted on social media showed a man destroying a window frame in the curtilage of a listed building with a hammer. Photos collected by the pressure group Save The Convent demonstrated widespread damage in numerous rooms.
After the convent nuns relocated to Mayfield in the 1970s the site was operated as a summer language school until it was sold to private investors. As reported in the last issue of HIP, the registered owners of the 15-acre estate are DKSS Holdings Limited, who paid £3.9 million for it in 2021. Company documents show that they borrowed nearly the entire sum from a Luxembourg-registered company Creo 12. The accrued interest on the loan rose to more £1m before the lender appointed a firm of receivers, Kroll Advisory Ltd, to attempt to recover their money. Hastings Borough Council (HBC) said they had repeatedly tried but failed to engage the owners to secure the site and limit damage to what they termed “this important heritage site that includes a Grade 2* listed chapel”.
However, within weeks of the deputy leader of HBC, Julia Hilton, threatening enforcement action, a significant portion of the buildings appear to have been deliberately destroyed by the fire.
Hastings MP Helena Dollimore called for a full investigation of the circumstances of the fire. She said it was “infuriating that this has happened after so many of us have repeatedly warned the site is not secure and urged the site manager and the local council to do all in their power to protect it.”
HBC reiterated that the former convent site is privately owned and is not owned or managed by the Council. “Responsibility for securing the site and maintaining the buildings rests with the owners. The council will carry on pursuing all action available to us to ensure the owner fulfils their responsibilities”.
It remains unclear, however, as to exactly who such action would be taken against. DKSS Holdings appear to be technically insolvent, their creditor is a foreign company not named as an owner by the Land Registry and the receivers Kroll deny financial responsibility saying the ‘lender’, ie Creo 12, would be required to ‘fund any necessary works’.
The community group Save the Convent told HIP they were ‘appalled’ by the fire and that the Grade 2* listed building – the Pugin Chapel which seems to have survived intact – needs urgent protection. They reiterated that they wanted to find a community-based solution “We are eager to work with the council on restoring the building and creating a community village space, with co-op housing, community arts centre, community gardens, museum, community cafe and micro business space, all of which are ideally suited to this beautiful site.” However they have not said if they have any potential backers to finance their scheme.
Thus the immediate future of the damaged buildings remains unclear. It is not known whether they were insured nor whether any insurance company would pay up, given the longstanding problems with lax security as well as the allegations of arson against two minors. Some observers believe that the most likely outcome will now inevitably be a heavily discounted ‘fire sale’ to a property developer who will put forward a scheme for market housing.
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I think people want to see justice being served. Everyone who trespassed ever in the past should be prosecuted. And if the two boys are prosecuted for arson then people are saying they want to see them get a lot more than a slap on the wrists.