Endsleigh Park is a property and site steeped in history. The Italianate Villa of grey brick with central tower designed by architects Smith & Broderick was founded in 1901 by Catherine McAuley as the Hull home of the Sisters of Mercy. In January 1857, five Irish Roman Catholic sisters arrived in the city in response to a request from the Parish Priest of St Charles to take charge of the education of Catholic children. Until this time, no religious order of women had settled in Hull and there had never been a convent. The Sisters were instrumental in founding the Catholic education infrastructure of Hull, including the teacher training college.
In 1905, the site was expanded as a training college for women teachers with only 16 students but over the years further buildings were added and the Endsleigh College grew into an extensive complex dedicated to training and Catholic education.
Endsleigh Park miraculously survived both world wars largely unscathed when Hull was the most severely damaged British city during the Second World War, with 95 percent of houses damaged. By 1960, the college was extended to accommodate over 650 students. The college has trained thousands of students over seven decades.
By 1983, the institute took the decision to use the Endsleigh Convent as a pastoral retreat, running a series of days of recollection and residential conferences as a special place for reflection, prayer, spiritual direction and counselling.
The sisters lived on site until 1995 after which Endsleigh Park was run by the nuns as a venue for prayer days, weddings, funerals, conferences and Bed and Breakfast.
Endsleigh Park had been disused and abandoned since 2015 and in 2018 it was brought back to life in a huge renovation project transforming the buildings to their former glory, preserving the stunning stained glass windows, Victorian architecture and former Chapel, fusing together new and old to create modern living spaces that haven’t forgotten their past.