The Cloisters (Letchworth)

The Cloisters in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire in the UK was built in 1905 as an open-air school dedicated to Psychology and where students were taught skills from the Arts and Crafts movement.

Lawrence decided to build a centre dedicated as a school of thought from which adults could go out and effect social change.

It became the base for the Alpha Union set up by John Bruce Wallace of the Brotherhood Church, who organised summer schools and residential courses there.

On one occasion she brought The London Concert Orchestra, made up of 40 unemployed musicians, to play at the Cloisters Garth.

By 1948 Miss Lawrence found it increasingly difficult to maintain the building and to repair the damage caused by the Army.

Eventually, she offered it to the local Freemasons who accepted it, turning it into the North Hertfordshire Masonic Centre.

[3] Bar and kitchen staff and others in the building late at night have experienced hearing the voice of a woman calling out in greeting leading to the theory that it is haunted by its founder, Miss Annie Lawrence.

[10] Although structurally sound, in October 2013 the building was put on English Heritage's 'At Risk Register' owing mainly to the poor condition of its roof tiles which have allowed water to cause damage.