As expected, Catholic diocese buys former Magdalen College in Warner

The Diocese of Manchester has completed the purchase of the former Magdalen College in Warner, it announced Thursday.

The diocese announced in September that it had reached an agreement to buy 135 acres of land and several buildings that were part of the college, which was always associated with the Catholic church. The sale means the property will not pay property taxes to Warner.

“Along with permanent housing for a recognized community of women living in religious life, the campus will provide opportunities for Masses and prayer services, spiritual retreats, Catholic school events, vocations camps and conferences,” the diocese said in its statement. 

Magdalen was founded by three lay members of the Catholic church in 1973 and operated out of a hotel in Bedford until 1991, when it relocated to its campus at the base of Mount Kearsarge. It closed in May due to declining enrollment coupled with a looming loan payment. The college never had more than 100 students and weathered a series of turbulent periods, capped off by a mass resignation of the Board of Trustees in 2020.

When the college closed, the land and property went to the Catholic Orders of Foresters, an insurance company to which the college owed money. 

Some in Warner had hoped the property would be used for more secular purposes such as senior housing.