Houses: Stonegate

An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in City of York, Volume 5, Central. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1981.

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'Houses: Stonegate', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in City of York, Volume 5, Central( London, 1981), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/york/vol5/pp220-235 [accessed 9 December 2024].

'Houses: Stonegate', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in City of York, Volume 5, Central( London, 1981), British History Online, accessed December 9, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/york/vol5/pp220-235.

"Houses: Stonegate". An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in City of York, Volume 5, Central. (London, 1981), , British History Online. Web. 9 December 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/york/vol5/pp220-235.

Stonegate

Stonegate (Monuments 452–493)

Stonegate runs N.E. from St. Helen's Square to Petergate approximately on the line of the via praetoria of the Roman fortress. Its name, meaning 'stone-paved street', is first recorded in 1118–19. The upper part of the street lay in the Liberty of St. Peter and many properties belonged to the church or housed trades dependent on ecclesiastical patronage. Goldsmiths worked here from the 15th century and there is even earlier evidence for glass-painters near the church of St. Helen; excavation under the former City Garage in Blake Street has revealed debris from this craft of the late 15th century. Printers and bookshops are known in Stonegate from about 1500 and John Todd's library and bookshop flourished here (at No. 35 (488)) from 1762 to 1811. As the principal approach to the Minster, the street was used by processions of civic dignitaries from the Guildhall and for three of the stations of the Corpus Christi plays. Henry VII was greeted in 1486 by a pageant at the corner of Stonegate and Swinegail (Little Stonegate). Remains of a 12th-century stone house at the upper end of the street (469) and mediaeval buildings remaining, especially on the S.E. side, attest the long-standing importance of Stonegate. The sign of 'The Star' crossing the street, first erected in 1733, is a notable feature. Stonegate is much frequented by visitors to York and was consequently restricted to pedestrian use in 1974.

N.W. side

(452) House and Shop, No. 4 (Fig. 140), is a 17th-century timber-framed building of three storeys and attics at the front and two storeys with a semi-attic at the rear. The gabled front elevation has two jetties. Above a modern shop front, the framing is stuccoed; and the windows are all 18th-century. Both first and second floors have a single large front room, and in the second-floor room is a fireplace with late 17th or early 18th-century bolection-moulded surround. The back wing is narrower and contains the modern staircase with small rooms behind.

Fig. 140. (452) No. 4 Stonegate.

(453) House and Shop, No. 6, is a 17th-century timber-framed building of three storeys and attics at the front, and two storeys and attics at the rear. There are brick-walled cellars under the front part of the building, with arched coal cellars under the street, probably of 18th-century date. Above a shop front, the stuccoed gable of the front elevation rises in one plane, with a tripartite sash window on each floor, diminishing in size upwards. Both main floors have a room at the front one-and-a-half bays deep, a transverse staircase, a wide chimney-breast and a back room which it serves. Framing consists of posts supporting axial and transverse chamfered beams, vertical studs and straight diagonal braces.

(454) House and Shop, No. 8, of three storeys and attic, has walls of rendered timber framing and slated roofs. It was built in the early 17th century, on a narrow frontage, two bays deep and gabled to front and rear. In the second quarter of the 19th century, the second and attic-floor levels were lowered to allow more headroom in the attic; the front wall was rebuilt with a jetty on the first floor only, and refenestrated in a Gothic manner. There is a small 19th-century addition at the rear containing the staircase. Inside, some framing is visible on the second floor; this has thin, widely-spaced studs and straight braces, and on the first floor is an ovolo-moulded ceiling beam. There are no fittings earlier than the 19th century.

(455) House, No. 10, of three storeys and attic, is wholly of Victorian appearance but may contain an earlier timber-framed structure; the front elevation has two jetties and is notable for the facing of coloured tiles.

(456) House, Nos. 12, 14, of timber-framed construction, has an early 17th-century range, of three storeys and attic, on the street frontage and a two-storey wing of the early 14th century behind, forming an L-shaped plan; a later addition contains a mid or late 17th-century staircase, and there is a further extension of the 18th or 19th century. The whole has been considerably modernised.

The early 14th-century wing is 14½ ft. wide and may have originally been an open hall. One bay, about 8 ft. long, survives with the roof largely intact and there are fragments of a second bay. The first floor is supported on a later post, suggesting an insertion, and some framing is visible on the first floor, the gable-end wall having posts with enlarged heads and braces up to the tie-beam. The surviving intermediate truss has a cambered tie-beam from which arch-braces have probably been removed; above the tie-beam are straight raking struts supporting side-purlins and there was originally a crown-post. Rafters and collars, of square section, were halved and fixed with lap-joints, but the collars were reset at a higher level to provide headroom when an attic floor was inserted. Externally the wing is faced with later brickwork.

The early 17th-century range is of two bays and has upper floors jettied on the front; the main floor beams are of substantial scantling but common joists are relatively slight. The front wall is rendered and has sash windows, but during repairs in 1973 the framing was exposed revealing vertical studs only; there is no bracing visible elsewhere. The roof has a central truss of principals only, and a single butt-purlin on the rear slope; on the front slope there is a pair of valley rafters in each bay, indicating original gabled dormers. Some of the common rafters are of 14th-century origin. A timber newel stair has, on the second-floor landing, a short balustrade with mid or late 17th-century shaped splat balusters. The internal partitions and fittings are all 18th and 19th-century or modern.

(457) House and Shop, No. 16, framed and plastered, with a pantiled roof, was originally a small two-storey building and was heightened to three storeys in the early 19th century, after 1814. The front elevation, of one bay width, is jettied at the first floor, and has sashed windows. At the rear is an 18th or 19th-century addition in brick. Inside, there is an early 19th-century staircase with square balusters, and some other fittings of that date; on the first floor original cambered tie-beams can be seen on the side walls.

(458) House, Nos. 18, 20, was built c. 1740 by Theophilus Garencieres, and a large two-storeyed wing was added at the rear in the early 19th century; later the ground floor was converted to shops.

The house is of three storeys with attics, built in brick. The front, of two bays, has shop fronts to the ground floor, and at the first floor the left-hand window was replaced by a shallow bow window in the late 18th century. There are two sash windows to the second floor with flat arches of gauged brick. Over all is a stone-capped brick parapet above a four-course band, with shallow pilasters at the centre and ends.

Between the two front rooms, now shops, a central passage leads to the staircase hall at the rear. The staircase has balusters with alternate plain and twisted shafts and gadrooned knops, and a moulded handrail with matching dado rail. The round-arched window which formerly lit the half-landing has been modified to form an entrance to the extension at the rear. A secondary staircase rises through the full height of the house; it has a close string, square newels and turned balusters. The rear room on the ground floor is fully panelled, with raised moulded surrounds and sunk panels.

(459) Houses and Shops, Nos. 22, 24, of three storeys and cellars, are of timber-framed construction, but with a mid 18th-century front elevation in brick. They form a single building consisting of two parallel ranges, both of three bays though of unequal length, running back from the street and originally jettied and gabled to the front. It appears to be generally of early 17th-century date but there are some timber joints and other features not in accordance with the existing framing, and it must either have been built with reused timbers or be an earlier building greatly modified.

The front elevation is three bays wide, but only two windows retain 18th-century sashes; it has a late Victorian shop front, subsequently modernised, a modillioned timber eaves cornice, and twin hipped and pantiled roofs. The gabled rear elevation is partly of exposed framing and is otherwise plastered. A low two-storeyed framed wing behind No. 22 is a later addition, re-using earlier materials, and No. 24 has a long, narrow wing of 18th-century date to the rear. Inside, there are several walls with exposed framing, most of them in No. 24, and which consist of studs and thin, straight braces; the roof has clasped-purlins. No. 22 has a staircase with splat balusters (Fig. 11b) and some 17th-century panelling; on the ground floor is an early 19th-century fireplace with a cast-iron surround.

(460) Houses, Nos. 26, 28, were built c. 1797 for William Staveley as a pair, of two bays, single-fronted and of three storeys with uniform elevations to the street. Each house had a transverse staircase behind the front room and narrower rooms forming back wings behind the stairs, but they have been much altered for use as shops and offices, and the only features of note are two fireplaces with composition decoration on the first floor of No. 28. The decoration on that in the front room is very similar to some employed in No. 31 Stonegate (483), the house of John Staveley, carver and gilder, and the figures on the central block are identical to some in the first-floor front room of No. 31.

(461) House, No. 32, of two bays and three storeys in brick, was built in the early 19th century. It is one room deep with a staircase set transversely at the rear. The ground floor was converted to shop premises in the late 19th century and an extension built to the rear. The street elevation, in Flemish-bonded brickwork, has two sash windows to the first floor, with flat arches of gauged brick, flush moulded frames and stone sills. Two smaller windows above have had the sashes replaced by modern casements. There is a moulded and modillioned eaves cornice. Internally, the cantilevered staircase has simple cast-iron balusters with a mahogany handrail, stone treads to the two flights from the ground to first floor, and wooden treads above.

(462) House, No. 34, of three storeys and attics, is of brick with a modern tiled roof. It was built c. 1730 as a pair of houses, each with a central transverse staircase. In the 19th century they were converted to shops, and a wing was built at the rear; the upper floors of both houses were combined into a single property, one of the original staircases was removed, and many rooms were refitted.

The front elevation, of five bays, is rendered, with imitation ashlar lining, and has shop fronts, sashed windows, and cornice, all of the 19th century. The rear elevation is much altered, but on the gabled S.W. side elevation is a tall window for the original stair, now removed. Inside, on the first floor is a panelled room, with shelved niche adjoining the fireplace. There are few other original fittings except the staircase on the N.E. side, which has close strings, turned balusters with square knops, and panelled dado; the lower flights have been removed and the terminal scroll with clustered balusters reset on the first floor.

(463) House, No. 36, of four storeys, was built in the early 19th century. The front elevation, of white brick in Flemish bond, is two bays wide and has a modern shop front. Inside, the central transverse staircase has reused 18th-century balusters.

(464) House, No. 38, consists principally of a substantial brick-built block fronting the street but with two small timber-framed ranges at the rear. The main part was built in the early 18th century and is of some depth, with an internal staircase lit by a central lightwell. It is three-storeyed at the front but of only two storeys behind, both parts with attics. The front elevation is rendered and has 19th-century shop fronts and fenestration; the back elevation is of red brick and has large 19th-century windows. The interior has been much altered; the original staircase, now starting at first-floor level, has sturdy turned balusters and square newels with pendants, but most fittings are of the early 19th century or later. The framed ranges, at right angles to each other, connect the building to No. 40 behind; they are much altered, partly cased with 18th-century brick and have virtually no framing visible. In the cellar of the larger range is the base of a stone wall with two closely-spaced buttresses, one of which has a chamfered plinth; it must represent a fragment of a substantial building, perhaps of 14th-century date, sited about 70 ft. behind the street frontage and 3½ ft. below the existing ground level, which belonged to the prebend of Bilton.

(465) Ye Olde Starre Inne, No. 40, is situated behind No. 38 and has no street frontage; it is of two storeys and attics, partly timber-framed but partly of brick, and the roofs are covered with pantiles and plain tiles. The inn is said to have been in existence in the reign of Henry VIII (T. P. Cooper, The Old Inns and Inn Signs of York (1897), 24–5) and the core of the existing building is a two-bay range of 16th-century date; it has moulded ceiling beams on the ground floor, some framing is visible inside on the first floor and roof trusses have kerb-principals which formerly supported side-purlins. A second and slightly lower framed range adjoins the first at right angles and connects it with No. 38; it is of late 16th or early 17th-century date and is mostly rendered, though a little framing is exposed on the S.W. side. It contains a blocked fireplace with three-centred arch on the first floor. A new wing was built in the early 18th century; this is of red brick and includes a staircase with turned balusters, square newels and ramped handrails. Another wing, containing large rooms, was added in the late 19th century.

(466) House, No. 42, of three storeys and attics, is of brick with pantiled roofs. It was built c. 1720–30 to the common plan of central transverse stair and rooms front and back. The three-bay front elevation is of common brick with red brick dressings, and has a 19th-century shop front; the original deep cornice has been replaced by a smaller one of the early 19th century. The back elevation has twin small gables; all the windows are altered. The interior has been modernised and some earlier oak timbers have been exposed, all apparently reset. The top-lit staircase has close strings, and balusters with square knops. Formerly the property belonged to the prebend of Osbaldwick.

(467) House and Shops, Nos. 44, 46 (Fig. 141), of two and three storeys, partly with attics, are built of brick, with pantiled roofs, but contain elements of timber framing. The property was the prebendal house of Barmby. The existing complex consists of ranges around a small courtyard and has a predominantly mid 18th-century appearance. The range fronting the street was probably built in the 15th century as a framed building of three storeys, four bays long; a large chimney with diagonally-set stacks was added at the rear in the 17th century and the jettied upper floors were cut back and replaced by a new front wall of brick in the 18th century. There are cased beams on the ground and first floors, but the only framing now visible is on the second floor of No. 46, occupying the two N.E. bays, and is limited to posts, tie-beams and wall-plates, as all the wall studs have been removed. In the attic the original roof trusses have been cut away along the front, but the rear slope has a side-purlin supported by braced raking struts. A second 15th-century framed building stood about 30 ft. behind the front range; though all the original walls have been rebuilt in brick, the roof structure, with a span of 20 ft., survives inside the rear wing of No. 44. It is of two bays and now above a two-storey building, but may originally have covered a single-storey open hall. The crown-post truss at the N.E. end (Fig. 6g) supports centre and side-purlins, and the truss at the S.W. end, which could not be closely examined, is similar but without braces to the crownpost. The central truss has been removed, but all the rafters and collars remain.

Extensive alterations and additions were made in the mid 18th century to give three tenements, one of which occupied a new block at the rear, but this division has been modified by subsequent conversions. Modern building has completed the enclosure of the courtyard.

The five-bay front elevation is in Flemish bond with red brick dressings to the hung-sash windows and second-floor band. No. 46 has an early 19th-century shop front with shallow bow window and segmental fanlight with radiating glazing bars (Plate 157); the adjacent doorway has an oval fanlight. No. 44 has an 18th-century three-storeyed wing connecting the front range to the other mediaeval building at the rear; it has a side elevation to the courtyard with windows having semi-elliptical arches and a doorway leading directly to the transversely-placed staircase, which has close strings, turned balusters and ramped handrail. There are a number of contemporary fittings inside No. 44, of fairly simple character, and the first-floor front room has an early 19th-century chimney-piece with composition ornament. The rear room, within the 15th-century building, also has early 19th-century enriched fittings, and in the back wall is a converted Venetian window.

Inside No. 46, the staircase serving the front part is similar to that in No. 44, though the balusters differ slightly. The rear block, of three storeys, is now connected to the front range by a modern two-storey wing and is also joined to the back part of No. 44. It has an unusually spacious staircase, around an open well, with cut string below first-floor level and boldly ramped handrails.

Fig. 141. (467–469) Nos. 44–50 and Norman House, Stonegate.

(468) Houses, Nos. 48, 50 (Fig. 141), of plastered timber framing and with pantiled roofs, consist of a three-storeyed range on the street frontage, built in the late 15th or early 16th century, and a two-storeyed wing behind, extending as far as the Norman house (469), and which is in origin an open hall of the 14th or early 15th century though later very much altered.

The front range, two bays long, has the upper floors jettied out on the front elevation; on the ground floor are a pair of early 19th-century doorcases with arched fanlights but the shop windows are later; there are two canted bay windows on the first floor and on the second floor two sashed windows and a moulded timber eaves cornice. A little framing is visible inside on the second floor, including the heads of two posts of the rear wall and the lower part of the central roof truss which has braced raking struts presumably supporting side-purlins.

In the rear range, part of an original post is exposed on the first floor, having an enlarged head, and attached to it is a fragment of a substantial brace with a hollow chamfer; the proportions suggest it was part of an arch-braced collar-beam truss, which probably spanned about 20 ft. The wing appears to have been reconstructed as a two-storey structure soon after the front range was built and there is framing not properly integrated with the early work; little of it is directly visible so the exact form is not clear, but one roof truss has a sidepurlin supported by and braced to a raking strut.

There is a bolection-moulded fireplace of c. 1700 in the rear wing and throughout both parts of the building several fittings of the late 18th century.

(469) Norman House, ruin (Plate 89; Fig. 141), is situated behind Nos. 48, 50. It consists of the remains of two adjacent walls of a two-storey house of late 12th-century date, discovered in 1939 during the demolition of a later building within which they had been incorporated. Nothing is known of the site before 1376 by which time it belonged to the prebend of Ampleforth, one of several prebendal houses of York Minster which adjoined in the immediate locality (CPR, 1307–13, 431; 1374–77, 242, 474). The house was about 47 ft. back from the line of the street frontage and consisted of an undercroft and first-floor hall lit by windows in the S.W. wall. The major part was probably demolished by the 18th century at the latest. Though fragmentary, the remains are of great historical interest.

The walls can only be seen from what was originally the interior of the house, now a small open court, recently repaved; they are built of squared magnesian limestone with a diagonally-tooled finish, in courses 7–10 in. deep. The S.E. wall was almost certainly a gable-end and has an offset at about the level of the eaves of the side walls; it forms the end wall of the rear wing of Nos. 48, 50 and the masonry is very patchy, surrounded by much modern brick facing. On the first floor is a cupboard with timber lintel, rebate for a door, and grooves on each side for a shelf. The surviving part of the S.W. wall is 16 ft. long and includes one complete first-floor window (Plate 183; Fig. 142) and the reveal of a second. The wall has an offset of 4 in. to support the first floor, which must have been of timber, and above that level is 2 ft. 8 in. thick. The window has two arched lights divided by a shaft with moulded base and water-leaf capital. It was not glazed but is rebated internally for shutters, one hinge surviving on the N.W. side, and on the S.E. reveal is a large socket for a locking bar. The half-round rear-arch is formed of well-shaped voussoirs. Immediately to each side of the window the external face of the wall has a thin plaster finish. Continuing to the N.W. is a much thinner wall of later date, partly of brick but incorporating some reused stone from the Norman House. Excavations in 1939 showed that the original floor was 3½ ft. below the existing ground level and that there were traces of the foundations of three central piers or posts to support the first floor; the base of a corbelled-out garderobe shaft was also seen but is not now visible (YAYAS, Report 1951–52, 36–39).

Fig. 142. (469) Norman House, Stonegate. Window elevation and section.

(470) House, No. 52, a three-storey, timber-framed building of two bays, of 15th-century date, was part of the property belonging to the prebend of Ampleforth. The rendered first and second floors are both jettied. In the 19th century the pantiled roof was heightened and the front elevation modified, and a range at the rear was removed in 1964. Part of an ogee-headed doorway is visible in a through-passage. Fragments of the timber framing of the adjacent houses are visible in the party walls. The late 17th-century staircase, rising in two flights between floors, has a close string, moulded handrail, bulbous turned balusters and square newels with attached half-balusters. The lower two flights were removed in 1964.

(471) Houses, Nos. 54–60 (even), constitute a three-storey timber-framed range of four tenements, built probably in the early or mid 14th century, the framing having similarities with other early timber structures in the city, especially Lady Row in Goodramgate (222). The site was acquired by the Vicars Choral in 1278. In 1415 the 'site with shops built on it and chambers above at the corner of Stonegate opposite the entrance of the Minster' was devoted to the support of St. Andrew's chantry in the Minster, and accordingly came into lay hands in 1549 at the dissolution of the chantries; however, the Vicars Choral later regained control of the property. The range is seven bays long with a frontage of 80 ft. extending to the corner of High Petergate, the trusses being numbered from that end. It is certain that there were original partitions below the fifth and sixth trusses, and it is possible that originally each bay was a separate tenement. The existing divisions, of much later date, do not correspond exactly with the bays and partly overlap each other on the upper floors. In the 17th century, perhaps in 1646, the second floor and roof of the two N.E. bays (No. 60) were completely rebuilt; there have been lesser alterations at many dates and among later fittings there is a notable early 17th-century panelled room in No. 58.

The street elevations are rendered and both upper floors jettied out, though the rebuilt second floor of No. 60 has a lesser projection. The windows, of the 18th and 19th centuries, have hung or horizontally sliding sashes and there are four canted bays on the first floor; the diverse shop fronts are of the 19th century but No. 58 has a 17th-century battened door with contemporary ovolo-moulded architrave. At the E. angle are shaped corner-posts on ground and first floors supporting dragon-beams; the lower post has applied mouldings at the springing, inscribed: ANO: DO: 1646. The back elevation, also rendered, is not jettied and has several small additions in brick; the roofs are pantiled.

Framing can be seen inside only in a few places, notably in the partition wall below the fifth truss which forms the division between Nos. 56 and 58, and in the rear wall of No. 56. The posts have enlarged heads of angular shape, and there are straight or nearly straight braces both in the partition and the rear wall. Only the fifth and seventh original roof trusses survive; they have tall crown-posts without enlarged heads and short straight braces up from the slightly cambered tie-beams; the collar-purlin between these two trusses has mortices indicating the position of the crown-post and purlin-braces of the lost sixth truss. The rebuilt roof of No. 60 has claspedpurlins but many original 5 in. square rafters are reused. The early 17th-century oak panelling of the first-floor room of No. 58 has an ornately carved frieze of blind arches and pilasters (Plates 170, 197). On the first floor in No. 60 the ceiling has decorative plasterwork, probably of 1646, including arabesques on the beams, and on the second floor in the same house the larger room has contemporary plank-and-muntin panelling. Other fittings throughout the range are mostly of the 18th and 19th centuries.

S.E. side (Plate 125)

Fig. 143. (472) No. 3 Stonegate.

(472) House, No. 3 (Fig. 143), of three bays and three storeys with cellar and attic, was built in the second quarter of the 18th century on an irregular site. The ground floor of the front elevation has been rebuilt in modern times, after the removal of shop windows, and the doorway at the S.W. end is of early 19th-century date. Above, there are red brick dressings to the four course plat-band at first-floor level, to the five-course plat-band at second-floor level, and to the window openings and quoins. The three hung-sash windows on the first and second floors have flat arches of gauged brick, five courses deep and with simulated horizontal joints, stone sills, and 19th-century plate-glazing. The substantial timber eaves cornice may be original.

Inside, the plan is governed to a large extent by the proximity of St. Helen's church; to ensure at least one room of reasonable proportions on each floor, the staircase is set in the back S.E. corner of the house in a confined space. It rises to the second floor about a small rectangular well and has a close string, square newels and ramped handrail. The turned balusters have a bulb-shaped feature below the square knop and the newel at ground floor is formed by an enlarged version of the balusters. The staircase from second floor to attic is set in a more confined space because of the pitch of the roof, and has splat balusters with wavy outline. Other original fittings survive, including a stone fireplace with a shell motif on the key-block in the ground-floor front room. On the first floor, the front room has a plaster cornice with egg-and-dart enrichment and a fireplace with arabesque decoration on the frieze and a tablet with fruit and flower swags in the centre (Plate 179). Altered 1978.

(473) House and Shop, No. 5, of three storeys, was built in the early or mid 19th century. The front elevation, of three bays marked by pilaster strips, is rendered and has a later shop front. The interior has been altered.

(474) House and Shop, No. 9 (Plate 141; Fig. 144), of three storeys, with cellars and attics, has walls of brick and tiled roofs. It was built c. 1740–50, the form being partly dictated by previous arrangements, as it includes within the structure a staircase for the adjoining house, No, 13, and a passage on the ground floor leading from the street to No. 11 behind. In the early 19th century a new bow-fronted shop window and triple doorcases were added, all enriched with applied ornament. It is now occupied as offices, and some small internal alterations have been made. A columned portico, now inside No. 13, may have been taken from the front of this house.

The front elevation is of facing brick in Flemish bond and has five windows on each upper floor, all with flat gauged brick arches and double stone key-blocks. There is a stone band at the second-floor level and a large timber cornice with modillions and dentils. The side and rear elevations are of common brick; the surviving original windows on the rear have semi-elliptical arches, but part of this elevation has recently been obscured by a modern building against it. Inside, on the ground floor, some of the original walls have been altered; the two rooms to the S.W. side, now thrown into one, have fireplaces with original stone surrounds. The first and second floors each have two rooms at the front, with the staircase and a single room behind. The larger front room on the first floor is fully panelled and has enriched door and window architraves. On the second floor all rooms have original stone fireplace surrounds. The staircase has open strings with two turned balusters on each step, and a moulded handrail with matching dado rails on the walls; the attic flights have close strings.

Fig. 144. (474) No. 9 Stonegate.

(475) House, No. 11, of late 18th-century date, is of three storeys and basement, with an additional storey of mid-Victorian date. It is set back from Stonegate, behind Nos. 9 and 13, and is approached by a passage from the street leading to a small courtyard. It consists of a N.W.-S.E. range with an entrance hall projecting from the S.W. side. To S.W. of the hall a small block was added in the late 19th century. The doorway is round-headed with pediment above, and opens into a stair hall. The staircase has turned and moulded balusters with square knops, and a swept handrail. Some original doors and door frames survive, but much of the interior and a bay window at the rear belong to an early 19th-century renovation. The main ground-floor room has one fireplace of this date, and the room above has two. This room was converted in mid-Victorian times into a saloon occupying two storeys.

Fig. 145. (476) No. 13 Stonegate.

(476) House and Shop, No. 13 (Plate 125; Fig. 145), at the corner of Little Stonegate, of three storeys and attics, is timber-framed, plastered externally, and has pantiled roofs. There are three principal periods of construction. The earliest part, a three-bay range along the Stonegate frontage, was built in the 15th century, with jettied floors on two elevations, but the second floor was cut back, probably in the 18th century, and the first-floor external walls may have been altered, as the jetty is not of regular projection. The framing is not directly visible but cased posts, beams, and rails indicate the general arrangement. The roof has been rebuilt but one crown-post truss survives; this has cross-bracing and formerly supported centre and side-purlins. A two-bay range fronting Little Stonegate was built as a separate house in the late 15th or early 16th century. Originally of two storeys, a third storey with prominent jetty and twin gables was added in the 17th century. Some framing is visible inside on the first floor, including downward braces in the side and rear walls, and the original roof-line can be seen at the S.E. end. The two earlier houses formed an L-shaped plan and the angle between was filled in by a third range in the 16th or early 17th century. This is of two unequal bays and was probably built as a rear addition to the range which fronts onto Stonegate, as it has corresponding floor levels. Several posts with enlarged heads and one cambered tie-beam are visible, and a room on the first floor contains a dado of 'runthrough' panelling. At least some of the 15th-century building must date from the tenure of Thomas Doncaster, who obtained a lease of this property from the Archdeacon of Richmond in 1423 for 99 years, and was excused the rent for it, possibly in exchange for building there (YCA, Memo. Book B/Y, ff. 69v–70).

The whole complex was later much altered and in the early 19th century there were apparently three tenements, each with a separate staircase. The exterior has hung-sash and slidingsash windows and a moulded eaves cornice on the front range; on the ground floor are early 19th-century shop fronts and a carved ship's figurehead has been fixed to the massive corner-post, below the dragon-beam. There are a number of Georgian fittings internally and a mid 18th-century staircase actually within the fabric of the adjacent house, No. 9 Stonegate. A portico in the Roman Doric order with two fluted columns and full entablature is reset inside the ground floor.

(477) No. 15 (Plate 146), with a S.W. side elevation to Little Stonegate, incorporates two timber-framed buildings, probably of 15th-century date, both altered and cased in brick in the mid 18th century, probably by William Fleming, bricklayer, who was the tenant in 1747 (YCA, E93, f. 186) and converted a stable with a loft above into a dwelling-house. The property had previously been an inn called the King's Head (YCA, E94, f. 41).

The symmetrical front, of three storeys with attics, has a central doorway flanked by modern display windows of early 19th-century pattern. Above these a narrow band joins the first-floor window-sills, and there is a bold moulded and modillioned eaves cornice. The hung-sash windows have moulded surrounds, the middle window on the first floor having a pediment over it and an apron with balusters below. Internally some cased ceiling beams survive from the original structure, including a dragon-beam indicating that the front and side elevations were jettied. At the rear of this front range is a chimney-breast, added in the 17th century.

The back wing, of two storeys, was also rebuilt in the mid 18th century. The extreme S.E. end was added or rebuilt in the 19th century and a staircase in the angle between the two parts was built in the 19th century. In both parts of the house heavy original tie-beams remain, morticed for crown-posts, and in the back wing many of the original collared rafters survive.

(478) Mulberry Hall, Nos. 17, 19 (Plate 121), is a three-storey timber-framed house with tiled and pantiled roofs. It was built in about the mid 15th century as a two-storeyed range along the street frontage, and originally extended to the S.W. as far as Little Stonegate, but only a little framing now survives inside the adjoining house, No. 15, rebuilt in the 18th century. In the late 16th century, possibly in 1574, a third storey was added, the building increased in depth by several feet, and a two-storey wing built at the rear which included on the ground floor a room, probably a kitchen, with a large fireplace with timber bressummer. The whole building now forms a single shop but until recently was two tenements. A house of the same name, belonging to the prebend of North Newbald, was mentioned in 1372 and 1376 (YML, M2(5), ff. 79–80; CPR, 1374–77, 266–7) but this was on a different site, further to the N.E.

Three bays of the original two-storey timber-framed structure remain. The first floor is jettied on the front but the framing has been altered and downward braces removed. There is one original roof truss at the N.E. end, visible from inside No. 21; it has a crown-post supporting a collar-purlin and side-purlins carried on raking struts halved over the crown-post braces. The added second floor is also jettied and has three gables towards the street. The wall posts have short ogee braces and the framing in the gables has parallel raking members of a type commonly found in West Yorkshire. There are carved barge-boards and bressummer. Both upper floors have 16th and 17th-century oriel windows; the best preserved, on the first floor, has ovolo mouldings and formerly carried a date, 1574, now obliterated. On the back elevation the top storey is jettied and gabled in the middle bay, but the N.E. bay was rebuilt c. 1700 in brick, with a tumbled gable. The rear wing is in two bays, partly refaced with brick, and contains on the first floor a room fitted with early 17th-century run-through panelling and a carved chimney-piece with blind arcading on the overmantel. There is a staircase of c. 1700 with bulbous balusters, and a few minor fittings of that date and of the early 19th century.

(479) Houses, Nos. 21, 25 (Plate 125; Fig. 146), now a single shop, are 15th-century in origin and comprised four bays of a two-storeyed timber-framed range, roofed parallel to Stonegate. On the S.W. it adjoined a range of similar type and date (478) and probably continued one bay further to N.E. (see (481)). The upper storey is jettied and originally contained rooms open to the roof. In the 16th century the S.W. bay was heightened to provide attics, at the same time as Nos. 17, 19 (478), and the second bay from S.W. was heightened to provide attics at a different time. The two bays at the N.E. end have not been heightened but have had floors inserted and dormers added. There is no evidence for any timber-framed wings; a brick wing behind the north-easternmost bay is of 17th or 18th-century date, but those behind the other bays are additions of the second half of the 19th century. Restoration work in 1974 uncovered some features of the timber-framed building not previously visible.

Fig. 146. (479) Nos. 21, 25 Stonegate.

The front elevation is rendered and the ground floor filled with 19th-century and modern shop fronts; one bay is occupied by a wide passageway through to No. 23 Stonegate (480). The first-floor jetty projects only slightly beyond the shop fronts of the ground floor. The second floor of the S.W. bay is also jettied and this has a greater overhang. The fenestration of the upper floors is of 18th-century and later date. The original building was between 17 and 17½ ft. deep and the bays measured on average between 8½ and 9½ ft. wide. Much of the timber framing is no longer visible. Fragments of exposed framing show main posts with enlarged heads and widely-spaced studs and curved braces. On the second floor, the original framing of the roof trusses, with a crown-post carrying a collar-purlin in its enlarged head and with crossingbraces from the crown-post to the cambered tie-beam and from the tie-beam to the common rafters, remains at the N.E. end of the second bay from N.E.; the collar-purlin has been curtailed and the brace from the crown-post up to it has been removed. In the S.W. bay, the 16th-century heightening was formed by posts and studs of thin scantling. The front wall had braces from the bressummer up to the posts and was filled with narrow bricks on edge and plastered. At the S.W. end, an inserted chimney-stack cuts into the original roof truss. Behind the remains of this truss and with its tie-beam and apex at the same level, the N.E. truss of Monument (478) is exposed. This has almost identical framing, but with side-purlins. The floor-boards in the N.E. bay were about 1 ft. wide and formerly had a lime-ash floor on top of them.

(480) House, No. 23 (Plate 148; Fig. 147), occupies a large site set back from the street behind Nos. 21, 25. The timber-framed central block consists of two contiguous ranges, each of two storeys and attics. Though both ranges are of late 16th-century date, they are structurally independent of each other and evidence from the infilling of adjacent walls shows that the S.W. range was built first. The N.E. range is divided into three bays; the S.W. range, though the same length, into only two. On the former range is a rainwater head dated 1590 which may record the year of erection. Two narrower framed wings, each two bays long, project towards the N.W. and flank the entrance court leading from the street; they are of about the same date as the central block but the S.W. wing is clearly on the site of an earlier building of which the N.W. gable-end remains in situ. To the N.E. of the central block is a brick-built wing of mid 17th-century date which also projects further to the S.E. and has a strange three-storeyed tower-like termination. Until the 19th century this wing formed part of the adjacent house to the N.E., No. 2 Coffee Yard (485), and probably occupies the site of an original timber-framed cross-wing of that building from which an early 16th-century fireplace with a moulded bressummer survives on the ground floor. In the 18th century most of the S.E. side of the central block was refaced in brick, and there were internal alterations, including a new staircase. In the first half of the 19th century the W. wing was widened to accommodate a new staircase, probably in c. 1830–40 for Dr. William Charles Anderson, and in the late 19th century a three-storeyed wing was built to the S.W. of the central block, replacing an earlier building of unknown date; at the S.E. end of this wing is a small early 19th-century block, single-storeyed and containing only one room. The whole complex formed at least two tenements in the 18th century and has had medical connections since the early 19th century; in the latter part of that century it was occupied by Dr. Tempest Anderson and is now used as headquarters of the York Medical Society; there are also several residential apartments. The following description was made before alterations in 1976.

The N.W. wall of the Central Block is rendered and has late 19th-century framing on the gable; there is a pair of mid 18th-century six-panelled doors with rectangular fanlights over, and in front of them a late 19th-century stone porch; on the first floor are hung-sash windows and a battlemented rainwater head dated 1590 (Plate 181). On the N.E. wall is some exposed framing with straight bracing. The S.E. elevation, facing the garden, has two gables; in the right-hand half the first floor and the jettied gable are of rendered framing but the ground floor is of early 18th-century brick, probably representing the underbuilding of a jetty; the left-hand half is of mid 18th-century brick; the windows have 19th-century sashes and there is a door of the same date with half-round fanlight. The framing of the North Wing is rendered but mostly replaced by brick on the ground floor. The S.W. wall of the West Wing is framed and rendered and has a 17th-century timber mullioned and transomed window, eight lights wide (Plate 184); the mullions have ovolo mouldings and the window is not integrated with the framing, so is obviously a later addition. The 19th-century N.E. wall is of brick and has a round-arched staircase window. On the gable-end wall is the surviving truss of a demolished late mediaeval building. The East Wing is mostly in stretcher bond; the S.E. wall of the three-storeyed termination has plat-bands marking the second and attic floors, and the gable has tumbled brickwork and a dovecot on the apex. At the S.E. end of the late 19th-century South Wing is a single-storeyed early 19th-century extension; the sash windows in the N.E. wall are partly altered. The roofs of the whole complex are mostly pantiled but partly covered with plain tiles and slates.

Fig. 147. (480) No. 23 Stonegate.

Inside, the timber framing of the central block is nearly all cased, and the original planning is lost. The North Wing has stop-chamfered ceiling beams in the ground floor which is a single room only. The framing of the West Wing is also cased; between it and the central block is a large chimneybreast. The double entrance doors on the N.W. side lead into two entrance halls reflecting the 18th-century division of the house. In the N.E. hall is a staircase of c. 1750 (Plate 192); it has open strings up to the first floor but close strings in the continuation upward to the attics. The S.W. hall is larger and a passage leading from it through to the garden entrance has cased posts and braces on the side wall. The staircase from this hall to the first floor, sited in the W. wing, is of the second quarter of the 19th century, and consists of a straight flight of stone steps with an intermediate landing lit by a round-arched window; on the first floor, around the well, is an iron balustrade with emblems of Aesculapius (Plate 194) and the landing is spanned by arches springing from piers which encase posts of the original N.E. wall of the wing. On the first floor of the central block a room with early 17th-century panelling has been divided to provide a passage leading to the S. wing; the panelling, now partly rearranged, has a frieze of cabled fluting, and there is an overmantel (Plate 175) with fluted engaged columns above an early 18th-century bolection-moulded fireplace. There is more panelling of the same period on the ground floor of the W. wing, and on the first floor is a room with early 18th-century panelling, consisting of simple mouldings applied to vertical boarding. There are many 18th-century doors and moulded architraves and several early 19th-century chimney-pieces with composition ornament, including one in the E. wing with motifs used by Thomas Wolstenholme of Gillygate, and one in the S. wing extension with flanking Ionic columns. In the attics of the central block is a roof truss with kerb-principals and butt-purlins (Fig. 7), but the roof has been much rebuilt and was partly raised in the late 19th century. In the garden are various loose fragments of worked stone, some of mediaeval date.

(481) House, No. 27 (Plate 125), originally of two storeys, was built in the 15th century and heightened by the addition of a third storey in the 16th or early 17th century; it probably formed a continuation of the two-storeyed range to the S.W., Nos. 21, 25 (479). It has been modernised in recent years and few traces of either of the timber-framed building phases remain visible.

The front elevation is rendered and has a jetty to both first and second floors. Building operations in 1973 revealed timbers of very thin scantling on the second floor. The fenestration is 18th-century and later.

Inside, the only significant feature is a cambered tie-beam which remains in the N. wall of the first-floor front room and supports a later beam carrying the thin joists of the second floor. Peg-holes indicate that it was originally the tie-beam of a crown-post truss which had braces from tie-beam to crownpost and from the underside of the tie-beam to posts. The wing at the rear was also originally timber-framed but has been rebuilt.

(482) House and Shop, No. 29 (Plate 125), of brick with tiled roof, is a three-storey, single-fronted building of the second quarter of the 19th century. It has a conventional plan with staircase running parallel to the street, set between the front and back rooms; the original fittings include a reeded plaster cornice with floral stops and the staircase. An early water closet discovered on the second floor in 1972 is now in the Castle Museum.

(483) House, No. 31 (Plate 125; Fig. 148), an L-shaped building of three storeys and attics built partly over a passageway to Coffee Yard, dates from the late 17th century and was refronted in the late 18th century. It was known as Briggs' Coffee House in the 18th century, as the Saracen's Head Coffee House in 1815 and as the Saracen's Head Inn later in the 19th century. The building was owned but not occupied by John Staveley, carver and gilder (free 1776), at the end of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th, and the rich composition decoration in the first-floor front room and that on the shop front and on the side door must be ascribed to him and to his partner William Staveley (free 1781) (YCA, E95, f. 200b; E96, f. 21; E97, ff. 3–8; Deeds of No. 31).

The front elevation, of brick, has on the ground floor a passageway to Coffee Yard at the N.E. end and a shop front decorated with composition ornament. The two upper floors both have two hung-sash windows with flat arches of fine gauged bricks with simulated joints; the windows on the first floor have a continuous sill-band. The N.E. side elevation, of brick in random bond, has a variety of openings, some blocked, and a doorway contemporary with the shop front decorated with composition ornament. The S.E. end gable is rendered but formerly had a window with raised brick surround.

Inside, the plan affords a front and back room on each floor with the staircase in between rising to the attics in short irregular runs about a rectangular well. The late 17th-century staircase has been renewed between ground and first floors but above retains the original heavy close string, bulbous balusters, square newels with attached half-balusters and pendants and a heavy square moulded handrail; it is very similar to that in No. 33 to N.E. Other early fittings include a fireplace with bolection-moulded surround in the first-floor rear room and some doorcases. The first-floor front room has been completely refurbished paying respect to the rebuilt facade, and the fireplace (Plate 180), dado rail and skirting, the window and door architraves and the door panels (Plate 163) are all heavily enriched; decorative motifs include palmette, anthemion, satyrs' heads with vine garlands and fret ornament filled with floral paterae. The second-floor front room has a simpler fireplace of the same date.

Coffee Yard (Monuments 484–486; Plate 7; Fig. 148) first appears under that name on John Cossins' map of c. 1727, where it is shown as a widening out of a lane from Stonegate to Grape Lane and with a Printing House in it; however, there must have been an open area in what is now Coffee Yard at least from the second half of the 17th century, when No. 3 (486) was built facing onto the yard. The lane itself was first shown on Benedict Horsley's plan of York, surveyed in 1694 and published in 1697. Buildings in Coffee Yard and Nos. 27–35 Stonegate were the property of the prebend of Bramham which was held by the Priory of Nostell, and remains of the prebendal house survive in No. 2 Coffee Yard (485). At least part of the site, comprising three messuages, was acquired by the priory in the early 14th century; after the dissolution the priory's property was described as 'in Stonegate and Grape Lane'.

(484) House, No. 1 (Plate 7; Fig. 148), of late 17th-century date, is of two storeys with cellars and attics. The original staircase has been removed, and a flat above the ground floor is now served by an external staircase. A moulded brick string-course marks the division between the floors on all the elevations. On the two gable-ends, kneelers support a two-brick band beneath tumbled gables, and there are remains of a saw-tooth brick cornice on one long side. There are no original windows. On the N.E. elevation the string-course is stepped over the former staircase window, which has been narrowed by the insertion of brick blocking in the early 18th century (Plate 185). Transverse beams at the first floor divide the building into four bays. The collar trusses in the attics are modern, but incorporate old timber.

(485) House, No. 2 (Fig. 148), consists of two 15th-century timber-framed ranges at right angles, here described as A and B, which have been partly encased, rebuilt and added to in brick in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. They appear to have formed, respectively, the hall and chamber wings of the prebendal house of Bramham. To the S.W. there was probably also a service wing on the site now occupied by a mid 17th-century brick-built range which forms the N.E. wing of No. 23 Stonegate (480).

Range A, aligned N.E. to S.W., contains a former two-bay open hall, 22 ft. by 19 ft. Immediately to the S.W. of the hall, within the next bay, is the original through-passage, now a public lane. The hall has an inserted first floor and an attic floor was also inserted but has since been removed. The original side wall to the N.W. has been encased in brick and the one to the S.E. has been removed, except for the main posts. The central open truss (Plate 132) has a steeply cambered tie-beam, kerb-principals supporting side-purlins, and a deep collar into which a collar-purlin, now removed, was tenoned. Below the tie-beam, arch-braces have been removed; they were moulded, on the evidence of stubs remaining against a central boss cut on the solid with the tie-beam. The S.W. end wall of the hall has been rebuilt in brick on the ground floor; the first-floor framing (Plate 132) has downward bracing and the roof truss (Fig. 6i) has a braced crown-post and raking struts supporting side-purlins. The bay S.W. of the hall has been rebuilt in brick, except that the through-passage retains framing, including a blocked door, on the S.W. side, and the doorway at the N.W. end (Plate 200) has a four-centred arch. On the S.E. side of A is a brick-built two-storey block added in the mid 17th century. On the upper storey of this, the N.E. wall has a blocked three-light window with brick mullions (Plate 184) and the S.W. room has a fireplace with four-centred brick arch.

Range B is aligned N.W. to S.E. and forms a cross-wing to A. It is three-storeyed, predominantly of 18th and 19th-century brickwork with a pantiled roof, and contains basic elements of four bays of unjettied framing, but originally extended further to the N.W. The two N.W. bays of the surviving framing were originally two-storeyed and had a first-floor chamber with a central crown-post truss; arch-braces have been removed from below the cambered tie-beam and, though the crown-post survives, braces to each side of it have been lost. The main posts of the two S.E. bays extend upwards about 1 ft. above the tie-beam, where they have been sawn off, suggesting an original third storey, and there are indications that the lost bays further to the N.W. were also three-storeyed. Due to the greatly altered condition, the building is not now fully comprehensible. The existing top storey is 19th-century. In the wholly rebuilt N.W. end is some early 17th-century panelling, reset as a dado. In the angle between A and B is a small brick-built addition of c. 1800.

(486) House, No. 3 (Fig. 148), a small brick building of two storeys with cellar and attic, was built in the second half of the 17th century. It is entered from the passage leading into Coffee Yard and its S.E. elevation faces the yard (Plate 7). Fragments of timber framing are incorporated in but do not relate to the present building. The house has been refenestrated and the doorway is 19th-century, but an original raised brick window surround remains on the first floor of the S.E. elevation. The original internal arrangement is no longer clear but there appear to have been two heated rooms on each floor. Stop-chamfered ceiling beams, running N.E. to S.W., divide the building into three bays.

(487) House, No. 33 (Plate 125; Fig. 148), of three storeys and attics, consists of a timber-framed part on the street frontage, built in the early 17th century, and a brick-built block at the rear, contemporary with No. 31 (483), on the other side of Coffee Yard, which has almost identical interior fittings of the late 17th century.

The plastered front elevation has three jetties and late 19th-century detailing, including much carved woodwork and a spurious date 1489. It was illustrated in 1813 by Cave (Plate II), when it was covered with exuberant 17th-century pargetting. The brick-built rear block is partly stuccoed and has mostly modern windows. Inside, the ground-floor shop is modernised but has exposed beams and joists. The first-floor front room is lined with bolection-moulded panelling. The late 17th-century staircase, around a square well, has pulvinated close strings, bulbous balusters, and square newels with pendants and ball-finials; on the landings are two-panel doors with bolection-moulded architraves.

Fig. 148. (483–489) Nos. 31–35 Stonegate and 1–3 Coffee Yard.

(488) House, No. 35 (Plate 125; Fig. 148), of timber-framed construction, is partly two-storeyed, partly three-storeyed with attics. The front block was built in the 15th century as a three-storey range, two bays deep, with a gable-end towards the street; a separate two storey range behind, of two bays of unequal width, was built in the early 17th century, possibly as a workshop. The gap between the two ranges was filled with a brickbuilt link block in c. 1700, and at the same time a new staircase was inserted in the front range. There are interior fittings of the 17th-century period and later, and in the 19th century further additions were made at the rear. The house was the home and workshop of J. W. Knowles (1838–1931), stained-glass artist, and his son J. A. Knowles.

The front elevation has jettied first and second floors; the walls are rendered and all the details, including much carved woodwork and a notable shop front, are of the late 19th century, incorporating a spurious date 1682. The back wall of the front range is faced with brickwork of c. 1700 and has platbands at the floor levels; the framed range behind is rendered but one post is visible; the windows of the rear part of the house are mostly sashed, with one large late 19th-century bay window.

In the front range the framing is not exposed but indicated by cased posts and beams; the roof trusses have cambered tie-beams, crown-posts and cross-bracing supporting braced collar and side-purlins (Plate 131), though some members have been removed. The main room on the first floor has late 18th-century fittings and on the second floor the front room is lined with panelling, partly of the late 19th century but incorporating some of the early 17th century, including an overmantel of arched panels separated by enriched pilasters above a bolection-moulded fireplace. The staircase, of c. 1700, has turned balusters, moulded strings and handrails and substantial newels of rectangular section; door architraves on the landings are of the same date; the top flight has reset turned balusters of the early 17th century (Plate 189), perhaps contemporary with the inserted attic floor. In the entrance hall are a round-headed window with painted glass by William Peckitt (Plate 186; transferred to York City Art Gallery 1975) and a fanlight with a painted cock, probably by Henry Gyles. The framing of the rear wing, only partly visible, is entirely of vertical studs with no bracing in walls or roof trusses. On the ground floor is a room with early 18th-century bolection-moulded panelling and on the first floor one room with reset assorted early 17th-century panelling.

(489) No. 35A (Plate 125), of three storeys and attics in brick, was built in c. 1700. The ground floor has been gutted to form a modern shop but the original plan remains above. The front room, with three windows and a corner fireplace, occupies the full width of the house. A narrow wing behind contains a staircase and back room, also with a corner fireplace. The front rooms were refitted in the late 18th century. The staircase, placed transversely, has close strings, square newels and bulbous balusters. In the back wing is an original window with moulded wooden mullion and transom. Behind is a small extension of the early 19th century.

(490) Houses, Nos. 37, 39 (Plate 125), of three storeys with attics and cellars, are of brick with pantiled roofs. They were built in the third quarter of the 18th century as a range of three single-fronted dwellings but in the early 19th century the two S.W. houses were combined into one, now No. 37, with a large shop on the ground floor formed by the removal of internal walls and by a new extension at the rear. Further rear additions were made in the later 19th century.

The front elevation, of brick in Flemish bond, originally had ranges of six sashed windows on each upper floor, but on No. 39 the two on the first floor were replaced in the early 19th century by a single wide bow. The shop front of No. 37 (Plate 157) has a central doorway with arched fanlight, flanked by large bow windows. To the right is a contemporary separate doorway with fanlight and door-case with fluted shafts and fluted bow-fronted frieze. No. 39 has a late 19th-century shop front. Two of the houses have central transverse staircases, but in the third, which is of less depth, the stair is beside the back room. The balustrades, where original, have Chinese fret patterns. Most other fittings are of the early 19th century or later; the shop in No. 37 has slender fluted columns supporting the walls above and a domed roof-light in the rear extension.

(491) House, No. 43 (Plate 125), of three storeys, is of plastered timber framing and has a tiled roof; it was built in the late mediaeval period, as a range with gableend to the street and jettied first and second floors. The front elevation has a shop window with glazing bars, canted bays on each upper floor, block cornice and hipped roof, all of the late 18th century; the back elevation is faced with brick of about the same date. In the 18th century it formed part of a public house called The White Dog, and is shown on the 1852 OS map as The White Hart Inn. (Access refused).

(492) Houses, Nos. 45, 47 (Plate 125), a three-storeyed pair, each with a central top-lit staircase and a single room to front and rear, were built in the second quarter of the 18th century and described in 1747 as a 'messuage divided into two tenements, newly rebuilt by John Blanshard' (YCA, E93, f. 188). Both houses have been modified, particularly on the ground floor, but the original staircases remain from the first floor upwards and the first-floor saloon in No. 45 is a well-preserved example of a fully panelled room.

The four-bay front elevation, of red brick in Flemish bond, with a stone band at second-floor level, has 19th-century shop fronts to the ground floor and hung-sash windows with flat arches of gauged brickwork and stone double key-blocks above; the original sashes survive on the second floor. The rear elevation, also of brick, has plat-bands at first and second-floor levels, some original openings with segmental arches of common bricks and a corbelled brick cornice.

Inside, the original staircases rise about open wells; they have open strings, one twisted and one plain baluster to each tread, and substantial ramped handrails. The attic flights have close strings; that in No. 45 has plain balusters similar to those in the lower flights and that in No. 47 has more elaborate ones. Both houses retain original fireplaces and doorways. On the first floor of No. 45 is a fully panelled room with plain dado, moulded rail with Vitruvian scroll ornament and single-height fielded panels above. The fireplace (Plate 180) has a stone surround with fielded panels and shell motif on the key-block; the enriched dentil cornice is an addition. The door architraves are enriched with egg-and-flower motifs. On the first-floor landing of No. 47 some 19th-century painted glass is set into a door.

(493) House and Shop, No. 49 (Fig. 149), of three storeys and attics, was built in the early 17th century as a four-bay timber-framed range running back from the street and has an 18th-century brick addition at the rear housing the staircase. The front elevation was remodelled in the early 19th century with brick facing supported on the original first-floor jetty. The upper floors and attics each comprise a front room, back room and passage to the stairs. The 18th-century staircase has a moulded close string, turned balusters, ramped handrail and square newels with attached half-balusters. Beams on the first floor are decorated in plaster with fruit and floral scrolls. The roof trusses consist of sole-plates and kerb-principals supporting collars and side-purlins (Fig. 7v).