York Historic Environment Record

YORK SE6051NW CASTLEGATE 1112-1/28/142 (South West side) 14/06/54 No.26 Castlegate House and attached railings GV I Town house, and railings attached to steps at front and rear; now Masonic Lodge. 1762-63; altered, and Masonic Temple extension added at side, c1920. House by John Carr for Peter Johnson, Recorder of York; Masonic Temple by Ward and Leckenby. MATERIALS: house front of orange-brown brick in Flemish bond on moulded stone plinth, with arches of orange gauged brick; painted stone portico and dressings. Plinth at rear of rendered brick, and staircase window of painted stone. Doric cornice of timber returns on all sides of house beneath shallow hipped roof of slate with brick stacks. Railings of wrought-iron. Central entrance hall plan to house: temple rectangular with apsidal end. EXTERIOR: basement and 3 storeys; 5-bay front. Basement openings to right are unequal 9-pane sash windows with painted stone sills; to left, one shuttered window, and at left end fielded panel door beneath 6-pane overlight. On ground floor, stone steps lead to pedimented Doric porch with fluted frieze and cornice: door of 6 raised and fielded panels beneath radial fanlight in round-arched architrave on pilasters with impost band. Flanking windows, and first floor windows, are 12-pane sashes with flat arches, over blind balustraded aprons: raised band and sill band on both floors. First floor windows are recessed beneath round-arched arcade on moulded impost band. Second floor windows are squat 6-pane sashes with moulded sills on brackets. Rear: basement and 3 storeys; 3-bay front, outer bays canted and rising to full-height beneath half-hipped roofs. Windows in outer bays are 3-light sashes, 12-paned on all floors except the second which has squat 6-pane sashes. In centre bay, basement window is semicircular. On ground floor, flight of brick and stone steps over basement area leads to half-glazed and panelled door in architrave with pulvinated frieze and moulded cornice. Above is Doric order Venetian staircase window recessed beneath semicircular brick arch. All other windows have flat arches of gauged brick and basement and second floor windows have painted stone sills. Raised bands and sill bands on ground and first floors, returned on centre bay of ground floor. In re-entrant angle at left of centre bay is ornate rainwater head, dated 1763, with fallpipe on rosette clamps. Masonic Temple has no external openings. INTERIOR: of house: basement: cellars at front are vaulted: one has ventilated door of fielded panels, one fitted with stone slab shelves. Rear room to left retains kitchen fireplace without fittings, and elliptical bread oven arch of painted voussoirs to left. Panelled and shuttered bay window with window seats. Moulded cornice. Rear room to right has bolection moulded fireplace surround with moulded cornice shelf and replacement grate. Panelled window shutters and moulded skirting and cornice. Ground floor: stone flagged floor to entrance hall extends to staircase hall at rear. Front doorcase is round-arched on pilasters with acanthus leaf capitals: doorcases off both halls are plain with corniced heads and panelled reveals. Entrance hall has plaster frieze of swags, beneath cornice of acanthus modillions and rosettes which continues into stairhall. Corinthian order distyle in antis screen separates entrance and stair halls. Front room to left: painted stone fireplace of fluted pilasters, frieze with foliate centre panel and moulded cornice shelf: replacement grate in grey marble surround with slips and hearth covered with good Pre-Raphaelite tiles. Walls sunk-panelled below moulded dado rail, panelled in plaster rosette frames above. Dentil cornice to door, and enriched dentil cornice to plain ceiling. Round-arched opening to left of fireplace inserted later. Rear room to left: fireplace of fluted Ionic columns, frieze of foliage arabesques and moulded cornice shelf: replacement grate in carved architrave, marble surround and slips covered with C19 floral tiles. Doorcase has carved architrave and pulvinated frieze enriched with flower and leaf carvings, beneath enriched cornice. Architrave to bay window, skirting and dado rail are carved, and walls sunk-panelled below rail. Moulded cornice enriched with acanthus leaves. Front rooms to right have moulded skirtings, dado rails and cornices. Rear room to right: marble fireplace with bolection-moulded architrave and dentilled cornice shelf, between alcove cupboard doors. Architraves of door and window cases are bolection moulded. Moulded skirting, dado rail and cornice. Cantilevered main staircase from ground to first floor has slender turned balusters, 3 to a tread, and ramped-up moulded handrail, wreathed at foot around bulbous newel on scrolled curtail step. Moulded dado rail parallels staircase rail. Venetian staircase window is of enriched Ionic order, retaining original glazing, beneath plaster cartouche festooned in floral garlands. Flanking walls of upper stair well have scrolled consoles carrying classical busts. Cantilevered secondary staircase from ground to second floor has stone treads, wrought-iron balustrade of elongated S-shaped scrolls, turned newels and ramped-up wood handrail. Bottom flight to basement has square section balusters. Staircase windows are round headed sashes. First floor: 3 doorcases on landing have carved architraves, pulvinated friezes enriched with acanthus carvings, and enriched dentil cornice overdoors. Ceiling cornice is moulded and enriched with dentils. Front room to left: fireplace surround carved with rosettes, garlands and drops. Doorcase architrave carved with foliage, pulvinated frieze and dentilled cornice overdoor. Window architraves carved, and walls sunk panelled below dado rail carved with Greek key and foliage motifs: skirting carved with ribbon and floret mouldings. Cornice enriched with egg, shell and floret mouldings, dentils, and paired acanthus modillions and rosettes. Rear room to left: fireplace has replacement grate in carved architrave, in surround of sunk panel pilasters carved with foliate pendants, frieze of rinceaux, and dentilled cornice shelf. Doorcase with carved architrave, frieze of acanthus with garlanded centre panel, and enriched cornice overdoor. Window cases have carved architraves, and shutters of enriched panels. Carved skirting and dado, and moulded cornice. Plaster ceiling with oval medallion in centre containing classical figure, surrounded by foliage tendrils and enclosed in scalloped frame with subsidiary medallions and pendants. Rooms to right retain moulded skirtings and dado rails: front room has dentil cornice, rear one acanthus cornice. Throughout the house, doors are of six raised and fielded panels, most retaining original door furniture. Panelled window shutters survive. Interior of Temple: double doors of raised and fielded panels in doorcase with pulvinated frieze and cornice overdoor lead to lobby, screened by panelled partition. 3-bay INTERIOR: articulated by giant coupled attached Composite columns carrying entablature with dentil and modillion cornice. Subsidiary arcade of round arches on dwarf attached Ionic columns with moulded impost band, broken by giant columns, and continuing around apse, shapes bays into round-headed blind panels. Tunnel-vaulted main ceiling containing moulded roundels; hemispherical roof to apse. Wall panels fitted with shaped boards. SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: railings to front area are square section interspersed with panels of scrolls and intersecting curves, ramped-up and swept up steps to portico. At rear, short balustrade of railings and standards similar to those of secondary staircase closes off steps. (City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-: 114-115). Listing NGR: SE6042551571