Building record MYO1050 - 12-15 Newgate

Summary

The row of houses that survive on the north-west side of Newgate (Nos 12-15) are thought to be associated with the foundation of a chapel within St Sampson’s Church. The row has been studied (Short 1979 and RCHMY5, 170-1) and can be associated with a charter issued in 1336 for their construction. This surviving part of the row is thought to have originally consisted of ten or twelve tenements. Based on the standing buildings it is suggested that they were self-contained units with one room on each floor with the upper room open to the roof. Restoration at No.12 indicated the original door would have been on the north-east side with an internal staircase giving access to the room above. Unusually the Newgate row was jettied on front and rear elevations. No 13 and 14 were cut back and heightened in the 19th century.

Location

Grid reference Centred SE 6040 5189 (16m by 16m) (2 map features)
Map sheet SE65SW
Unitary Authority City of York, North Yorkshire

Map

Type and Period (5)

Full Description

Row of 5 houses, now 4 shops. 1337: raised and substantially altered in C19 and C20: extensions at rear obscure ground floor.

MATERIALS: timber-framed, originally jettied at front and rear: fronts rendered and whitewashed; rear of No.12 rendered, raised in brick, now whitewashed; rear of Nos 13 and 14 C18 orange-red brick in Flemish bond, raised in pink grey mottled brick; No.15 rendered and whitewashed at front and rear. No.12 has tiled roof, Nos 13 and 14 corbelled slate roof at front, pantile at rear, with brick stack at rear of No.13; No.15 has steeply pitched pantile roof, raised and gabled at rear, with valanced eaves at front.

EXTERIOR: No.12: 2 storeys and attic; 1-window jettied front. Shopfront set behind vestigial ground floor framing, including original door post; window of paired unequal 6-pane sashes on first floor, and 2x6-pane casements in gabled attic dormer. To rear, narrow 12-pane sash set in exposed first floor framing; flat-topped dormer with paired top-hung 9-pane lights to attic.

Nos 13 and 14: 3-storey 3-window front: jetty cut back. No.13 has panelled door to left of 1-pane window, both with heavy painted lintels. No.14 has double shopfront with glazed and panelled door between 4- and 5-light mullion and transom windows, framed in plain pilasters with imposts: broad fascia and cornice between elongated console brackets. First floor windows are 4-pane sashes, those on second floor 2x1-pane Yorkshire sashes. Raised first and second floor bands. To rear, first floor has vestigial framing and C20 windows; second floor windows repeat those on front.

No.15: 2-storey 1-window jettied front. Shopfront has glazed and panelled door to left of small-pane bow window framed in plain pilasters, with dentil cornice between carved corbels. 2-light window in raised architrave with painted sill on first floor. At rear, windows are C20.

INTERIOR: large C17 chimney breast on first floor of Nos 13 and 14.

(City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-: 171). Listing NGR: SE6040851896

Derived from English Heritage LB download dated: 22/08/2005

291. Houses, Nos. 12–15, represent the surviving elements of a row of timber-framed houses built in the churchyard of St. Sampson in 1337 (CPR, 1334–38, 399), facing S.E. along Newgate. Nos. 12 and 15 each represents one original tenement, whilst three more are incorporated into Nos. 13 and 14. There were originally probably ten or twelve tenements. Each tenement was self-contained with one room up and one down, the upper one open to the roof. The upper storey was jettied on both front and rear elevations, but the front of Nos. 13 and 14 was cut back and heightened in the late 19th century. No. 12 also was heightened in the early 19th century to provide attic accommodation. Judging from No. 12, which has recently been restored, each tenement was entered by a doorway at the N.E. end of the front wall, and a steep straight staircase along the internal N.E. wall gave access to the upper room. All the windows are 19th-century or modern.

No. 12 forms a small shop, newly restored. On the S.E. front the S.W. corner-post remains, carrying the ground-floor wall-plate. This beam now has its soffit exposed showing only one mortice, which must represent a stud acting as the S.W. jamb of a doorway at the N.E. end. The first floor, which has a jetty of 1 ft. 4 in., is stuccoed. The line of the original eaves level was marked until recently by a band of lead flashing. The rear elevation has the ground floor masked by outbuildings. The first floor is jettied and retains its timber framing, above which is 19th-century brick heightening. Internally on the ground floor the rear ground-floor wall-plate has mortices indicating framing as on the floor above. At the N.W. end of the S.W. wall a large 17th-century chimney-breast with curved wooden lintel to the fireplaceopening has recently been removed. On the first floor the framing on the N.W. wall is exposed, and that on the S.E. wall has been uncovered and restored to match. The two roof trusses have been exposed on the second floor and in the roof, the N.E. truss being numbered 'III' and the S.W. truss 'IIII'. They show a type of crown-post construction with side and collar-purlins, the crown-post being 7 ft. 6 in. high and the bay width 10 ft. 1 in.

Nos. 13 and 14 have a stuccoed 19th-century front, though the line of the original eaves plate has been perpetuated by a stuccoed band. At the rear the ground floor is masked. The jettied first floor retains the main uprights of each bay and the original wall-plate, as well as some of the framing in the N.E. bay. The rest of the framing is replaced by 18th and 19th-century brickwork containing three 19th-century sash windows, blocked internally. The interior has been greatly altered and divided, but on the first floor there is a large 17th-century chimney-breast. In the present top floor, parts of the various roof trusses are visible, each bay being about 10 ft. wide.

No. 15 has a 19th-century and modern front, although retaining the jettied first floor. The rear elevation, masked on the ground floor, has a jettied first floor which retains its two main posts and wall-plate. Peg-holes indicate framing as in Nos. 12–14. The wall was heightened in the 19th century and given a N.W.-S.E. gabled roof with a window to light an inserted attic. The S.W. end (Plate 135), originally only a party wall, is now exposed. It retains all its original framing (Fig. 107) except perhaps on the ground floor, and both jetties are clearly visible. Some of the timbers are numbered 'VIII'. The continuation S.W. of the collar-purlin supported by a longitudinal brace has recently been removed. Internally only parts of the two roof trusses are now visible.

City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-: 171

NMR Information

List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. District of York, 14-MAR-1997

BF060932 12-15 NEWGATE, YORK File of material relating to a site or building. This material has not yet been fully catalogued.


RCHME, 1981, City of York Volume V: The Central Area (Monograph). SYO65.

NMR, 2019, NMR data (Digital archive). SYO2214.

Sources/Archives (2)

  • --- Digital archive: NMR. 2019. NMR data.
  • --- Monograph: RCHME. 1981. City of York Volume V: The Central Area.

Protected Status/Designation

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Events/Activities (2)

Record last edited

Jul 4 2020 10:15AM

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