York Historic Environment Record

Two houses, now one shop. Early C17; largely rebuilt c1745; further alterations and extension in C19 and C20. Mid C18 alterations for Rev Philemon Marsh, Rector of Church of St Martin-cum-Gregory.

MATERIALS: timber-framed, now encased in brick, in Flemish bond, painted at front; plain parapet with stone coping masks parallel roofs, gabled to street, each with brick stack at rear; rear wing to No.69 has hipped slate roof; rear wing to No.71 not visible.

EXTERIOR: 3-storey 5-window front. Ground floor of both properties occupied by fluted pilaster and cornice shopfronts with glazed doors recessed between half-canted plate glass windows. All upper floor windows are 12-pane sashes beneath painted flat arches of gauged brick with painted stone sills. End and centre windows on second floor are blind. 1-course raised bands at second floor and parapet levels. Original rainwater goods at right end, with unicorn crest of the Marshes on rectangular hopper. Rear: No.71 has tripartite sash window with 16-pane centre sash. Other window on first and second floors of both houses have segmental arches. Rainwater head dated 1674.

INTERIOR: remnants of timber-frame visible on ground floor at rear of both front rooms; and on first floor, in rear room of No.71 which has possible studded partition wall. Ground floor. In No.69, cantilevered staircase with column on vase balusters and moulded swept-up handrail on turned newel rises to first floor around full-height well. Well lined with corresponding dado panelling and rail, and lit by lantern in coved ceiling with moulded dentil cornice. Rear room has C17 panelling reset over C19 fireplace and on left and rear walls, and moulded cornice.

In No.71, single fluted pilaster respond to former arch survives at foot of transverse staircase: remnants of moulded and dentil cornices survive in both front and back rooms. First floor. Close string secondary staircase in No.69, originally rising from ground floor, has turned balusters, moulded handrail and square newels. At head of principal staircase is keyed round arch on pilaster responds with moulded imposts. Front room has moulded cornice and cased axial beam. Rear room has door of 8 raised and fielded panels. In No.71, close string staircase with stick balusters and turned newel rises to second floor, boxed in below with re-used C17 panelling and door forming under stair closet. 8-panel door leads to front room which has cased intersecting axial and transverse beams carried on fluted Doric column.

Moulded cornice survives in rear room. Second floor. In No.69, secondary staircase balustrade carried across main staircase well; 6-panel door to front room. C19 basket grate in passage of No.71. In both front rooms C18 plank floor boards are retained. C17 gabled roofs cut across end and centre windows inserted during C18 re-fronting. Properties unoccupied at time of survey. (City of York: RCHME: South-west of the Ouse: HMSO: 1972-: 79-80).
Listing NGR: SE5991851604

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

House, Nos. 69, 71, was originally timber-framed of two bays, probably of the late 16th or early 17th century, and was later the home of Samuel Dawson (1691–1731), Sheriff in 1718–19 (YCA, E.94, f. 50). In the second quarter of the 18th century extensive alterations were made, including the building of a new brick front and the insertion of a fine staircase with a lantern above and other internal fittings. Considerable later alterations include additions at the rear and the conversion of the ground floor to shops. Despite the 18th-century alterations, the original roof survives, with the gables to the street hidden by the later brick front. The W. half of the property (No. 71) was the Minster Inn, mentioned in 1736 as 'of good resort' (Drake, 280), which survived until 1830 (Directories). The house was advertised for sale in 1794 (York Herald, 6 Sept.), when it was occupied by the widow of the Rev. Philemon Marsh (d. 1788), rector of S. Martin-cum-Gregory for 43 years. The crest of Marsh on a rainwater head confirms the stylistic evidence suggesting that the major alterations belong to c. 1745–50, soon after Marsh came to the parish. Since the private dwelling house was in 1794 stated to have 'four rooms on a floor, good garrets, and a garden, stable, etc.', it is uncertain where the accommodation of the Minster Inn was placed.

The brickwork of the street front, though thickly painted over, appears to be in Flemish bond. All the openings on the upper floors to the front are original though the first-floor windows and some of the second-floor windows have sashes of later date with narrow glazing bars. The parapet is finished with a moulded stone coping, now much decayed. At the E. end is a rainwater pipe with ornamental head bearing the crest of Marsh (Plate 81).

Inside, the ground floor has been converted into shops and only in the front room of No. 71 are there remains of a moulded and dentilled plaster cornice. On the first floor are cased axial and transverse beams supported at their intersections by a Doric column, perhaps of the 18th century. On the second floor it is evident that the roof is gabled toward the street and that the roof-slopes cut across two of the upper windows, which are blocked accordingly behind the glazing.

The Staircase of No. 69 has no visible string; the balusters, two to a tread, have square knops, and at the foot the handrail finishes in a scroll supported on a turned newel. There is a panelled dado about the same height as the stair balustrade, consisting of large fielded panels separated by panelled pilaster-strips below a swept dado-rail. The stair well rises through the whole height of the building, the second floor being carried across at one side on a narrow gallery with a balustrade similar to that of the secondary staircase. The well has a bold enriched and moulded plaster dentil cornice, above which the ceiling is coved toward a modern lantern light. The secondary staircase, from first to second floor, has turned balusters of Doric type, square newel posts and closed strings.

Derived from RCHME - 'Secular Buildings: Micklegate', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in City of York, Volume 3, South west (London, 1972), Monument 73.

Information from AOC Archaeology

Archaeological work 2016 within the basements and in the rear yard at 69-71 Micklegate. The work in the basement has demonstrated the presence of significant archaeological stratigraphy dating from the Roman period.

There are also significant medieval and post-medieval features and stratigraphy, including a massive two-phase medieval stone wall under the boundary wall with 67 Micklegate.

York Conservaiton Trust
Purchased the building in 2013 and undertook extensive restoration work in association with Maybank Building Conservation. Folowing demolition of 1980s buildings in the rear courtyard new cottage as constructed following archaeological excavation. Survey of the main building showed far more of the original timber frame remained extant and structurally active within the building. This had been hidden by later facades, and alterations particularly to the ground floor rooms. The examination revealed that the roofs had been raised and turned when a 2nd storey was added as the front of the building. Rear wall extensively rebuilt and repaired.

EXTERIOR DESCRIPTION

Nos 69-71 Micklegate consists of a unified brick frontage concealing several successive phases of reconstruction and dedevelopment. The building plan is roughly square and consists of four main rooms across ground-second floor levels with cellars below. The whole is capped by an ‘M’ shaped hipped roof with valley guttering hidden behind a plain brick parapet to front.

The ground floor consists of a shop facade probably dating to the early 20th century. This consists of two units with glazed fronts housed in timber frames. In between the two units is a doorway with panelled door leading to ‘69A’. The doorway is housed between two wooden, fluted pilasters-two more pilasters frame the shop fronts to east and west. Capping the glazed partitions and central doorway is the entablature with moulded architrave and cornice but with a plain frieze. Above the shop fronts the building maintains its 18th century frontage. Constructed of brick in a flemish bond, it is symmetrical in appearance with five windows to first and second floors-the eastern and central windows on the second floor are blind. All front windows (with the exception of the two blinds) are six over six sashes with timber frames, plain sills and although heavily painted, what appear to be flat, gauged-brick arches. Dividing each floor line is a simple brick string course and to the top the elevation forms a parapet with cyma recta moulded stone coping. A rainwater head with heraldic crest covering an opening to the valley gutter is positioned high to the west of the elevation. A second rainwater head in a different style is positioned on the east of the elevation although this is associated with house no. 67; it is dated ‘1763’. The front elevation abuts the neighbouring properties on either side where it forms straight joints in the brickwork.

The rear exterior of the building is largely obscured by a modern ground-floor extension. The extension is brick-built with a pitched roof of ceramic pantiles. Entry is gained by a batten door in the low south-eastern elevation and to its west is a square two-over two casement window with timber frame. The extension abuts the building to the east and a straight joint is visible between
the brickwork. Above the ground-floor extension the south-east elevation of the earlier building is visible. This shows a southern projection of the building that runs up from ground-floor level. The first-floor windows of the projection may have been raised at some point as the brickwork below looks altered, although this is by no means certain. They both have irregular depressed arches over, which have concrete infilling above the frames-both of which are two-over-two timber sashes. At second-floor level, original large window openings appear to have been blocked up and small casement windows have been inserted. The brick is very coarse and the projection appears to have been crudely repointed. To the west of the projection the exterior elevation shows signs of much alteration. At first-floor level a large sash window sit just above the modern extension. West of this the wall appears to have been rebuilt and a timber supporting lintel is visible suggesting that the window may have been much larger at one time. Abutting the neighbouring building a second low timber support suggests that a second opening has been blocked although this is very hard to ascertain. At second-floor height there is a central, blocked segmental-arched opening. Two small openings for guttering have been inserted to east and west. A light diagonal scar, just below and to the west of the central opening, suggests that a earlier abutting building or lean-to has been removed. The elevation appears to have plain stone coping and steps down to the west where it abuts the neighbouring building.

INTERIOR DESCRIPTION

The cellar in 679 Micklegate has walls largely brick with a few areas of stone. The west elevation has a roughly central stone and brick pier supporting a chamfered timber beam running the length of the room. To the east of the pier there is a low brick plinth. Just south of the pier is a long freestanding pier of modern brick adjoined to the earlier pier by a single-brick wall. The south-west elevation is largely covered by modern electrical boxes, behind which three brickblocked arched openings can be seen. The north-east elevation has a modern brick pier situated slightly south of centre.The south-east elevation is open to the ceiling joists, allowing access to the northern room- the east side has simple stop-chamfered ornamentation to the brickwork. The rest of the elevation contains a ‘range’ style oven set into a semi-circular arched recess with an ornate metal light fitting above. The range has a makers plate reading ‘M BOUSEFIELD YORK’. The central area of cellar 0.1 has a series of three semicircular-arched recesses with raised floors set into the south-west elevation. Just north of these is a larger recess with arched head that has been split by a brick wall projecting north-east; although this is not a modern intervention. The northern part of this split recess has a modern brick pier cutting through the arch and going up to ground-floor level. The north-east elevation of this central area has been split into two narrow spaces by brick walls.

The northern-most of these spaces contains the timber staircase to the ground floor as well as a recess set into the north-east wall directly behind the ‘range’ oven which has several pipes protruding. Whatever this recess housed may well have been related to the ‘range’ behind it. The area south of the stair has modern shelving on the north-west wall and a small segmentalarched recess set into the north-east wall. The south-east brick wall has been rebuilt at its western end with modern engineering bricks. These abut a brick-blocked opening with timber lintel and actually intrude under the lintel. South of this area is a large room with a shallow rectangular depression in the floor, which appears to have housed a tank, and a pipe still projects from the floor within the depression. The north-east elevation of the room is broken up by two brick walls projecting south-west approximately a third of the way into the room. The northern-most creates a small area with recesses in both side walls for, no longer extant, shelving. South of this is an area bounded by a brick and timber partition to the south. In the north-west wall of this area is a low shelf formed from a substantial timber; a mortice is visible in the top surface, above a timber beam cuts across the area diagonally. The south-east wall of the cellar has a brick-blocked raised doorway flanked by timber partitions with steps leading up from the brick and flagstone floor. The south-west wall in this area of the cellar is plain with the exception of some modern shelving.

The cellar in No.71, looks probable that it was once connected to the cellar of no. 69 via a series of arched passages which were exposed during work on a series of trial holes. If this is the case then it is likely that the stone stairs to this cellar originally provided access to both. The cellar is whitewashed throughout and the floor is obscured by a modern carpet. The north-east elevation is entirely obscured by modern partitions and electrics. The north-west wall largely comprises of a modern wooden partition which is stepped back and abuts a vertical timber to the east, from which point the wall is constructed of brick. Behind the modern partition there appears to be a space with steps up to the north-west wall of the original cellar extent but it was not possible to investigate further. chamfered timber beam runs north-south from the brick portion of the north-west wall to a brick pier that projects slightly from the south wall. After the initial investigation, work was undertaken to remove the modern partitions within the cellar and this revealed a number of features. The north-east partition was removed revealing a series of arched passages. Two of these have modern brick intrusions and all would have led through to the cellar of no. 69 before being brick-blocked at one end. Behind the north-west partition a large stone stair, similar to that seen in the adjoining cellar, was visible but not accessible and to the east a fourth brick archway was also visible.

THE GROUND FLOOR

The interior of the ground floor has been heavily modified through successive phases of shop fitting and commercial use. Almost all features of 18th century and earlier date have been removed. Even evidence for the later 19th century use as shops was sparse at the time of survey but it is possible that more of this remains behind the cladding of no. 71. The interior of no. 69 is largely open plan with no surviving doorways and most areas leading directly from the central stair. The ground floor, accessed from Micklegate, has been heavily modified through successive phases of shop fitting and commercial use. Almost all features of 18th century and earlier date have been removed. Even evidence for the later 19th century use as shops was sparse at the time of survey but it is possible that more of this remains behind the cladding of no. 71. The interior of no. 69 is largely open plan with no surviving doorways and most areas leading directly from the central stair.

No 71 is currently entirely separate from the rest of the ground floor. It’s frontage is very similar to room 71, with a recessed doorway in a glass and timber frontage being the only access. The interior was clad in modern boarding during initial investigations but this was later removed revealing a surviving cornice. A surviving fireplace was exposed although the mantel has been removed. The fireplace would have been flanked by pilasters which have left some wall scarring and are hinted at by two projecting areas of cornice.

No 69 is accessed from Micklegate via a recessed doorway set into a 20th century timber and glass frontage. The room, like the majority of the ground-floor interior, is clad in late 20th century panelling along the lower part of the walls and plain plaster across the tops. The ceiling is modern plasterboard and the floor is modern wood veneer boards. The southern part of is lowered to create an under-stair area.

A narrow passage leads from the panelled door for ‘69A’ from the street. The south-west elevation from the doorway comprises a modern timber partition which separates the passage from room te ground floor room of No.69. This partition abuts the original side of the second stair to the south-east. The north-east elevation of the passage is formed by a series of modern brick piers and breezeblock infill walls. Two areas of earlier brickwork remain but to the south of these is a vertical steel beam and further breeze block walling which completely separates passagefrom the rest of the ground floor. The passage leads to what, in the earlier house, would have been the second stair. The returns at the bottom of the stair are rounded suggesting that it was originally designed to be accessed from both sides. Both walls of the stair have a moulded wooden dado which follows the curve of the wall and continues up to the first-floor.

The rear room of No 71 comprises a large central stair leading to the first floor and a small storage area to the south of this. The central stair is a flying staircase with quarter-pace landings and a swept handrail finishing in a scroll on a turned newel. The turned balusters run two to a tread and panelled wainscoting divided by fluted pilasters run along the lower surfaces of all stairwell walls. The stairs themselves are without an outer string and show a cyma reversa moulded scotia underneath the nosing of each tread; a modern carpet runner covers the original wooden treads. The stairwell is open to second-floor level and has a hexagonal rooflight in a moulded circular surround. At first-floor level the north-east wall steps out via a moulded projection (Photograph 85) and above this an elaborate moulded cornice finishes all four stairwell walls at second-floor ceiling height, this is dentilated and has repeating egg and dart decoration. Although the dentils on the south-west side of the cornice are missing . The north-east cornice abuts a strip of plain plaster to the north-east wall which has a central floriated moulding on its soffit and two matching half mouldings two each side. A gallery with banister and simple, turned balusters is positioned on the south-west side at second-floor level, this has a modern wooden partition with glazed, pointed-arch openings. To the south of the stairwell, and sharing an elevation, is a narrow storage area. Set into the northeast elevation is a horizontal timber and brace possibly relating to the earliest phase of the building. Directly above this the wall projects out slightly above a narrow timber. Running perpendicular to the timber brace structure a modern plaster replica has been added to the northwest elevation which itself is intersected by a replica beam. The south-east elevation is plain with modern shelving. Room 1.5 sits to the south-east of area 1.4, its northern corner is occupied by a chimney breast with metal grate and replica surround. Abutting the chimney breast and projecting south-west is a modern timber partition. A joint in the cornice shows where the earlier cornice above the fireplace meets the modern cornice following the partition. The earlier cornice follows the north-east and south-east walls and meets another joint with the cornice in the southwest wall. The fireplace, north-east and south-east walls are all wood panelled, and although it is difficult to date the panelling it is likely that it post-dates the 18th century interior. The south-east wall would originally have formed the back wall of the house but it has been altered to a large extent. A window with a modern 12-light fixed frame sits above modern wainscoting. The wood panelling has been disturbed where the new frame has been inserted.

THE FIRST FLOOR

Access to the first floor is gained from one of two stairs. More of the 18th-19th century interior survives on this floor but there is still a large amount of intrusion from the early 20th century onwards and its current layout is quite different from that of the building’s earlier reconstruction in the mid-18th century. Rooms 2.1 and 2.2 are at the front of the building over the ground floor front rooms of No 69 and No 71. 2.1 is only accessible through an opening with simple mid-20th century architrave from room 2.2. There is a plaster cornice and simple skirting around all four walls and exposed timber boards making up the floor. The south-west wall containing the doorway from 2.2 appears to be out of place when 2.1 and 2.2 are viewed as a whole, positioned as it is just north-east of the central window. The south-east elevation contains a recess behind the cornice with a blocked doorway in its south face (Photograph 90). North-east of this is a fireplace with a mid-20th century surround. The north-east elevation is plain except its cornice and skirting, the cornice being broken by a beam running north-east to south-west across both 2.1 and 2.2; this beam is plastered but is almost certainly timber. The north-west elevation is the front wall of the building and in 2.1 contains two six-over-six sash windows. Below both windows the wall is slightly recessed and covered with timber panelling, a central latch can be seen locking the top and bottom sash.

2.2 is situated directly south-west of 2.1 (Over No 69). There is a cornice and skirting around all four walls, both of which differ from those in 2.1, the floor is boarded and there is a small metal fitting set into the floorboards. A timber beam with a long shallow chamfer at its north-west end runs from north-west to south-east across the ceiling from above the centre of the north-eastern most sash window (externally the central window of the frontage). The beam was plastered but water damage has caused significant damage especially at the south-eastern end and four acroprops support the soffit of the beam. The south-west facing elevation is the adjoining wall with room 2.1 and directly south-west of this elevation is a timber column in doric style with an octagonal plinth. This is supporting the intersection where the perpendicular ceiling beams meet. The north-west facing elevation has three six-over-six sash windows with central latches. The wall surface of this elevation is boxed in and two classical niches are situated either side of the central window which have ornate fluted decoration and bowed shelves. The south-west elevation is plain with a timber beam projecting out to meet the column to the north-east. Returning north-east, the south-east elevation has a central fireplace with mid-20th century surround. North-east of this the wall angles into the room slightly where the ceiling beam projects from the wall to the column. This area is quite badly damaged but this reveals that the ceiling beam is supported on quite a substantial timber and that the wall construction appears to be timber framing with brick infill covered with lath and plaster. In the south-east corner of the room is the only current doorway which allows access from the second stair. The doorway has a moulded architrave and large eight-panelled door.

2.3 is the first-floor landing of the central stair which terminates on this floor. The stair leads up to a small open landing and the handrail sweeps round to the south-east . The wall of the stairwell angles inwards at the west corner where a blocked
doorway divides landing 2.3 with room 2.1. This wall returns to the south-west where it forms a concave recess and then straightens out running south-east. The south-east corner of the landing houses a large opening with a keyed semi-circular arched head springing from moulded imposts. The landing ceiling has a moulded cornice forming a rectangle abutting the ceiling beam supporting the second-floor gallery, the soffit of which is decorated with panelling. Through the arched opening is a small rectangular ante-chamber. In the west corner a modern security door in the north-east wall leads to a narrow dog-leg staircase with half-pace landing. The stair has plain wooden treads, however, when the stair turns from the half-pace landing the risers have a series of circular holes cut into them. There is a moulded handrail with turned balusters and square newels. The east end of the south-east wall of the antechamber has an opening with moulded architrave which presumably once held a door similar to room 2.2 and leads to room 2.6. 2.3a is a small landing leading off the second stair from corridor 1.2. The stair divides into two at first-floor level the north-west side leading to rooms 2.1 and 2.2 while the south-east stair leads to rooms 2.4 and 2.5 and continues up to the second-floor. Where the staircase rises and turns north-west to the second-floor there is an under-stair cupboard directly underneath. This has a panelled exterior and eight-panelled timber door, the interior of the cupboard contains shelving. The walls of the hallway landing have a paper covering with floral motif that potentially predates the 20th century. The staircase is in a bad condition, but has a plain outer string and plain treads and risers. The handrail appears to have been crudely repaired and is supported by a turned newel and square balusters although several of these are missing. The stairwell up to the second floor has been heavily modified with steel beam and breezeblock construction on top of the original timber frame which is coming away from the wall below.2.4 is accessed from a doorway leading from the second stair. The doorway has a large eight panelled door-similar to that opening into room 2.2-but a more simple architrave. Originally rooms 2.4 and 2.5 would have comprised a single space with floorboards throughout but a very recent timber and board partition running from north-east to south-west divides the two. The partition has a doorway towards the south corner of 2.4 which allows access through to 2.5. The north-east elevation is plain apart from a cornice and skirting which frame all walls, with the exception of the modern partition. The north-west elevation has a central fireplace with mid-20th century surround. To the west of the fireplace the elevation projects out to the doorway. To the east of the fireplace is a slightly raised doorway (with door removed) to a deep storage cupboard which reveals the back face of the concave recess seen on landing 2.3. The interior of the cupboard was partially collapsed showing that the rear of the concave partition was covered in lath and plaster but the front side appeared to be covered in more modern plasterboard. The ceiling has partially collapsed in the eastern part of room 2.4 as has a large part of the cornice framing the north-east elevation. This has revealed timber floor joists and lath and plaster, interestingly on both sides of the joists. 2.5 shares a modern partition with room 2.4, both the north-east and south-west elevations are plain apart from a cornice and skirting. The south-east wall has a larger tripartite sash window containing a central six-over-six window and a two-over-two to either side within a timber frame. This wall has suffered badly from damp and a large area of plasterwork has collapsed revealing the brick construction behind. Just south of the window is a small square breeze-blocked opening which may relate to a square of breeze-block construction just in front of the blocked opening. The ceiling projecting out from the south-east wall is slightly lower than that in the rest of the room however the cornice respects the change in height. 2.6 is accessed from the ante-chamber described as part of 2.3. The room is subdivided by modern partitions and doors into a vestibule and two separate lavatories, men’s to the north-east and women’s to the south-west, both of which have entirely modern interiors. The chamfer in the wall of the men’s toilet contains a blocked fireplace. The south-east wall of room 2.6 contains two two-over-two sash windows in timber frames. The vestibule has a doorway to a modern cleaning cupboard in the south-west wall which shows evidence of
earlier skirting and floor boards under the modern carpet.

SECOND FLOOR

The second floor is accessible via the second stair which leads to all floors, with the exception of the cellar, and another narrow staircase leading up from ante-chamber 2.3. Overall the westernmost rooms were in a bad state of repair whereas the eastern group of rooms were largely modernised in the mid-20th century.

3.1, an attic room over No 69, occupies the north-east quarter of the second floor. The interior appears to be mid-20th century in date with very little exposed that could be dated to the building’s earlier phases. The pitch of the roof means the ceiling angles down along the south-west and north-east edges where valley guttering is positioned. The north-west wall has a central six-over-six sash window with a timber frame. To either side is a blind window, although these are not visible internally. The north-west elevation has been converted into storage with two plain timber doors. Where the plaster has degraded in the north-east corner, part of the timber roof frame can be seen within the cupboard. The south-east elevation has a blocked fireplace in the east corner, with a hearth still visible set into the floor boards. In the south corner of the room a doorway with door removed leads to gallery 3.4 which leads to the rear of the property. 3.4 is the gallery overlooking the central stairwell and allows access between 3.1 and 3.5 as well as the small stair down to 2.3. It has large floor boards and the north-east elevation comprises a modern part glazed partition with safety glass, which essentially forms a blind arcade overlooking the stairwell. Only visible from the central stairwell is a balustrade with simple turned newels and a moulded handrail. Leading off the gallery to the south is the landing reached from the third small staircase. This, as with area 3.5, has large floorboards and in the south corner is a small stair up to the raised floorlevel of 3.5, which was presumably at one point one large room which has been partitioned into three rooms and a cupboard accessed from a hallway. The ceiling appears very low throughout due to the raised floor level in this section and the interior is mid-20th century throughout. The chamfer across the north corner of the area contains a blocked fireplace with visible stone hearth and the adjoining north-east wall has a small casement window. The southernmost rooms are a bathroom and toilet with plain wooden doors and Bakelite (or similar) handles. The southeast elevation has two small windows which can be seen, from the outside, to occupy the space above blocking of two previously larger window openings.

3.2, positioned over No 71, directly above room 2.2 and shares a wall with room 3.1. Unlike room 3.1 this room does not appear to have been modernized in the mid-20th century and is in very bad condition. The ceiling is again informed by the pitch of the 18th century roof. The plaster across all of the ceiling and much of the walls has been removed revealing the timber roof structure. The roof comprises a series of common-rafter trusses between a flat valley gutter to either side some of which are braced together. In the centre of room 3.2 a second collar spans across one truss which has four vertical struts rising to the apex. The collar has a series of mortices on the soffit which suggest either reuse or the removal of part of the timber framing. The earliest visible phase of the building is part of a timber frame exposed under the later 18th century roof structure and it seems that, where possible, the builders undertaking the 18th century rebuilding have incorporated this earlier frame into the later construction. Seen in both the southwest and north-east elevation are two roof trusses truncated just below the apex. The truss in the north-east wall shows that the principal rafters were cut to make room for the 18th century valley gutter in the centre of the building. A purlin is also truncated following the pitch of the later roof. More of the south-east truss is visible where the truss has been truncated following the line of its tie beam where it can be seen that both purlins and continuing rafters have been removed. The tie beam is jointed to the principal rafters on its soffit. This is presumably some form of mortice and tenon joint given the placing of two wooden pegs at each joint. At its northwest principal a purlin has been removed. The trusses on both sides certainly continue lower where the later walls are still plastered and indicate a steeply pitched roof running perpendicular to the current double hipped roof. The north-west wall of the room has two six-over-six sash windows. The removal of plaster from the internal face of the wall has revealed that both have supporting timber lintels above. In the north-east corner the back of the central blind window seen on the external secondfloor façade is visible where the plaster has been removed. The south-east elevation has an opening with plain architrave at the south-east corner leading to the inaccessible room 3.3 and gallery 3.4.

Roughly in the centre of the elevation is a fireplace, which at some point appears to have been partially brick-blocked and the double hearth supports this hypothesis. What is left is a small fireplace with an intact grating but missing surround. In the south-west corner of the elevation is a small timber entranceway with panelled door leading to the top of the second stair. The entranceway shows evidence for mid-20th century electrics, with a light switch positioned on the side panel. North of the south-east elevation and bisecting room 3.2 is a partition wall with two doorways, the central one of which has a four-panelled door and a pre-1950’s light switch to the side of the architrave. The partition is of timber construction with lath and plaster covering and is mainly notable for the layers of wall paper visible on the south-east face. The latest of these appears to be an Edwardian-style print but is badly degraded. Under this, and therefore predating it, is a geometric and floral motif. 3.3 was not accessible during the survey and therefore cannot be described in detail but in general the room appears to follow the pitched roofline of the timber trusses, which are lower here than elsewhere on the second-floor. Interestingly as mentioned in the description of room 2.4 the floor appears to be lath and plaster as opposed to floorboards suggesting that this space was not used a functioning space

SYO2599 69 and 71 Micklegate AOC Archaeology

RCHME, 1972, RCHME City of York Volume III South-west of the Ouse (Monograph). SYO64.

AOC Archaeology, 2014, 69-71 Micklegate (Unpublished document). SYO2599.

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