York Historic Environment Record

Two shops and public house. No.54 incorporated into same ownership as Nos 55 and 56 (qv). Nos 53 and 54 mid C17; No.52 probably added when jettied fronts to Nos 53 and 54 cut back and refronted in late C18. No.52 remodelled in C20; No.53 refitted in late C19; ground floor of No.54 refitted c1932.

MATERIALS: Nos 53 and 54 timber-framed. All three properties fronted in pink-grey mottled brick in Flemish bond, with timber dentil and console cornice; timber shopfronts, ground floor of No.53 infilled with glazed brick. Rear of No.52 in orange mottled brick in English garden-wall variant. Ground and first floors of Nos 53 and 54 underbuilt in brick beneath jettied second floors and attics; second floors rendered, probably over original infilling; attic infilling of red brick in random bond. Roofs of Nos 52 and 54 of pantile, No.53 of slate; Nos 53 and 54 are parallel and gabled at front and back, front gables set back behind later hipped roof; two brick stacks in valley. Original plan of Nos 53 and 54 5 bays of timber-framing, with central staircase and stack.

EXTERIOR: 3-storey 5-window front. Shopfronts framed in panelled and fluted pilasters beneath moulded dentilled cornice between grooved consoles capped with segmental gablets. No.52 has plate glass windows on each side of recessed glazed panelled door: ground floor of No.53 has 6-panel door and overlight to left of fixed light window of embossed glass incorporating the name BLUE BELL together with a bell: shopfront to No.54 continuous with Nos 55 and 56, and has plate glass window framed in chrome over marble veneer riser and bevelled glass door with overlight. On first floor, No.52 has two 2-light casement windows, No.53 one 4-pane sash, No.54 two 16-pane sashes; on second floor Nos 52 and 54 have unequal 12-pane sashes, No.53 one 4-pane sash: all have painted wedge lintels or flat arches, and all except those on first floor of No.54 painted stone sills. Rear: 3 storeys and attic: No.52 set back from jettied fronts of Nos 53 and 54. Ground floors obscured by outbuildings. Upper floors to No.52 have sash windows with cambered brick arches: Nos 53 and 54 have 4-pane sashes on first floor and, on second floor, tripled 1-pane sashes to No.53, paired 12-pane sashes to No.54. Posts with jowled heads, bressumers and wall plates exposed on first and second floors of Nos 53 and 54: vestigial framing survives in gabled attics, with blocked window to No.53. In return wall of No.54 with No.55, a length of plastered walling with studs and curved brace is visible.

INTERIOR: No.52 not inspected. No.53: ground floor only inspected. Pub is Bar and Smoke Room plan with passage lobby. Panelled doors are part glazed with embossed glass incorporating bar names. Lobby, Bar and Smoke Room are board panelled throughout, including ceilings of both bars. Passage serving hatch alcove fitted with folding seats. Bar has original panelled counter with gate and glazed back fittings, serving hatch to lobby passage, and curtained service door to Smoke Room: also fitted benches, fireplace with moulded surround, carved frieze and moulded cornice shelf, and ceiling cornice. Smoke Room has fitted benches, and fireplace with Art Nouveau decoration. No.54: shop fittings c1932 survive on ground floor. Elements of timber-framing exposed on upper floors, including wall posts with tapered heads, wall plates and beams. Original infilling probably survives in rear and end walls on second floor. Quarter turn staircase with largely original treads rises from first floor to attic with close string, column on vase balusters and flat moulded handrail, ramped-up steeply to square newels. On first floor, door to front room is of 4 raised and fielded panels on L-hinges. On second floor, fireplace said to remain behind fitted shelving in front room: original floor boards to landing and front room. Attic has gypsum plaster floors in both rooms and original boards to landing. Renewed roof of principal rafter trusses, with truncated brick stack in back room. 'The Blue Bell' has the last C19 pub interior in York to survive intact, and until 1993 was in continuous occupancy by the same family from the end of C19.

(City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-: 134).
Listing NGR: SE6051751793

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

House, No. 52, of three storeys and attics, was built in the early 19th century. It has been converted to a shop and store.

The Blue Bell, p.h., No. 53, and House and Shop, No. 54, were built in the early 17th century as two parallel three-storeyed ranges, gabled to the street, with the upper floors jettied to front and back. Early in the 19th century the front jetties were cut back and a new brick wall erected. Most of the timber framing is concealed or replaced. The roofs have trusses of tie-beams and principal rafters only, and buttpurlins carry the common rafters (Fig. 7s). The roof spaces have lime-ash floors.

Monument 176-177; City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-: 134

NMR Information

Number 52 Fossgate is a house dating from the early 19th century, now in use as a shop. Listed as part of numbers 52-4 Fossgate.

53 Fossgate, The Blue Bell public house, which occupies a mid-17th century timber-framed building, contains a perfectly-surviving Edwardian interior. In the late 18th century the building was refronted and had its jettied front cut back; the ground and first floors are now underbuilt in brick beneath the jettied second floor and attic. The interior has retained the original two-room layout as well as all the fittings and panelling from a 1903 refurbishment by local wine merchant C. J. Melrose (then owner of a small chain of five York pubs). Of particular interest are the intactness and quality of the fittings such as the varnished and polished matchboarding to the walls and ceilings, glazed screens with opening panels to the back room and passageway, and engraved and frosted glass in doors and windows. The Blue Bell's survival was largely the result of the pubs licence staying in the same family - father and daughter - for most of the 20th century. It is included on the CAMRA National Inventory of Pub Interiors of Outstanding Heritage Interest.

Number 54 Fossgate is a house dating from the early 17th century, with early 19th century alterations. Listed as part of numbers 52-4 Fossgate.

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

World Wide Web page; Higginbotham, Peter. 2000. The Workhouse.
<http://www.workhouses.org.uk/> [Accessed 18-OCT-2006] The CAMRA National Inventory of Pub Interiors of Outstanding Heritage Interest, <http://www.camra.org.uk/> [Accessed 28-FEB-2005]

Related Monuments
General association 535402
General association 535403 Blue Bell Public House

BF060570 52 FOSSGATE, YORK File of material relating to a site or building. This material has not yet been fully catalogued.

BF060571 BLUE BELL PUBLIC HOUSE, YORK File of material relating to a site or building. This material has not yet been fully catalogued.

BF060572 54 FOSSGATE, 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.