York Historic Environment Record

No. 61 Skeldergate of two storeys and attic, consisted for the most part of a timber-framed house of c. 1575, which was jettied on the N.E. front to the street and had two large projecting brick chimney stacks on the N.W. side. In c. 1600 a three-storeyed annexe, jettied on both upper floors, was added in the N. corner. At the same time the space between the original brick stacks was enclosed to form a closet on each floor. The wainscotting throughout the house may well have been inserted then or shortly after. In the early 18th century a staircase was added on the S.E.; this structure had become enveloped in 19th-century brick additions. During the late 18th century a large, two-storey bay window was added on the S.W. end of the original house. The premises did not become a public house until after 1850 (Benson, iii, 166; Directories). The building was demolished in 1964, when valuable dating evidence came to light.

The original front to Skeldergate was rendered over some of the timber framing. Fixed to the butt ends of the joists of the jettied floor was a fascia board carved with Renaissance egg-and-dart ornament. The fascia boards of both jetties of the N. annexe were copies of the foregoing. All the openings in the front were of the early 19th century and later, though the modern casement window projecting on timber brackets on the second floor of the annexe possibly replaced an earlier window of similar design. The N.W. side of the building was mostly covered by adjoining late 19th-century premises. The S.E. side was masked by a 19th-century brick addition of two storeys, replacing an older addition. The back (S.W.) elevation was mostly rebuilt in the late 18th century when the bay window was added, though the original tie-beam was retained in the rebuilt gable. The building technique of the timber framing and the roof construction of the original house were revealed during demolition. The close-set studding had infilling of bricks set on edge and keyed to the framing by mortar, the studs being grooved to form the key. The simple commonrafter roof had single side purlins and arched collars at intervals along it; the rafters fitted into notches cut in the wall plates.

Inside, the ground floor was divided into two rooms from the first by a timber-framed partition wall, but the latter had been replaced later in brick. Each room had in the N.W. wall an original brick fireplace concealed by a modern one. The front room, with access to the annexe, had moulded ceiling beams intersecting at the centre. The S.E. partition consisted of panelling of c. 1600, brought forward from the outer wall to leave a passageway behind. The rear room had been sub-divided on the S.E. with panelling reused as partitioning. The early 18th-century staircase in the S.E. addition had squaresection newel posts with attached half balusters, finely-turned oak balusters, a closed string and moulded handrail.

The first floor originally comprised one large room heated by two fireplaces in the N.W. wall. When the house was wainscotted a partition wall of timber studding was inserted under the south-western transverse beam, creating two rooms, each with one fireplace. The front room, which had squaresectioned transverse and longitudinal ceiling beams intersecting at the centre, was panelled throughout. The annexe room entered from it was also panelled throughout, and behind the panelling were found shop-made timber-framed windows of two, three and ten lights, that of ten lights in the N.W. wall being transomed; all had been blocked. The rear main room was also fully panelled. Removal of the panelling and the 18th-century fireplaces in both rooms revealed the original 16th-century brick fireplaces; they had four-centred arches with hollow chamfers continued down the jambs to simple run-out stops. Between the two chimney-stacks a small closet had been formed and the original timber-framed wall cut through for access to it; the closet contained a two-light timber-mullioned window. A similar addition had been made below on the ground floor. The room on the second floor of the annexe had timber-framed walls with two and three-light mullioned windows, all shop-made as before.

Source
RCHME An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in City of York, Volume 3, South west (Monument 118) pp. lxi-cv, Plates 46, 48

NMR Information
BF061151 THE PLUMBERS ARMS PUBLIC HOUSE, YORK

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

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