York Historic Environment Record

Row of four houses. Early C18 with later fenestration.

MATERIALS: red brick in random bond, on high chamfered brick plinth; moulded timber eaves band: tiled roof has half-hipped dormers with 2-light casement windows and brick stacks, one partly rendered, one rebuilt but reproducing the original diagonal stack.

EXTERIOR: 2 storeys, semi-basement and attics; 13-bay front. Semi-basement windows with timber lintels in plinth, most either with iron grilles, one retaining wooden shutter. Nos 2 and 3 have doors of 3 bolection moulded panels; door to passage giving access to Nos 4 and 4A is of 3 moulded panels. All are approached by stone steps and those to No.3 and to passage have 2-pane overlights. No.2 has 16-pane sash window to left of door, 12-pane sashes to right and on first floor, inserted unequal 6-pane sash at right of ground floor. Remaining windows are mullioned and transomed casements: No.3 has two pairs of 2x6-pane windows on ground floor, and three 2x3-pane windows in original frames on first floor; No.4 has two cross windows with square leaded lights in original frames on both floors; No.4A has two 2x6-pane ground floor windows, three 2x3-pane first floor windows. All windows had flat arches of gauged brick, those on ground floor now rendered. Ground floor windows are shuttered, those to Nos 2 and 3 flush panelled, those to Nos 4 and 4A of 2 sunk panels. First floor windows have brick sills. 3-course stepped brick band to first floor.

INTERIORS: not inspected. RCHM records original staircase to each house, those to Nos 2 & 3 with bulbous balusters, those to Nos 4 & 4A with splat balusters. Original doors and doorcases, plus original fireplaces with late C18 cast-iron grates. No.4 has a ground floor bolection moulded panelled room with dado and hidden cupboards on one wall.

(City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-: 199). Listing NGR: SE6020952197

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

Terrace of four houses, Nos. 2, 3, 4, 4a was built between 24 January 1700/1 and 22 February 1722/3 (YML, we; wf) and on stylistic grounds can be assigned to the first few years of the 18th century. The terrace, of two storeys with attics and semi-basements, is of thirteen bays and comprises one double-fronted five-bay house (No. 2, now refenestrated), one single-fronted three-bay house (No. 3) and what appears to be a second double-fronted five-bay house but is in fact two small single-fronted houses with entrance doors off a central common passageway (Nos. 4, 4a).

The front elevation has a high brick plinth, in which are set the windows which light the semi-basements. At first-floor level is a three-course plat-band with coping. Timber below the present narrow eaves cornice indicates that this was originally considerably heavier. The three doorways on the ground floor are approached by stone steps; those to No. 3 and to the common passage to Nos. 4 and 4a have original pegged frames and mullioned fanlights; Nos. 2 and 3 have original doors of three bolection-moulded panels and that to Nos. 4 and 4a is of plank construction with moulded stiles and rails forming three sunk panels. The windows to Nos. 4 and 4a and the first floor of No. 3 have original timber transomed and mullioned frames. The arches are of narrow red gauged bricks but those on the ground floor are covered by a cement band; the attics are lit by hipped dormers with casements. The large diagonally-set chimney-stack shared by Nos. 3 and 4 has been rebuilt, but follows the original pattern. Nos. 3, 4 and 4a have short wings at the rear. The back doors are of plank construction with moulded stiles and rails, and the windows are mullioned and transomed, except in the upper part where there are small casements.

The plans of the houses are of particular interest because each unit is small and dominated by large chimney-breasts set at 45° to the street, giving angle fireplaces in the rooms. The houses all have only two rooms on each floor, excluding closets, and the kitchens were in the semi-basements; some of the closets are fenestrated. All houses retain a number of original fittings, the least altered being No. 4, which has a ground-floor front room with bolection-moulded panelling, and a staircase with splat balusters rising about a small rectangular well in a constricted space; the staircase in No. 4a follows the same pattern, but those in Nos. 2 and 3 have bulbous balusters. Original door architraves have a simple and very small cyma reversa moulding which is repeated on the stiles and rails forming the doors of two sunk panels; on the first floor of No. 4, identical mouldings are used to form a door of six sunk panels. The houses exhibit a variety of early, if not original hinges, including L, H and butterfly forms, and some with shaped terminations. Some original fireplaces survive but have had late 18th-century cast-iron grates inserted.

City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-: 199. Monument 375

NMR Information

Full description(s) ?
(SE 60205220 - O.S 1/2500, 1962)

1. PRECENTOR'S COURT 5343

Nos 2 to 4 (consec) No 4a

SE 6052 SW 27/486 14.6.54

II* GV

2. Early C18. Some later alterations. A terrace range of brick houses; 2 storeys with attics and semi-basements; brick plinth, and stringcourse between storeys; sash windows, some with original
wood mullions and transoms; generally original moulded wood doorcases with fanlights and Nos 2 and 3 with 3-fielded-panelled doors; altered moulded wood eaves; 3 hipped dormers; old tiles.
The interiors retain original features including staircases and doorways, and No 4 has a panelled ground storey room. (RCHM Vol V, Monument 375).

Sources

1 List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. p278 City of York, June 1983.
2 List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. District of York, 14-MAR-1997

BF061057 2-4A PRECENTOR'S COURT, 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.