Former Exchequer Building, Now University Library
FORMER EXCHEQUER BUILDING, NOW UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, PALACE GREEN
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1160838
- Date first listed:
- 10-Mar-1988
- List Entry Name:
- Former Exchequer Building, Now University Library
- Statutory Address:
- FORMER EXCHEQUER BUILDING, NOW UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, PALACE GREEN
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
| Buildings |
| Scheduled monuments |
| Parks and gardens |
| Battlefields |
| Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-02-24
- Reference:
- IOE01/03607/04
- Rights:
- © Mr Bob Cottrell. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1160838
- Date first listed:
- 10-Mar-1988
- List Entry Name:
- Former Exchequer Building, Now University Library
- Statutory Address 1:
- FORMER EXCHEQUER BUILDING, NOW UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, PALACE GREEN
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- FORMER EXCHEQUER BUILDING, NOW UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, PALACE GREEN
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- County Durham (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- City of Durham
- National Grid Reference:
- NZ 27344 42299
Details
NZ 2742 SW
14/352
DURHAM AND FRAMWELLGATE,
PALACE GREEN (West side),
Former Exchequer Building, now university library
GV I
Chancery and exchequer courts, now library. Between 1438 and 1457 for Bishop
Neville. Coursed squared sandstone with ashlar dressings; stone-flagged roof.
3 storeys, 2 bays. Steps down to studded, ledged boarded door at right of
first bay in 2-centred-arched surround with fragments of roll moulding on
lower course, renewed on course above, and chamfer above that. Ground-floor
windows at left and at right have 3 Tudor-headed lights and label moulds.
First-floor windows have 3 round-headed stepped lights; second floor has 3
windows with 2 round-headed lights, all under dripmoulds and with chamfered
surrounds. Neville arms (ears removed from horse's head) between upper windows
under canopy on angel bracket. Eaves string; parapet, formerly battlemented,
has roll-moulded coping.
Interior: central passage to 12-ribbed vault; newel stair to right of this;
a second newel survives in part at rear of building, heavily weathered. C17
open-well stair has widely-spaced barley-sugar twist balusters, closed string
and high grip handrail; partly renewed. Many stop-chamfered flat Tudor-
arched door surrounds, including those to Chancery Court and Exchequer Court,
now one room. Masons' mark (W with central projecting cross) on these and
on a third ground-floor door. Square-headed door at rear has stopped chamfer
with narrower chamfer below. Original stop-chamfered beams and ceilings over
both floors, the beams with 3 hollow chamfers.
Listing NGR: NZ2734442299
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 110408
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 11-Jun-2026 at 14:41:51.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.