Summary
C17 town house later converted to shop and then museum. Now (2024) a community heritage project called the Folk of Gloucester.
Reasons for Designation
103 Westgate Street, Folk of Gloucester, built in the C17 as a town house and later converted to a shop and then a museum, is listed at Grade II*, for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a good example of C17 town house whose construction shows the transition between timber and stone or brick construction during this period.
* for exhibiting high quality craftmanship from the C17 and retaining a good range of high-quality fittings that are reflective of the style and fashion at this time.
Historic interest:
* a notable example of a post medieval merchant’s houses surviving along Westgate Street as a testament to the area’s trading activity and the prominence during this period.
Group value:
* for its shared history with 99-101 Westgate Street (Grade II*) and the Pin Factory Annex (Grade II).
History
From the late C14, Gloucester’s trade industry, principally in corn and wine, enriched a small but influential group of merchants who monopolised official positions of the city and displayed their prosperity in houses located within the central parishes. A few notable examples of these medieval and post medieval merchant’s houses survive along Westgate Street as testament to the area’s trading activity and the prominence of these wealthy office holders throughout the late medieval and early modern periods. During this period the parish of St Nicholas, comprising of the lower parts of Westgate Street with the Island and the Quay, was a very populous and wealthy part of the City.
103 Westgate Street is a part timber-framed building that started life as a townhouse and was later converted to a shop and then museum. The house was built during a time of architectural transition, from timber-framed houses to brick and stone. The lower walls of the building are constructed of brick and stone, but the second-floor and attics are timber-framed and jettied. This may suggest that the upper floors were retained from an earlier building or were timber-framed to minimise construction costs. Photographs from 1934 show that the timber-framing of the second-floor and cross gables were once rendered and scribed with masonry joints; a method use to conceal an out of date construction type and create the appearance of a masonry construction. It remained rendered until 1993.
It was inherited in 1640 by Damaris Deighton from her father John Deighton, a surgeon and a sale particular by Damaris Deighton to Henry Watkins in 1646, a Maltster which describes the building as ‘a messuage the greater part of which had lately been ‘new built’ suggesting it was largely rebuilt at this time.
As is to be expected, the building has seen much alteration over the centuries. Internally this has included the removal of the original through-passage on the ground-floor, the blocking or removing of portions of the original spiral staircase which would have run from cellar to second floor , the removal of a fireplace and the addition in 1968 of a rear extension that provided staircase access to the upper floors.
Changes externally include the alteration of the front elevation at ground-floor level which originally had a central doorway with mullion windows to each side, as shown in an 1850 engraving. The right-hand side was changed at some point to a sash window, as shown in a photograph from 1930. And then later during the C19, when the building was converted to a shop, a large shop window was introduced. The original glazing pattern for this window was small panes with glazing bars, however, it was changed to plate glass in the 1880s and restored to the smaller pane arrangement during a restoration project in 1934. Works carried out as part of that restoration project also included the addition of a shop window to the left of the central door, replicating that on the right.
Other external changes include the addition of a C18 extension and turret, which can be seen in 1930s photographs, but have since been removed. Between 1968 and 1972 the building was restored by Gloucester City Council. These works exposed several blocked stone windows to the rear of the building, now visible within the modern staircase extension. The upper windows in the rear elevation were also reconstructed at this time. During the C19 the building was connected to 99-101 Westgate Street (Grade II*) as part of the pin making factory.
For most of the C20 onwards the museum has been owned by the Gloucester City Council and operated as a museum. The building is both physically and historically connected with its neighbours, 99-101 Westgate Street (Grade II*) and the former Pin Factory Annex (Grade II). It was sold in 2021 and is now run as the Folk of Gloucester; a community heritage project operated by The Gloucester Civic Trust (2024).
Details
C17 Town House later converted to shop and then museum. Now (2024) a community heritage project called the Folk of Gloucester.
MATERIALS: the building is constructed of brick and stone at cellar, ground and first-floor, timber-framed above with two end-gable stacks and the roof is of welsh slate.
PLAN: a lateral range of two bays with central entry, and parallel gable-ended ranges at right angles to street.
EXTERIOR: the front elevation is of three storeys with cellar below and cross gabled attics above. The ground and first-floors are constructed in brick to the front and stone to the rear. The third-floor is timber-framed with jetties and cross gables to the front and rear.
The frontage is generally symmetrical with a central doorway with a finely moulded timber-frame with original, iron studded, oak plank door. To the right is an early C19 shop front with timber pilasters and corniced fascia and additional entrance door. The window was re-glazed in the early C20. To the left a window of similar design dated to the early C20.
The first-floor is constructed of brick with four timber-framed casements each of two lights with upper transoms and leaded rectangular glazing. Three knee brackets support the second-floor jetty. The second-floor is timber-framed in two bays with close studding and intermediate rails and tension braces to the central storey post. Each bay has a canted timber-framed oriel casement window which is supported on two scroll shaped brackets. Each window is a casement with four-lights with upper transom and leaded rectangular glazing. Above are two gables with plain barge boards and apex finials. Timber studs below each apex holds a fixed sash window with leaded glazing.
To the rear is a modern C20 extension surrounded by the remains of an earlier courtyard space. The rear wall of the front range retains a C17 stone square window, now blocked.
INTERIOR: the front range is now one open room. The central entrance door is made of wide boards with late C17 strapwork hinges and lock case. The existence of a former central cross passage is indicated by the survival of morticed beams. The main beams to each side are ovolo-moulded and a fireplace with Tudor-arch and moulded stone surround is located at the eastern end, a similar example has been removed from the west end in the C19. The west has an enclosed timber staircase leading upward and a stone staircase leading down to the basement. The basement is of two rooms with through access and blocked windows to the front.
To the rear is a C20 extension housing a modern staircase and toilets and access through to number 101 Westgate Street. The toilets are housed at the ground-floor through modern timber doors and the staircase is C20 modern timber with straight balustrades. This extension includes two small round arched windows on the exterior of the front range, exposed during renovation works and now visible within this space.
At first-floor level the front range that space is open as one space with fireplaces with Tudor-arch and moulded stone surround at each and an enclosed panelled staircase. The second- floor has exposed timber-framing with ovolo-moulded cross beams with later chamfered upright support posts and kneeler brackets providing additional support at the mid points and outer walls.
A modern loft hatch provides access to the attic which is one large space open to the roof. The roof structure has a large central truss with queen struts and an arched collar tie. The space is lit by four dormers within the overhanging gables and brick fireplaces at both the east and west ends, each with Tudor-arched timber bressummers.
