Old Judges House

Details

GLOUCESTER

SO8318NW WESTGATE STREET 844-1/8/388 (North side) 23/01/52 No.26 Old Judges' House

GV I

Shop and former dwelling flanking the west side of Maverdine Passage, warehouse and office buildings added at rear and linked by bridge over the passage to offices at the rear of No.24 Westgate Street (qv). Late C15, greatly enlarged and remodelled in late C16/early C17, and altered in early C18; altered 1772 for William Bishop, grocer; refronted and altered internally c1815; altered and extended from 1886 for Winfields, Seed Merchants. MATERIALS: timber frame, partly rendered, standing on ground-floor walls of stone rubble and brick; the rear of the elevation facing Maverdine Passage has retained some C17 limewashed comb-decorated render (a significant and rare survival); in late C18 the street front rebuilt in brick and now painted, brick extensions at rear, brick stacks, plain tile and slate roofs. PLAN: a long range in two parts at right angle to street; to rear is a late C15 three-bay range and to front a mid C16 two-bay range; late C16/early C17 three-bay range with cross gabled dormers and a gabled stair turret in the north-west corner, clearly replacing earlier range; on the ground floor the full length of both parts of the range now a large shop area, but at upper level 4 phases of the c1575-1620 building are discernible (see Price); gables added to mid C16 front bays when 3 bays to centre built c1600, which connected it to rear stair turret and outward extension to Maverdine Lane; presence of first-floor door to stair turret suggests former existence (prior to c1600) of gallery which connected front and back ranges; late C19 extension at rear linked by first floor bridge over Maverdine Passage to C19 warehouse and offices not included in item behind No.24 Westgate Street (qv). EXTERIOR: the longer front part of the range of four storeys, cellar and attic; the rear part of the range of three storeys, C19 extensions of three storeys. The early C19 front to street has a crowning cornice with close set modillions and a parapet masking the attic, on the ground floor a late C19 shop-front, on each of the first and second floors two tall sashes and on the third floor two short sashes, all with glazing bars (3x2 panes on the lower floors, 3x2 panes on the third floor) and

in openings with painted brick flat arches and projecting stone sills. The elevation of the higher south part of the range facing Maverdine Passage retains elaborate late C16/early C17 architectural features and detail; the ground floor of rubble wall believed to contain reused Roman masonry; on the timber-framed upper floors the south bay is masked by the adjoining side of No.24 Westgate Street, on the four exposed bays the first and second floors are jettied with close studding, the bay posts are decorated with pairs of shafts with knee brackets below the moulded bressumer to the second-floor jetty; on the first floor in each of the three right-hand bays a timber oriel window capped by the second-floor jetty and supported on carved end brackets, and with five casement lights with ovolo-moulded mullions and an upper transom; on each of the second and third floors a similar oriel window in each bay, except where replaced by a later and smaller casement in the third bay to left on the third floor, each oriel capped with a shallow gable like a pediment; in each of the dormer gables a four-light casement with timber mullions and an upper transom; the three gable dormers to right have stepped barge boards. The lower and late C15 three-bay range to the right (rear from Westgate Street) is jettied at first and second-floor levels and has exposed storey posts on the first-floor with brackets to the second-floor jetty, otherwise rendered panels, in the central bay on the first floor an early C19 sash with sidelights and glazing bars; on the second floor a casement pair to left and a sash to right, both with glazing bars; between them, off-centre to right, a late C16 projecting blocked casement with sill supported on carved brackets. The gable-end wall to rear of range also jettied at second-floor and gable levels but masked by C19 extension. On the west side of the front part of the range, above No.28 Westgate Street (qv), four gabled dormers similar to the dormers on the east side but with rendered framing. INTERIOR: on the ground floor several exposed bridging beams; to right stairs to first-floor lobby, lined in part with late C16 panelling, giving access to a large first-floor reception chamber formed to the rear c1815 as part of conversion to Judges' Lodgings, and fitted with moulded skirting, dado rail, moulded plaster cornice and two acanthus moulded ceiling roses; in other rooms exposed timber-framing and chamfered storey posts; on west side a stair well with early C18 open well staircase from first to second floor with closed string, barleysugar balusters and toad back handrail, from second to third floor the stair is probably early C17 with knopped newels and bulbous turned balusters; on the third floor in the

front room, in several of the oriel windows on the east side, are early C17 wrought-iron casements with original elaborately patterned leadlight glazing and original iron catches. HISTORY: an exceptionally fine merchant's house, notable for the quality of its surviving detail which includes (rare) original surviving patterned leaded glass, which is one of the most substantial timber-framed merchants' houses to have survived in any English town. The house was the Hall of the Grocer's Guild in the C18 and used as the Judges Lodgings in the early C19. The formerly impressive multi-jettied front was recorded by JC Buckler in the early C19. The ground-floor front room was panelled, with the Browne arms to the overmantel (Alderman John Browne is recorded as the owner before 1585). Scheduled Ancient Monument. (VCH: The City of Gloucester: Oxford: 1988-: 120; BOE: Verey D: Gloucestershire: The Vale and the Forest of Dean: London: 1976-: 224; Price S: 26 Westgate Street: A Report for English Heritage: 1994-).

Listing NGR: SO8311218632

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

472600

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
The Victoria History of the City of Gloucester, (1988), 120
Verey, D, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire 2 The Vale and The Forest of Dean, (1970), 224

Other
Price, S, 26 Westgate Street: A Report for English Heritage, (1994)

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.

Print the official list entry