Details
YORK
SE6051NW CASTLEGATE
1112-1/28/142 (South West side)
14/06/54 No.26
Castlegate House and attached
railings
GV I
Town house, and railings attached to steps at front and rear;
now Masonic Lodge. 1762-63; altered, and Masonic Temple
extension added at side, c1920. House by John Carr for Peter
Johnson, Recorder of York; Masonic Temple by Ward and
Leckenby.
MATERIALS: house front of orange-brown brick in Flemish bond
on moulded stone plinth, with arches of orange gauged brick;
painted stone portico and dressings. Plinth at rear of
rendered brick, and staircase window of painted stone. Doric
cornice of timber returns on all sides of house beneath
shallow hipped roof of slate with brick stacks. Railings of
wrought-iron. Central entrance hall plan to house: temple
rectangular with apsidal end.
EXTERIOR: basement and 3 storeys; 5-bay front. Basement
openings to right are unequal 9-pane sash windows with painted
stone sills; to left, one shuttered window, and at left end
fielded panel door beneath 6-pane overlight. On ground floor,
stone steps lead to pedimented Doric porch with fluted frieze
and cornice: door of 6 raised and fielded panels beneath
radial fanlight in round-arched architrave on pilasters with
impost band. Flanking windows, and first floor windows, are
12-pane sashes with flat arches, over blind balustraded
aprons: raised band and sill band on both floors. First floor
windows are recessed beneath round-arched arcade on moulded
impost band. Second floor windows are squat 6-pane sashes with
moulded sills on brackets.
Rear: basement and 3 storeys; 3-bay front, outer bays canted
and rising to full-height beneath half-hipped roofs. Windows
in outer bays are 3-light sashes, 12-paned on all floors
except the second which has squat 6-pane sashes. In centre
bay, basement window is semicircular. On ground floor, flight
of brick and stone steps over basement area leads to
half-glazed and panelled door in architrave with pulvinated
frieze and moulded cornice. Above is Doric order Venetian
staircase window recessed beneath semicircular brick arch. All
other windows have flat arches of gauged brick and basement
and second floor windows have painted stone sills. Raised
bands and sill bands on ground and first floors, returned on
centre bay of ground floor. In re-entrant angle at left of
centre bay is ornate rainwater head, dated 1763, with fallpipe
on rosette clamps.
Masonic Temple has no external openings.
INTERIOR: of house: basement: cellars at front are vaulted:
one has ventilated door of fielded panels, one fitted with
stone slab shelves. Rear room to left retains kitchen
fireplace without fittings, and elliptical bread oven arch of
painted voussoirs to left. Panelled and shuttered bay window
with window seats. Moulded cornice. Rear room to right has
bolection moulded fireplace surround with moulded cornice
shelf and replacement grate. Panelled window shutters and
moulded skirting and cornice.
Ground floor: stone flagged floor to entrance hall extends to
staircase hall at rear. Front doorcase is round-arched on
pilasters with acanthus leaf capitals: doorcases off both
halls are plain with corniced heads and panelled reveals.
Entrance hall has plaster frieze of swags, beneath cornice of
acanthus modillions and rosettes which continues into
stairhall. Corinthian order distyle in antis screen separates
entrance and stair halls.
Front room to left: painted stone fireplace of fluted
pilasters, frieze with foliate centre panel and moulded
cornice shelf: replacement grate in grey marble surround with
slips and hearth covered with good Pre-Raphaelite tiles. Walls
sunk-panelled below moulded dado rail, panelled in plaster
rosette frames above. Dentil cornice to door, and enriched
dentil cornice to plain ceiling. Round-arched opening to left
of fireplace inserted later.
Rear room to left: fireplace of fluted Ionic columns, frieze
of foliage arabesques and moulded cornice shelf: replacement
grate in carved architrave, marble surround and slips covered
with C19 floral tiles. Doorcase has carved architrave and
pulvinated frieze enriched with flower and leaf carvings,
beneath enriched cornice. Architrave to bay window, skirting
and dado rail are carved, and walls sunk-panelled below rail.
Moulded cornice enriched with acanthus leaves.
Front rooms to right have moulded skirtings, dado rails and
cornices.
Rear room to right: marble fireplace with bolection-moulded
architrave and dentilled cornice shelf, between alcove
cupboard doors. Architraves of door and window cases are
bolection moulded. Moulded skirting, dado rail and cornice.
Cantilevered main staircase from ground to first floor has
slender turned balusters, 3 to a tread, and ramped-up moulded
handrail, wreathed at foot around bulbous newel on scrolled
curtail step. Moulded dado rail parallels staircase rail.
Venetian staircase window is of enriched Ionic order,
retaining original glazing, beneath plaster cartouche
festooned in floral garlands. Flanking walls of upper stair
well have scrolled consoles carrying classical busts.
Cantilevered secondary staircase from ground to second floor
has stone treads, wrought-iron balustrade of elongated
S-shaped scrolls, turned newels and ramped-up wood handrail.
Bottom flight to basement has square section balusters.
Staircase windows are round headed sashes.
First floor: 3 doorcases on landing have carved architraves,
pulvinated friezes enriched with acanthus carvings, and
enriched dentil cornice overdoors. Ceiling cornice is moulded
and enriched with dentils.
Front room to left: fireplace surround carved with rosettes,
garlands and drops. Doorcase architrave carved with foliage,
pulvinated frieze and dentilled cornice overdoor. Window
architraves carved, and walls sunk panelled below dado rail
carved with Greek key and foliage motifs: skirting carved with
ribbon and floret mouldings. Cornice enriched with egg, shell
and floret mouldings, dentils, and paired acanthus modillions
and rosettes.
Rear room to left: fireplace has replacement grate in carved
architrave, in surround of sunk panel pilasters carved with
foliate pendants, frieze of rinceaux, and dentilled cornice
shelf. Doorcase with carved architrave, frieze of acanthus
with garlanded centre panel, and enriched cornice overdoor.
Window cases have carved architraves, and shutters of enriched
panels. Carved skirting and dado, and moulded cornice. Plaster
ceiling with oval medallion in centre containing classical
figure, surrounded by foliage tendrils and enclosed in
scalloped frame with subsidiary medallions and pendants.
Rooms to right retain moulded skirtings and dado rails: front
room has dentil cornice, rear one acanthus cornice.
Throughout the house, doors are of six raised and fielded
panels, most retaining original door furniture. Panelled
window shutters survive.
Interior of Temple: double doors of raised and fielded panels
in doorcase with pulvinated frieze and cornice overdoor lead
to lobby, screened by panelled partition. 3-bay INTERIOR:
articulated by giant coupled attached Composite columns
carrying entablature with dentil and modillion cornice.
Subsidiary arcade of round arches on dwarf attached Ionic
columns with moulded impost band, broken by giant columns, and
continuing around apse, shapes bays into round-headed blind
panels. Tunnel-vaulted main ceiling containing moulded
roundels; hemispherical roof to apse. Wall panels fitted with
shaped boards.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: railings to front area are square section
interspersed with panels of scrolls and intersecting curves,
ramped-up and swept up steps to portico. At rear, short
balustrade of railings and standards similar to those of
secondary staircase closes off steps.
(City of York: RCHME: The Central Area: HMSO: 1981-: 114-115).
Listing NGR: SE6042551571
