St Mary House

Details

CHIPPENHAM

ST9273SW ST MARY STREET 930-1/10/185 (West side) 25/04/50 No.15 St Mary House

GV II*

House, now offices. Late C15/early C16, extended and refronted in early C18 (datestone 1717 above doorway). Limestone rubble with freestone quoins and dressings, stone slate roof, hipped to the C18 south block, which has 2 hipped gables with stone slate cheeks, ashlar stacks to gable ends and one lateral stack to left of centre of the C16 block. PLAN: open hall range and inner room survive from late medieval house, which probably originally had a front lateral stack to hall which was ceiled over and had rear stair turret built in late C16; left-hand (south) parlour block built in early C18 with front and rear stacks. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys; 3+1-window range with early C18 block making cross-wing to left. Earlier 3-window block has 6/6-pane sash windows (mostly late C20), those to the 1st floor at eaves level, 2 to the ground floor right with timber lintels, those to the right of the stack have plain freestone surrounds. The stack is at least of late C16 date, and has coved cornice, the flue above rebuilt in C18 in ashlar. To the left of the stack is a hood on carved brackets to a mid/late C18 6-panel door with a late C19 3/3-pane sash window above and oval plaque with GL/1717 in relief lettering; coved eaves cornice of early C18 date, which is continued around projecting early C18 block which has mostly late C20 sashes set in moulded stone architraves with cornices to ground floor. To the rear a curved wall to a central stair turret (placed between hall and inner room) has a chamfered loophole. 6/6-pane sash window to the left over a C20 door with a concrete lintel. To the right of the turret are paired late C20 6/6-pane sash windows and the range to the right of that has a rendered and timber-framed gable (rebuilt late C20) with a C20 casement window above a C17 ashlar Tudor arch, now with a C20 Gothic glazed window. Left-return wall (to south) of early C18 block has coved eaves cornice and bracketed gutter; moulded architraves to 4 tall late C20 sash windows at 1st-floor level; a central stair window between floors and 2 ground-floor windows to the left also have cornices. To the right of centre a similar architrave now has French windows and to the far right is a blind window in a plain architrave with painted glazing bars. Hipped dormers with 2-light casements and stone slates to cheeks. Stack and blocked 2-light stone-mullioned window to rear. INTERIOR: 5-bay late medieval roof; the roof over hall divided into 2+1 bays, the left-hand bay over the original through passage being originally closed off from the 2-bay hall, with windbraces to 2 tiers of in-line butt purlins with diagonally-set ridge purlin and central truss having chamfered arch braces to cranked collar; 2 bays over inner room not inspected in detail but collar trusses with left-hand king post noted. In the late C16, the hall was ceiled over and fine moulded and quartered ground-floor beams survive from this period; the 1st floor had an early C18 barrel-vaulted plaster ceiling built beneath the arch-braced trusses, with rope-moulded ribs with urn stops beneath trusses. Mid C19 fireplace to ground floor, late C18 fireplace with fluted frieze above. Stair turret has timber winder stairs with C16 doorway opening out onto ground floor, with chamfered arch to inner face (to stairs) and rebated outer face. Inner end has large stop-chamfered beams to ground floor, blocked C16 window with diamond-section timber mullions and grained late C17 panels reset in late C20 frame to 1st floor. Early C18 block has retained many original features: these include dogleg stairs with toad-back handrail, fret-cut brackets and C20 plain balusters to closed string; panelled doors; fielded panelling to ground floor room with bolection-panelled overmantel; panelled dado to 1st floor room, partially renewed late C20; collar trusses with in-line butt purlins to roof. HISTORY: an interesting late medieval house, the absence of smoke blackening to the roof indicating that a lateral stack was provided from the outset; the fine early C18 block was probably built on the site of the earlier service end, as it adjoins the site of the late medieval through passage.



Listing NGR: ST9231173166

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462413

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LBS

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