The Fleece Hotel, Westgate Street, Gloucester: Historic Building Assessment
Author(s): Rebecca Lane
This report presents the findings of the investigation of the principal listed buildings which form the historic core of the Fleece Hotel, Westgate Street, Gloucester. These form three ranges arranged around a courtyard sitting south of the main street front. The buildings are mainly of the late 15th century, although the largest range incorporates part of a late 12th-century undercroft. Included in the report are the results of an investigation and detailed measured survey of the surviving buildings, supplemented by photographic recording. Documentary research was also undertaken to support the interpretation of the complex. The site was thought to be a ‘pilgrim inn’ constructed by St Peter’s Abbey, Gloucester. However, the investigation of the buildings has established that, although almost certainly constructed by the abbey, it was not built specifically as an inn and had a varied use, with the street-front range forming shops with domestic accommodation and the rear two ranges used as a large residence, possibly with some commercial functions, and intermittently as an inn. From the mid-17th century onwards the rear ranges were used permanently as an inn, known as the ‘Golden Fleece’. This use continued up until the early 21st century.
- Report Number:
- 33/2023
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 243
- Keywords:
- Building Recording Medieval Standing Building Standing Structure Architectural Investigation Timber
