Summary
Former merchant's house built in the mid-C15. The close-studded elevation of the second floor is mid-C16. C17, C18, and C19 alterations. Late C20 and early C21 repairs.
Reasons for Designation
66 Westgate Street, Gloucester is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
Architectural and historic interest:
* as an example of a former merchant’s house dated to the mid-C15 that retains a significant proportion of its historic fabric including much of its oak timber-frame and roof trusses;
* for the legibility of the building’s evolution in the surviving historic fabric including the mid-C16 close-studded elevation of the second floor and subsequent alteration in the C17 and C18 that includes the insertion of a dog-leg staircase and wall painting;
* for the high-quality of craftsmanship exhibited in the building’s carpentry and decorative detail.
Group value:
* with the other medieval merchant houses on Westgate Street which together enhance our understanding of the medieval town and its later development.
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 merchant’s houses survive along Westgate Street as testaments to the area’s trading activity and the prominence of these wealthy office holders throughout the late medieval and early modern periods.
The original structure of 66 Westgate Street has been dated to the mid-C15. It is contemporary with the surviving timber-framed end wall (visible to the west side of the ground floor) of the neighbouring mid-C15 house. This house was subsequently demolished and rebuilt as 68 Westgate Street (unlisted). The close-studded façade of the first floor is mid-C16. Further alterations principally took place in the C18 and C19 and conservation work was carried out during a European Architectural Heritage Year for Gloucester City Council in 1975. The building was subject to major repairs in the early C21.
Details
Former merchant's house built in the mid-C15. The close-studded elevation of the second floor is mid-C16. C17, C18, and C19 alterations. Late C20 and early C21 repairs.
MATERIALS: an oak timber-frame, with stucco to the principal elevation. The roof is covered in plain clay tiles.
PLAN: two parallel, gable-end bays that are two-bays deep.
EXTERIOR: a three-storey building with cellar, comprising a symmetrical principal elevation of two gabled bays, with a jettied first and second floor. The ground-floor, late C19 shopfront has slender cast-iron framing and original C19 plate-glass windows to either side of a central, recessed doorway. It is framed by pilasters, with console brackets to either side of the fascia supporting the cornice. The first floor has two timber-framed bays with upright posts, intermediate rail, and straight tension braces. The feet of the posts and braces are concealed by the cornice of the shopfront. The braces and the intermediate rail were cut for the insertion of four late-C19 metal-framed six-over-six sash windows. The second-floor jetty with close-studding above, now concealed by stucco, is a mid-C16 remodelling of the original house, with a pair of inserted C18 two-light casement windows, each with 12-panes. Both gables have moulded barge boards painted with trefoils, and incorporate stucco date plaques for 1450 and 2009.
INTERIOR: much of the timber-framing survives, including the partition walls to the upper floors, some with evidence of C18 wall painting in floral patterns. To the rear, between the first and second floor, is a C17 or C18 dog-leg staircase. The second floor is open to the roof which comprises trusses of principal rafters with ties beams, collars, and vertical struts. There are curved wind braces between the principal rafters and clasped purlins. The cellar is built of rubble walls with later inserted brick walls and is understood to contain a large bread oven.
