Description

WORCESTER

SO85SW SEVERN STREET
620-1/3/513 (South East side)
05/04/71 St Alban's House (now part
of King's School)
(Formerly Listed as:
SEVERN STREET
St Alban's Orphanage)

II

Assembly rooms, former orphanage, now junior school. Mid C18 with
later additions and alterations including a chapel c1873. Red
brick with plain clay tile roof. Small square brick stack to
front roof slope is capped, larger brick stacks to rear have
oversailing detail and pots.
PLAN: L-shaped, with lower roof-line wing to south and east;
chapel to north forms semi-enclosed courtyard to rear (E).
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys and attic. West front has off-centre left
break-forward capped by parapeted gable with brick coping and
blind lunette window. 4 first-floor windows, that to right set at
lower level. Venetian window (4/4:6/6:4/4) to ground-floor of
break-forward, similar style window above is blind painted.
Further sash to right ground-floor. Windows are all near-flush
with brick arched heads and 6/6 unless stated otherwise. Hipped
dormer to right with side-hung casements.
Right-return has Venetian windows, that to first-floor has 12/6
centre sash, the upper glazing bars being Gothic tracery, that to
ground-floor is 9/6 with rectilinear glazing bars; both have
3-pane side-lights. Wing to south-east has 4 first-floor 6/6
sashes. Simple bracketted canopy to left of centre entrance,
panelled door and 3-pane overlight. Further 6/6 pane sash to
left. 3 gabled dormers with side-hung casements.
INTERIOR: Retains some original timber and plasterwork including
staircase with slender turned balusters with knops, moulded
handrail and square newel posts; raised and fielded two and four
panel doors with 'L'-hinges; some cornices; red and black ceramic
tiled floor; painted timber fire places with cast-iron grates;
brick arched cellar.
Chapel includes exposed rafters with painted decoration, red and
black ceramic tiled floor, and complete scheme of stencilled
decoration to east end, around stained glass window and above
reredos.
HISTORICAL NOTE: the basic 'L'-plan of the earliest part of the
building is shown on both the 1779 map of George Young and the
1832 map by Crisp. It occupies the bottom SW corner of its plot,
he remaining area being identified as Diglis Bowling Green. On
the 1886 first edition O S map the W-E leg of the building (now
identified as St Alban's Home) has been extended to the east and
the chapel is shown to the north. Gwilliam refers to the area
becoming a fashionable resort in the C18 with a bowling green and
assembly rooms where ..."the gentlemen.. ...joined the ladies in
a dance in the long room on the ground floor." He also refers to
a Miss Cordelia Stillingfleet who founded St Alban's Home for
(orphan and destitute) Girls in Palace Yard c1859. She "later
bought Diglis Bowling Green and Assembly Rooms and built a chapel
in 1873." The 1928 and 1940 OS maps identify the building as a C
of E orphanage; the 1961 map is annotated 'King's School Junior
School'.
(Old Worcester - People and Places: Gwilliam HW: Old Worcester -
People and Places: Worcester: 1977-: 89-92).

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26669567

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)