Description

BURY ST EDMUNDS

TL8564NW NORTHGATE STREET
639-1/3/489 (West side)
07/08/52 No.18
St Michael's Close, Flats 1-11
(consec)

GV II*

A building now containing 11 flats; premises of the King
Edward VI Grammar School from 1664 to 1883 and subsequently
until 1939 a girls' boarding school, conducted by Anglican
nuns. C17 with C18 and C19 alterations and additions.
Timber-framed and rendered in panels with a raised stucco band
between the storeys. A hipped plaintiled roof and wide moulded
eaves soffit. L-shaped plan with a wing extending west at the
south end.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys, cellars and attics. The front is divided
into 2 distinct halves: on the north side a range of 7 2-light
casement windows with square leaded panes in cast-iron frames
to the upper storey: some are original with a single small
opening casement and one retains arched cusped heads to the
lights; the remainder are replacements in a cross form. 6
cross windows on the ground storey, with ornate window latches
in C17 style, were inserted c1945 when the building was
converted to flats. They replace the original windows, set at
a higher level.
A central 6-panel door with the 4 top panels glazed, has a
wood doorcase with a flat cornice hood on shaped and moulded
consoles. Above the door is a rectangular plaque with an
abbreviated Latin inscription explaining the transfer of the
Grammar School to this building in 1664. Over the plaque an
empty semicircular niche with a moulded architrave, keystone
and impost blocks, which formerly held a bust of King Edward
VI. The south end, added in the C18, has a 4-window range of
12-pane sashes in flush cased frames. A pair of half-glazed
Edwardian doors are set within a heavy Ionic porch with
columns in antis. Above the porch is a C19 cast-iron balcony.
The south face of the rear wing has sash windows to the upper
storey and 2 heavy late C19 canted brick bays to the ground
storey with flat roofs and parapets. 7 hipped dormers are
spaced across the east front and 4 across the south front, all
have 2-light cast-iron casements with square leaded panes.
Partly overlapping at the back of the main building is a
recessed 2-storey C19 block, rendered, with slate roof and
small-paned sash windows.
INTERIOR: the original C17 north range contained the large

schoolroom of the Grammar School, in 4 bays, with a high
ceiling at the level of the raised band along the front. 5
open trusses have ovolo-moulded main beams and heavy
supporting arched braces resting on moulded stone corbels.
This ceiling is now hidden above lower C20 ceilings and the
schoolroom area is divided by C20 partitions. At the south end
of the building the entrance hall, paved with limestone flags,
has a central late Victorian/Edwardian stair in Cuban mahogany
in an ornate C18 style. This replaced the earlier stair during
repairs in the 1960s and came from the Jockey Club in London.
(White W: Directory of Suffolk: Sheffield: 1874-: 574).

Listing NGR: TL8549264657

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17540388

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.

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