Description

LAUNCESTON

SX3284 CASTLE STREET
660-1/4/24 (West side)
27/02/50 Nos.9 AND 9A
Lawrence House and Museum and
forecourt wall
(Formerly Listed as:
CASTLE STREET
No.9
Lawrence House, The Mayor's Parlour
and Borough Museum)

GV II*

Town house, now museum. 1753 inscription with "H L"; wing on
right has 1913 inscription.
Red brick laid to Flemish bond with keyed shallow segmental
arches; rubble and slatehanging on studwork; steep rag slate
roof with modillion eaves cornice; gable end of cross wing on
right; brick end stacks on right axial stack towards right and
2 lateral stacks at rear.
2 storeys plus attic over basement; overall 5-window range
including 1913 rebuilt bay on right. Original hornless sashes
with thick glazing bars; C20 bay on right has Venetian window
with moulded hood to 1st floor; round-headed sash with
fanlight head to attic gable and canted pedimented bay to
ground floor, all with hornless sashes with glazing bars.
Late C19 or 1913 pedimented porch to central bay (probably
originally to symmetrical front) with pilasters and consoles;
4-panel door with 4-pane overlight; 15-pane sidelights with
external ovolo mouldings to thick glazing bars. 2 original
pedimented roof dormers with 6-pane sashes. Basement has
sashes with thick glazing bars and 6-panel door with
flush-beaded panels under porch.
Rear is 3-window 3-bay range with gable over each bay.
Left-hand bay is 1913 rebuild with 2-light casement to gable
over 3-light casement over 2-storey canted bay, all with
sashes with thick glazing bars and canted conservatory to
basement.
Central bay has 3-storey canted bay with moulded cornices and
sashes with thick glazing bars, probably C20 copy of original.
Recessed right hand bay has original paired 8-pane sashes over
early/mid C19 canted bay with sashes with thin glazing bars
over original 3-light windows with internally ovolo-moulded
oak mullions and casements with thick glazing bars; mid C19
conservatory with 12-pane sashes in angle towards right. Upper
floor and gable of central bay and right-hand bay have
slatehanging with vertical joints and slate cover strips.
Small lean-to at far right has 2-panel basemet door and old
door to basement of steps in front.
INTERIOR: many original features including grained basement
stair with closed string and turned balusters; fielded dado
panelling, moulded ceiling cornice and grained chimneypiece
with egg-and-dart detail pulvinated frieze and eared
overmantel with scrolled head to left-hand room; dado
panelling and moulded cornices to rest of front area; Doric
columns and Doric frieze to former stair hall (1913 replica
columns on right) and some other moulded ceiling cornices.
Rear right-hand room has more elaborate joinery and
plasterwork; doorcase with broken pediment; chimneypiece with
carved frieze, consoles and Rococo overmantle with mirror and
ornate ceiling with arabesques and enriched modillion ceiling
cornices. The better plasterwork is reputed to be by the same
craftsmen who worked at Eagle House (qv) and Castle Hill House
(qv). 1913 wing has C18 chimneypiece to rear room and early
C19 hob grate to rear chamber which may survive from older
house on this site, otherwise this wing has many features
which resemble the C18 features of the house.
Subsidiary features: attached brick forecourt wall surmounted
by C20 possible replica vase-turned balustrade.

Listing NGR: SX3305684757

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Lawrence House Museum official website
• Wikidata Q17532838

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

• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)