Description

GLOUCESTER

SO8318NW CATHEDRAL PRECINCTS
844-1/8/46 Cathedral Treasury, Vestry and
23/01/52 Library
(Formerly Listed as:
CATHEDRAL PRECINCTS
Cathedral Church of the Holy and
Indivisible Trinity)

GV I

Cathedral treasury and cathedral library. c1100, late C12 and
C14, restored in C19 and C20. Ashlar and rubble, gabled stone
slate roof.
PLAN: a single width range between the north transept of the
church of the former Benedictine Abbey of St Peter, now the
Cathedral Church (qv), and the Chapter House (qv); originally
a wide, vaulted passage or slype of c1100 which led from the
east alley of the Cathedral Cloister (qv) to the former
monastic cemetery to the east of the east claustral range; the
passage extended further to the east in C14 when the vestry
and library above were built above the passage, with a
staircase to the library entered from the cloister at the
north-west corner; the former passage, originally open at
either end, now used as the cathedral treasury and entered
from the north transept though a small doorway formed in 1978.
EXTERIOR: three storeys. At the west end a wide archway
infilled in C14 when the Cloister was rebuilt; in C19 the
blocking pierced for a small doorway on the west side, above
the lean-to roof of the cloister; in the gable-end of the
range on the first floor a C16 six-light window with flat
head, and on the second floor a seven-light arched window with
arched lights above and below a transom; in the east gable-end
wall at ground-floor level a doorway with a five-light window
above the arch and on the upper floors a large seven-light
panelled window similar to the window at the west end but with
a row of blind panels at second-floor level; at second-floor
level on the north side eleven windows each of two lights with
square heads.
INTERIOR: the original passage of c1100 has a plain, plastered
barrel vault, continuous blind arcading of fifteen bays along
the north wall and similar arcading between the pilaster
buttresses of the north transept wall which forms the south
side of the passage, the arcading has shafts with moulded
bases, scalloped capitals, and plain arches; the C14 eastern
extension of the passage has plain walls and barrel vault; on
the first floor the vestry is entered from a staircase in the

north-west corner of the transept, (not inspected); on the
second floor the library has an open timber roof, the trusses
with moulded tie-beams supported on timber corbels, each
finely carved with a head wearing a crown or a hat, and
exposed purlins and rafters; the windows on the north side
originally lit carrels or study bays.
Originally the monastic library, the second floor was used as
the first school room of the King's School until mid C19 when
refitted as the cathedral library.
(Welander D: The History, Art and Architecture of Gloucester
Cathedral: Stroud, Gloucestershire: 1991-; VCH: The City of
Gloucester: Oxford: 1988-: 277; BOE: Verey D: Gloucestershire:
The Vale and the Forest of Dean: London: 1976-: 221).

Listing NGR: SO8313318804

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17525930

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

• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)