Description

LANCASTER

SD4761NE CHURCH STREET
1685-1/7/88 (North side)
22/12/53 Nos.78 AND 80
(Formerly Listed as:
CHURCH STREET
No.78)
(Formerly Listed as:
CHURCH STREET
No.80)

GV II*

House, now offices. Built in 1775 for Dr Daniel Wilson, but
divided into 2 houses in the mid C19 and altered. Sandstone
ashlar with ashlar dressings, on the front and back, with
coursed rubble on the left-hand gable. Slate roof with chimney
stacks on the gables and on the ridge above the cross walls. 3
storeys above a cellar, which is at ground level at the rear,
and 5 bays with a projecting bow in the centre; this contains
3 windows on the upper floors and, on the ground floor, 2
windows and a doorway - all are curved on plan. Above the
first-floor windows runs a modillion cornice. The windows
below this have moulded sills and architraves, while those
above it have plain reveals. All the windows are sashed
without glazing bars.
The doorway has engaged Doric columns supporting a triglyph
frieze and pediment, all curved on plan. The mahogany door has
6 raised and fielded panels beneath a fanlight. The area to
the right of the doorway has plain cast-iron railings, perhaps
original. On either side of the facade is a slightly-recessed
one-bay wall, of one storey on the left, but 2 storeys backed
by rooms on the right, which contains a doorway with a moulded
architrave under a pediment; as the one to the left still
does, these doorways originally led to the garden, but the one
on the right is now the entrance to No.78.
At the rear the windows have raised plain surrounds, and most
have 12-pane sashes. In the central bay there are a triple
window to the cellar, a Venetian window on the ground and
first floors, and a Diocletian window on the second floor.
INTERIOR: in No.80 the large hall, into which one rises up
steps within the projecting bow, has pedimented doorcases, a
modillion cornice, and a delicate Adam-style ceiling with
circular patterns; other rooms have more ornate ceilings
dating from mid C19, when the generously proportioned
quarter-turn staircase was inserted. No.78 has several
original doorcases, but mostly C19 ceilings, less ornate than
those in No.80. The top flights of the staircase appear to be
those of the original back stair, with turned newels, a closed
string, stick balusters, and a ramped mahogany handrail.
HISTORY: during the excavations for the cellar in 1775 a
number of Roman coins and pottery fragments were discovered
(see Clark, pp 76-77).
No.78 listed on 18.2.70.
(Clark C: An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Town of
Lancaster: Lancaster: 1807-: 76-77).

Listing NGR: SD4753761875

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17531705

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

• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)