Description

CHESTER CITY (EM)

SJ46NW PARKGATE ROAD
1932-1/2/219 (South West side)
10/01/72 Old Vicarage and Parish Room to
Church of St Thomas of Canterbury
(Formerly Listed as:
PARKGATE ROAD
St Oswald's Vicarage)

GV II

Vicarage, now English Department of Chester College. 1880. By
John Douglas. Red-brown brick with plaster panels; graded
Westmorland green slate roofs.
PLAN: Asymmetric plan with porch and stair left, corridors in
recessed central portion, attic stair, ancillary rooms and
former parish room in single-storey wing, right, all facing
north-east; all principal rooms face south-west garden, and
views; c.f. Douglas's home, Walmoor, Dee Banks (qv).
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys and attic. Stair roof sweeps down to front
left, apsidal 2-storey porch has stone steps to brick archway,
9-panel door in leaded half-glazed timber screen. Casements
have moulded brick mullions, stone transoms to ground floor
and ogee and basket-arched heads to upper lights; leaded
lights, some removed. Two 3-light casements to corridor;
square turret for secondary stair; 5-light casement in front
gable, right. Parish room has porch in corner with house,
doorway arched; a triple lancet and a pair of lancets. The
second storey has terracotta jetty to porch and central bay;
apsidal chapel above porch has brick strings and hoodmoulds to
a lancet in each face. Two 3-light leaded casements to the
upper corridor; loops to turret and a course of basket-arched
lights beneath the eaves to its pyramidal roof with
weather-vane; 3-light casement in right gable. Rectangular
plaster panels beneath corridor windows; lozenge panels with
brick diapering in gable. A lateral chimney at inner corner of
porch-bay with house; a large chimney before the ridge of the
central roof.
The south-east end has a projecting shaped chimney behind the
ridge; a French window with 2 leaded lights above and a
cross-window to stair; plaster lozenge-panels in gable.
The garden front has a long, simple rear wing left, dividing
garden from Parish Room; a 2 storey 6-light canted bay-window,
right; three 3-light casements to ground floor of central
portion; a band of lozenge-panels to central portion and
rectangular panels to bay window; a horizontal band of
rhythmically-grouped mullioned casements to bedrooms; rear

gable-end to left bay has a basket-arched light to the first
floor and a 2-light casement beneath the plastered apex to the
gable.
INTERIOR: has a number of features and details typical of
Douglas: pine doors of 5, 6 and 9 panels with reeded stiles,
muntins and rails; door furniture; fireplace surrounds with
good tiles and timber detailing, with inlaid work; timber
screen with leaded glazing; a good open-well stair with timber
screen to landing; trusses to Parish Room roof of
well-expressed simple carpentry.

Listing NGR: SJ4022267142

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St Oswald's Vicarage, Chester at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q7595025

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

• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)