The Greyfriars, Worcester, Worcestershire

Description

WORCESTER

SO8554NW FRIAR STREET
620-1/17/283 (East side)
22/05/54 The Greyfriars
(Formerly Listed as:
FRIAR STREET
Greyfriars)

GV I

House, possibly house and brew-houses. c1485 for Thomas Grene,
brewer and High Bailiff of Worcester (1493-97), and his wife
Elizabeth; later additions and alterations include probably
C16 extension to north wing; further alterations of c1600-30
for Francis Street include the insertion of a staircase,
parlour windows and internal frieze, at this stage the rear,
south range (ie. possible brew-house) was apparently
incorporated into the building; Early C18 a further range was
added to the south wing. c1870s the building was converted
into 3 shops with tenements, and c1940s (date 1949 on
fall-pipes) extensive renovations were carried out for Elsie
and Malcolm Matley Moore when the ground-floor front facade
was re-created and additional flooring and panelling were
inserted.
Timber frame with lath and plaster, panelled oak infill with
brick nogging to north-east wing, and whitewashed brick to the
extension to the south-east wing; plain tile roof; brick
stacks.

PLAN: the facade is 69 feet in length (approximately 20
metres), curved to follow the line of the street. 2 storeys
with attics to gables, 4 bays; probably originally L-plan with
short, gabled cross-wing to north, and with range to
south-east probably incorporated as a cross-wing during the
C17; further extensions to both wings. There are stacks to the
rear of the main range at south-east and north-east.

TIMBER FRAME: mainly of close studding, except to the north
wing which has box frames. The first-floor is jettied with a
bressumer beam which has hollow, ovolo, hollow and
double-ovolo moulding, supported on carved and ovolo-moulded
brackets, some renewed. Carving to the brackets on either side
of the carriage arch bears the initials 'TG' (Thomas Grene)
and 'EG' (Elizabeth Grene) and shields; there is foliate
carving to the spandrels of the carriage arch. Slender
columnettes articulate the main posts to the ground- and
first-floors. Carved bargeboards, partly renewed. Good
carpenters marks are clearly visible within the carriage arch.

EXTERIOR: chamfered plinth. Off-centre left carriage entrance
with renewed plank doors within hollow-moulded arch in
double-hollow-moulded jambs. Replacement 2- and 3-light
mullion and transom windows have diamond leaded lights and
ovolo-moulded sills. Coving has been added below the jetty.
The first-floor has a continuous moulded sill band with
hollow, ovolo, hollow and ovolo moulding, partly renewed. Each
wing has a 4-light window, the centre has a long, 12-light
window; all with ovolo-moulded mullions and transoms and
diamond-pane leaded lights.
Main entrance to south wing, at rear, through carriage arch:
porch with outer posts decorated with slender pilasters,
panelled door with carved decoration in the spandrels. The
rear of the carriage arch has a similar moulded bressumer beam
with a long, 9-light mullion and transom window above; there
are further posts and a girding beam with carved decoration in
the spandrels within the arch. 2-light mullion window in the
apex of the gable. Two further entrances to the north side of
the carriage arch give access to the north wing. The north
wing gable with has a 3-light, mullioned attic window to its
south side. Otherwise the wings have casement windows and 6/6
sashes. Further entrance to the south wing, a re-used, pointed
door with 4 panels and quatrefoil decoration with rose motif.

INTERIOR: there are remains of two original staircases which
wound around the north-east and south-east stacks. That to the
north-east has been reconstructed, that to the south-east was
interrupted when a wider, principal staircase was added during
the C17 which has square newel posts with shaped finials and
an upper row of turned balusters. The ground floor to the
south of he carriage arch has been one large room since c1949.
There is a transverse beam, with mortices for a dividing wall,
which is supported by an inserted, chamfered post; there is a
further ovolo- and hollow-moulded axial beam. Oak panelling to
the dado, that to the south wall is thought to be original to
the house. The C18 stone-flagged floor was brought from
Wychbold Hall, near Droitwich. The chimneypiece to the
south-east has a 4-centred arch with 2 levels of ovolo
moulding. A dining room to the south wing has imported
Georgian features including a shaped cupboard with fluted
Ionic columns and shaped shelves with shell niche and dentil
cornice; C16 Italian majolica tiles above the chimneypiece;
panels of early-C18 wallpaper; 7-raised-and-fielded-panel
door.

First-floor: exposed timber framing to the rear, central part
includes massive joweled posts fo r the north wing. A carved
frieze of c1630 has the Street family coat of arms and scroll
and dragon carving on two sides of the central room; oak
panelling. Transverse and axial beams have double ovolo
moulding. To the north east, a chimney piece with chamfered
lintel. A cupboard to the north end of the corridor has shaped
shelves and a shell niche. Some exposed close studding; the
partition wall has arch bracing. The north wing has extensive
exposed close studding to the front part; panelling includes
linenfold (some of which is thought to be original to the
house) and oak panelling; medieval tiles from Halesowen Abbey;
panels of painted and carved decoration with figures and
foliage to the bedroom.

ROOF: the main range has three bays with collar-and-tie-beam
trusses, one level of rough-hewn purlins (one removed), and
exposed rafters. There is a significant drop in the floor
level between he main range and the south wing; there is also
a frame for a doorway to the south gable of the main roof. The
purlins from the south range are truncated to the west end and
there are short, joining purlins from here to the main range.
The timbering to the west end of the south wing is exposed and
of high quality suggesting that this may have been an external
wall; trusses have collar-beam and queen struts, the south
wing has two levels of rough-hewn purlins (the upper renewed)
and rafters. To the east end of the south range is a queen
post, collar beam truss and a formerly external stack in
narrow brick. In the further range the roof has one level of
purlins to the south and two to the north. The north wing has
curved collar beams, one level of exposed, chamfered purlins,
with curved wind braces and re-used rafters.

HISTORICAL NOTE: The original character of the house is
somewhat unclear. However, it seems that initially the house
had a rear hall and 2 rear wings containing heated parlour,
kitchen, 6 chambers and a heated 'little hall'. A continuous
projecting window along the ground-floor facade. There were
originally four first-floor windows, each one lighting a
separate room. On the ground-floor there were three rooms on
the street front, that to the south with fireplace. An
advanced design, there was no open hall and all of the
first-floor rooms had ceilings. The rear, left wing is mostly
C17. The relationship of the south-west wing to the main
building and its date are subjects of debate. The disposition
of the roof timbers in the main range and this rear range
indicated that the two were probably separate buildings
originally. The addition of the wide staircase c1630 filled
the gap between the two buildings and at this stage it seems
probable that the rear range was incorporated into the main
building. It has been suggested that the south-east wing could
have been an earlier building on the site or, alternatively,
that it may have been built at the same time as the main
house, but used as a brew-house or similar. There are
architectural parallels between this building and The
Commandery, Sidbury (qv), for example in the moulding of the
beams and the carpenters' marks, and in the use of slender
columnettes which appear also on Nos 4 and 5 Cornmarket (qv).
The house was probably built for Thomas Grene (or Green), a
wealthy brewer, and was subsequently owned or tenanted by
Thomas Twesyll (formerly auditor to Katherine of Aragon and an
associate of Thomas Cromwell). Richard Stroude was in
occupation by 1550, followed by the Goodlacks; the next known
householders are Francis Street, older and younger. Street
bought the property c1570, selling it to the Corporation of
Worcester in 1600 as a charity investment, but the family
retained a 400-year lease on the property. Subsequent lessees
include George Street (brewer) who was Mayor of Worcester in
1635; his son, Thomas (later Sir Thomas, M.P. and judge)
administered the property for his younger brother, John.
During the early C17 the Streets made improvements to the
property, adding the wide staircase, the parlour window and
the first-floor frieze. The property was sub-divided during
the C18 and declined during the C19, when it became a public
house (the Old Oak Inn), dwellings and shops. In 1943, The
Greyfriars was bought by the Worcester Archaeological Society
and restored by life tenants, Malcolm Matley Moore and his
sister, Elsie, who presented it to the National Trust in 1966.
Miss Moore bought Nos 14, 16 and 18, Friar Street (qv) in
order to preserve the building's surroundings. It was a
commonly-held belief c1900 that the house was built by the
Franciscan friars (whose monastery occupied Friar Street) as a
guest house, and it acquired the name, The Greyfriars.
Friar Street originated as a rear access lane for buildings in
High Street until the foundation of the Franciscan Friary in
1235. The first friary building occupied the stretch between
Nos 11-25 (odd). The south end of the street was developed
first, with plots dating from the mid-C14; plots at the north
end date from the early C15. Many of the existing houses date
from the Reformation, the Friary having been suppressed in
1539 and its property sold by the Crown to the Corporation of
Worcester which demolished much of it for building materials.
Building continued from c1540 onwards, modifications were made
during the C17 while the C18 saw the replacement of several
older buildings. Friar Street was inhabited mainly by
tradesmen: weavers,clothiers, brewers and innkeepers.
NMR photographs.
(Lees-Milne J: 'The Greyfriars, Worcester': Country Life: 27
November 1969: 1390-1394; The Buildings of England: Pevsner N:
Worcestershire: Harmondsworth: 1968-1985: 328-9; Worcester
Evening News: 10 July 1993; Hughes, P. and Molyneux, N.:
Worcester Streets: Friar Street: Worcester: 1984-: 4-7;
Hughes, P.: Buildings and the Building Trade in Worcester
1540-1650: PhD thesis: 1990-: 23-4,140,148,268,436; Haworth,
J.: The Greyfriars, Worcester (National Trust Guide): London:
1987-).

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The Greyfriars

A Grade I Listed Building in Worcester, Worcestershire

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