Description

WORLABY THE HILL
TA 01 SW
(north side)
5/44 The Old Almshouse
19/10/51 (formerly listed as
Bellasys Hospital
(Almshouses))
GV II *
Hospital or Almshouses, now house. 1663 by William Catlyn for John, Lord
Bellasyse. Later outshut to left and alterations to roof. Red brick in
English bond, with tuck pointing to pilasters and window surrounds and
scored joints to remainder; rubbed brick and ashlar details. Pantile roof.
Artisan Mannerist style. 2-room central entrance-hall plan. 2 storeys, 5
bays; symmetrical, Tall ovolo-moulded plinth; Doric pilasters between bays
with painted moulded brick and ashlar bases and capitals, decorated with
inset carved ashlar tablets, those at the top of each pilaster bearing a
single digit of the date. Flight of 5 stone steps to entrance: raised
surround with inset ashlar tablets supporting entablature with rubbed brick
cornice and plain frieze; recessed round-headed pitch-pine door with Gothick
panelling in painted brick surround with rubbed brick archivolt and moulded
imposts. 2-light casements with iron-framed leaded lights and chamfered
ashlar sills in raised brick surrounds with single ashlar tablets to each
side and rubbed brick entablatures similar to entrance. Round-arched
entrance to left outshut has re-set pine door with Gothick panelling. First
floor: similar windows and surrounds linked by raised brick frieze supported
by pilasters. Painted brick modillion eaves cornice. Left and right
returns have 2-course brick bands at first-floor and eaves level. Rear:
stairwindow with later blocked opening below; corbelled brick cornice with 2
cogged and 1 plain course; pair of large 3-stage lateral stacks with C20 top
sections. Interior. Ovolo-chamfered pitch-pine beams to both ground-floor
rooms; open well staircase altered but probably retaining original moulded
handrail. Lord Bellasyse (or Bellasis), Baron of Worlaby, a leading
Royalist commander, established the almshouse for 4 poor widows, and it
remained in use until the present century. William Catlyn (1628-1709),
Hull's leading bricklayer-designer, built Brigg Grammar School (1678) and
was almost certainly responsible for Wilberforce House, Hull, as well as the
Worlaby Hospital and Bellasyse's Hall nearby, now demolished. Nattes'
drawing shows the hospital with curvilinear gables. A distinguished and
important early brick building. N Pevsner and J Harris, The Buildings of
England: Lincolnshire, 1978, 431; drawing by C Nattes, 179, Banks
Collection, Lincoln City Library; D Neave, "William Catlyn of Hull, the
Architect of Wilbeforce's Birthplace?", East Yorkshire Local History Society
Bulletin, No 28, Autumn 1983, 8-12.

Listing NGR: TA0175713982

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17533660

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

• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair